[APD] Re: killing algae vs growing plants

["John Godbey" <john_godbey at verizon.net>]

Tom Barr said (and has said many times before): "Good growth tanks have no
algae"
 
This is simply not true.  Many of us, many, have tanks with wonderful plant
growth, and still have algae.  I can grow nearly anything in my tank (and
the plants grow fast, too) but I still have algae.
 
A related statement that is sometimes made is that with proper mixture of
fertilizers (including CO2) and light, then there will be no algae.  This
may be true, but it begs the important question:  What is the proper mix?  I
would pay a lot to someone who could give me a mix of fertilizers that would
stop me from having to clean spot algae from my aquarium walls every two
weeks.
 
It was interesting at the AGA convention that both Diana Walstad and Amano
said, in response to questions about specific aquariums they were
discussing, that they avoided algae by feeding the plants in the substrate,
not in the water column.  I have two "low tech" tanks which never have
fertilizers in the water column, and they have essentially no algae.  But
they are (relatively) low light tanks.  I like a well-lit tank, and that
seems to require some fertilizers in the water column.  And there comes the
algae.
 
John Godbey
Springfield, VA

 

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