[APD] Too many plants??

["Kevin Sheller" <kevmo at aplants_com>]

Too many plants?

Every day, right before my lights turn on, my fish are breathing heavy and
gasping at the surface of the tank. After the lights are on for a while,
they seem to go back to normal.

This to me sounds like too much CO2. Here's the kicker, though... I turned
off my CO2 canister 3 days ago because they were acting like this. I've also
been pumping Oxygen into the tank 24-hours a day for the last 3 days.

So what the heck is going on?

75 gallon tank
LOTS of plants (it's thick, mostly with slow-growers like crypts, marselia,
anubias, dwarf sag.)
10 large rainbowfish
3 rosey barbs
10 killifish
2 golden algae eaters
2 SAEs
PH 7.2 (since I can't keep the dang CO2 running)
Nitrate 0 (I stopped fertilizing a few months ago)

Here's the history:

Tank was established February 2002.
Ran CO2 24-hours a day to a PH of about 6.8
Light: 200 watts
GH and KH: ~6
Water changes once a week, about 40%
Fertilized 3 times per week (nitrate, iron, phosphate, potassium)
Over time, I have switched from stem plants to slow growers.
About 6 months ago, read something about running Oxygen during the night, so
set up a timer for that.
Stopped fertilizing because plants still seemed to pearl and no algae was
forming.
Over the past two months, fish have been getting sick a lot.
CO2 canister expired finally. Got a new one.
Noticed the fish gasping before the lights were to come on.
Kept the Oxygen running past the light turn on time
This wasn't working. Started turning down the Co2
This wasn't working. Turned on the oxygen 24-hours a day.
This wasn't working. Turned off the Co2 altogether.
Three days later, fish are still gasping. I don't get it.

What else can I do?? Remove the plants?

Kevmo

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