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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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