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[APD] Barr Method/Alternatives



After reading posts over the past few months about the "Barr Method" I've
changed my maintenance regime a bit. I'm not really following the Barr
Method but the posts gave me some ideas. Here's what I'm doing:

30% water change twice a week
TMG 7ml a day (on an automatic doser)
Other tank parameters:
Substrate: Flourite
PH: 6.7 (with a PH controller)
KH: ~5
GH: ~6-8
Pressurized CO2
This is a 72G Bowfront with 210 watts of 6500k CF lighting. The bioload
would probably be considered high. And the tank has been established for
about 18 months.

What I was doing 5 weeks ago:

30% water change once a week
TMG 4ml a day
Other parameters are the same

Over the past five weeks I've shown substantial improvement in the amount of
spot algae on the glass (I hardly get any). The amount of BBA appearing on
the plant leaves seemed to decline initially but seems to have leveled out
at "tolerable" but not perfect.

Previously, I was spending a great deal of time (and elbow grease) getting
rid of algae on the glass and my Crypts and Anubias were covered. I did a
major pruning to get rid of the worst of it before started the new schedule.

Pros:

Easy maintenance... The reason for the 30% rather than a larger water change
is that I don't have to unplug or turn anything off. 30% comes right to the
top of my filter intake and does not bring the water below the heater. I
simply throw the hose in, drain 30% and refill--takes about 10-15 minutes
twice a week.

I only have to remember the water changes and feeding--everything else more
or less handles itself.

Cons:

It's not perfect ;) I'm working on it and I'll keep posting.


I'm wondering though, how this would stack up to the "barr method". I do
have ingredients to dry dose--it means something else I have to remember
though. I'm not lazy about the maintenance just trying to make it easier to
keep the regimen more consistent on an ongoing basis and spend more time
viewing the tank instead of cleaning it. Essentially, the more things I have
to do (even small things) to the tank the more likely I am to procrastinate
and let the whole thing go to pot.

I'd love to hear comments suggestions and other feedback.

Best,

Dave






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