# Calcium deficiency?



## Raizinhell (May 26, 2017)

I am a fairly newcomer to this hobby and havent heard of calcium deficiency. I even ordered npk ferts and trace yesterday. Is calcium necessary?


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi Miilehlo,

It certainly could be a Ca deficiency, I do see some 'hooking' of leaf tips and scalloping of leaf margins; try adding Seachem Equilibrium, which contains Ca, Mg, Mn, and K along with a little Fe. I would use enough Equilibrium to raise the dGH (hardness) by 2.0 degrees (about 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons) and watch the new leaves as they emerge....do they look better? (existing leaves likely will not show much change) I have to add GH booster (I make my own) weekly to avoid Ca and Mg deficiencies and I try to maintain a 4.0 - 6.0 dGH range in my tanks. 

An interesting side note, I didn't dose GH Booster the last couple of weeks after doing water changes, my dGh dropped to 2.0 -3.0 and my established 'stand' of Cryptocoryne wendtii which have been growing in the tank for over 3 years started 'melting'; it could be a coincidence or possibly??


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## Bunsen Honeydew (Feb 21, 2017)

What is your GH? My sword does similar things, and I am pretty sure that I do not have a Ca deficiency (15 dGH).


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## Miilehlo (Mar 18, 2017)

Darn, I thought I replied but I just realized that my posts are missing. My dGH and dKH are in the 6-8 range (when tested two days ago). Since my first post, I've started dosing the tank with Flourish and added Osmocote root tabs. The leaves are much less deformed than before, but still a bit curly.

Here's a picture of the plant now (in the tannin-y water) and a picture of the plant in the old 10g before being transplanted. I moved apartments before setting up the new tank, and many of the original leaves were been damaged in transit. You can see how straight and flat they were before though.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi Miilehlo,

Looking more like a magnesium (Mg) deficiency with the 'wavy leaf margins


> Leaf margins may curl downward or upward with puckering effect.


Have you started dosing the Seachem Equilibrium I suggested about a week ago in post #3 of this thread? It contains magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), potassium (K), along with iron (Fe) and other micro-nutrients. The old leaves will likely not change, watch the new growth as in comes in....it should show improvement.


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## Miilehlo (Mar 18, 2017)

Hi, thanks for the reply. No, I didn't see any Equilibrium at my LFS last time I stopped by and I had been hoping that the Flourish would be enough. I'll order some online today though, and see if it makes a difference. Should I worry about it raising my GH too much?


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## Surf (Jun 13, 2017)

> I am a fairly newcomer to this hobby and havent heard of calcium deficiency. I even ordered npk ferts and trace yesterday. Is calcium necessary?


The macro nutrients for plants are Nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), and Sulfur. 

The needed micro nutrients are iron (Fe), Boron (B), Chlorine (Cl) Manganese (Mn), Molybdenum (Mo), zinc (Zn), Copper(Cu), Nickel Ni)

95% of all fertilizers I have looked at don't have Calcium, or Chlorine. A deficiency in any one can cause plant growth to slow, stop, or even kill the plant. Most fertilizers were designed for home gardens and farms. Soil and watertypically has a lot of Ca, S, and Cl. but in an aquarium water changes will deplete nutrients in dirt rather quickly. Also it is possible that your tap or soil to be deficient in something. Not all soils or tap water are the same. 



> try adding Seachem Equilibrium, which contains Ca, Mg, Mn, and K along with a little Fe.


Minor correction it also has sulfur.



> No, I didn't see any Equilibrium at my LFS last time I stopped by and I had been hoping that the Flourish would be enough.


Flourish does have Ca, S, Cl. But all macros in flourish at at a low level appropiate for dost low light aquarium without CO2 If your tank has CO2 injection and or high light it might not be enough. Equilibrium has Ca, Mg, S at much higher levels than Flourish. Equilibrium is a good choice for any tank being dosed with NPK separately.



> Darn, I thought I replied but I just realized that my posts are missing. My dGH and dKH are in the 6-8 range (when tested two days ago).


GH is mainly a test of calcium and magnesium only.With 6 degrees GH 100ppm you would think that your are OK. However Water can only calcium, only magnesium or a mix of both. The GH doesn't tell you how much of each you have. Only separate calcium , magnesium, and sulfate tests would tell you how much of each you have.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Miilehlo said:


> Hi, thanks for the reply. No, I didn't see any Equilibrium at my LFS last time I stopped by and I had been hoping that the Flourish would be enough. I'll order some online today though, and see if it makes a difference. Should I worry about it raising my GH too much?


Hi Miilehlo,

Just add enough to raise the hardnness by 2.0 dGH, about 3 teaspoons per 10 gallons. If you do a water change, add 3 teaspoons per 10 gallons of new water added. You should start seeing improvement in your new leaves in about 2 weeks, it is likely the older leaves will show very little change.


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## Miilehlo (Mar 18, 2017)

Thank you, Seattle_Aquarist for the help and Surf for the explanations. I'll keep you updated as I start dosing.


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## Miilehlo (Mar 18, 2017)

A belated update:

My plants have responded well to the Equilibrium dosing! I pruned the majority of the older leaves, and the new leaves have grown back less twisted. I still haven't achieved the same well-formed fan of leaves as before, but I think I'm on the right track. Thank you again for your feedback.


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