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DAI tabs --> algae?




    I have a low-tech, low-maintenance 10-gal tank sitting on my desk at
    work.  Hardware is an Eheim 2007 sponge-in-a-canister-with-a-powerhead-
    on-top internal filter feeding a RF-UGF, a small E-J heater, a tiny
    air pump providing a stream of bubbles up the back wall (for water
    circulation), and one 15-watt GE Gro&sho fluorescent tube.  Firmware is
    two inches of medium brown gravel and a piece of driftwood.  Software
    is four anubias nana, three a.congensis, four crypt petchii, a slew of
    java ferns ranging from one to nine inches in height, and a few neon
    tetras.  Maintenance is a 2 or 3 gallon water change via vacuuming
    every few weeks, and Dupla daily drops (the latter on days when I
    remember to do so).  The tank has never seen any sort of test kit.

    Over the last month or so I've noticed that algae seems to be growing
    much faster.  I see it in two places, but it might be the same algae.
    A thin, lacey, dark green? fuzz grows on the glass sides of the tanks.  
    Also, the leaves of the anubias and j-ferns get a light coating of
    algae that grows to a heavy film covering the top half of leaves.  This
    latter stuff is almost black, and is easily wiped off (it comes off in
    sheets).  The stuff on the glass takes gentle scrubbing to remove.

    I can think of only a few things that have changed in the last couple
    of months.  The avg temp in my office has gone up a few degrees.  The
    fluorescent bulb has aged.  The sun comes in the window at a different
    angle (the tank gets hit in the afternoon).  The tap water may have
    some extra springtime goodies from nature, the farmers, and/or the
    city.  And, I switched from Dupla fert tablets to the Delaware Aquatic
    Imports tablets.  Unless someone convinces me otherwise, I'm gonna'
    assume the algae comes from the last, and I'll probably switch back.
    Anyone want a few hundred DAI tabs? :-)  I'd guess that the water is
    the next most likely culprit.

    -- Keith

    | Keith Brummett            Ofc: 614-860-3187         AT&T, Room 3B202 |
    | w.k.brummett at att_com      Fax: 614-868-4106        6200 E. Broad St. |
    | wbrummett at attmail_com         R,DW,HAHB!          Columbus, OH 43213 |
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