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Re: Denton Water REPORT
Hi List:
I promised y'all a report about a month ago. I was struggling with green
water in my 30-gallon tank and BGA in my 10-gallon tank. My idea was that the
reconstituted RO water was not providing some element the plants needed to
compete with the algae. So I decided to "import" tap water from a nearby city
for water changes.
I must have been on the threshold of something wonderful because after two
water changes the 30-gallon tank has been crystal clear for two weeks. I
couldn't say whether it was the Denton water, or whether I just needed to
keep the water clear for long enough for the plants to get sufficient light
to win the war. Other changes I made were: some diatom filtering, setting the
CO2 more precisely, adding a small school of black neon tetras (& feeding
more often in deference to their juvenile status), and adding a bunch of red
Ludwigia. I'll post a URL with a photo after the next water change tomorrow.
The plants are growing like crazy. I am my mother's aquatic plant supplier
once again! One of the sword plants has tried to send up two flower stalks,
but I ruthlessly cut them off. I would rather have more leaves right now.
I did have a rash of green spot algae a couple of weeks ago when I got too
excited and overdosed on the PMDD. Oh, well. Progress, not perfection.
As far as the 10-gallon tank goes, it is still having its mystery phosphate
problem. There is some brush algae/hair algae combination growing on the
driftwood, but it's not attacking the plants and looks kinda pretty waving in
the current. The BGA is still there but losing ground to the Otos (they don't
eat the live BGA, but they love the dead stuff). I got another CF bulb for
the tank, nearly doubling the lighting to 26 watts. I could go a little more
but not right away, I think. I suspect a potassium shortage in this tank
because there are always little holes in the crypt leaves. I'm thinking of
breaking this tank down and starting over. The aquascaping sucks--early
American Stuffed. I have been so frustrated with the BGA for the past year
that I haven't really paid attention to the layout.
So that's the news from Oak Point, Texas. Thanks for being there for me when
I needed you. I have to go work on TAG now. Queen of the Lurkers signing
off....
Cheryl Hofmann
Oak Point, TX