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Re:George B.APD V3#8



I queried...>what are the particular symptoms of a tank that is 'crapping out'?<

George B. replied... >We would see plants growing less robustly and algae
would start to appear on some of the algae prone plants. We used H.
corymbosa as an "indicator plant". When it started to produce smaller
leaves and the older leaves showed signs of deficiency, we figured the
substrate was too rich from detritus and needed vacuuming.<

        So George, you had better results by cleaning things up rather than
struggling with a new balancing act. Do you think you were exceeding that
perfect '5% organic content' figure recently touted? Were any plants doing
better during those last days before vacuuming? Are the H. corymbosa
symptoms you watch for similar to the H. polysperma symptoms recently
diagnosed by APDers as calcium deficiencies? Do you need to go thru another
'run in period' after vacuuming?


Jeff Kropp