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Re:took 2 years, but I did it
>From: BErney1014 at aol_com
>Hi Listers,
>I susbscribed to this list and lurked for two years with an occasional post
>(plea) for help. I can count on three fingers the number of replies, so I
>guess I just couldn't entice the experts.
>After starts and restarts I had tanks go anerobic to slime algae covered. I've
>killed tanks of fish and a few plants. Some were natural disasters, other were
>my remedies that killed the fish and/or plants.
>I had switched to Flourite when it came out and use 100% as the substrate.
>Tank worsened. It seemed every improvement caused a worsened condition in the
>tank. I was truely frustrated but I didn't give up. I threw more money at it.
>("money will fix anything", my boss told me before he died) I added new
>lights, bulbs, electronic ballasts and timers. Bottled co2 with fancy needle
>valve. Every improvement caused a worsening condition. If I added fertilizer I
>had slime algae blanket the tank like a tent. I searched the state for SAE's
>and found them. They jumped out of the tank. I tried different balances of
>plants and fish load. Same or worse.
>A month ago I did some remodeling/designing of the aquascape. I added a
>cansiter filter to clear the mess. I left the filter in place.
>The plants started to grow and the algae went bye-bye.
>It was poor circulation all along.
>
>-
In looking over the description of all your troubles, it seems to me that a
denser initial planting should have helped. You are undoubtedly correct
that the circulation helped a lot, but many people have successful planted
tanks without very much or any circulation. A more densly planted tank is
less likely to have algae problems, according to my experience and reports
from many others on this list. Also lightening up on the fish load also
helps keep the tank clear. Could you tell us more about what happened when
you tried "different balances of plants and fish load". What sorts of bad
things happened when you had a lot of plants and a small amount of fish?
Paul Krombholz, in sunny central Mississippi, expecting a bit of arctic air
next week.