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Re: Algae Paranoia?
Jennifer,
I'll answer this one because my tank is (was) very similar to yours. I have
a 46 gal that used to have 90 watt of normal fluoro light (3 X 30 watt),
laterite+vermiculite substrate and yeast CO2. A little higer kH, a little
lower gH, same temp and pH (after CO2 injection), PMDD, high fish load.
I also started with heavy planting and a plant mix similar to yours. IME that
light level wasn't enough to fight algae, I got a little (or a lot, depending
on the type) of everything. It really started to get better only after I
replaced the double fluoro strip with a double 55 watt PC fixture (keeping
the single fluoro fixture in place). This upped the light level to 140 watt,
eventually killing all algae except in a few places where some stubborn green
spot still lingers around.
As for the nana (anubias, I presume), mine got entirely covered with that
filamentous black stuff that *can't* be removed. I prunned some leaves but
new growth got infected as well. The only way I found to fix it was to move
the plant to an emersed culture box. My first large sword was eventually
pruned beyond recognition to get rid of infected leaves. IMHO slow growers
and plants with long-lived leaves have no place in a new tank. In a new
tank I wouldn't care too much about the looks (the aquascaping) and would
instead spend more real state to keep fast growers that can effectively fight
algae and help achieve that elusive balance. Then, in time, when things
eventually get stabilized, slowly replace the plant work force with plants we
really want to keep in the long run. Now in retrospect I can say that my
tank reached that balance point at about the 6th month.
My suggestion would be to increase the number of fast growers, eventually
removing plants that don't help in fighting algae and just get covered with
it. Then, wait. If things don't improve in a few *months*, thinker with the
lighting. In the meantime, keep the most regular routine you can (feeding,
fertilizer, water changes, etc)
-Ivo Busko
Baltimore, MD