Re: disgusted with persistant algae

["Tom Wood" <tomwood2 at flash_net>]

Well, now I see that you may have an opportunity to be visited upon by the
great Barr, I would wait and see what he tells you.

In the meantime, stop dumping stuff into your tank, especially if you don't
know what the effect will be. Do several 20% water changes, two a day, over
the next few days to get back to ground zero. Find out what is in your
tapwater, especially in terms of P. Figure out how to keep the pH below 7 at
all times. I've noticed that this crossover point can have a big impact if
the tank goes back and forth. The chemists here can tell you why.

See:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_dosage_calc.htm

to calculate K (potassium) using K2SO4, potassium sulfate. Don't try to dose
K with KNO3 (potassium nitrate) because you will always end up with too much
nitrate, especially if you also feed the fish. (I tried the wind-up plastic
fish, but it didn't have the same effect, so I'm stuck with feeding live
ones.)

I found that 11 hours a day is the best photoperiod for swordplants, no
less, no more. The other plants seem to agree. If you can ramp that lighting
up and down by turning on fewer lamps, I would back off the full lighting
and experiment with a lower light level. If you have AH Supply CF lamps, cut
it in half and see how things do.

I use a HOT Magnum on a 90 to clean up after major disturbances. I think it
is too robust for a daily filter because it moves too much water, which
leads to CO2 loss. On a 55, I would expect the problem to be worse. When I
had one on a 60, I ordered another intake tube/strainer and replaced the
standard output tube with the new intake tube. That way I could adjust the
output turbulence by swinging the tube up or down. Don't use charcoal, it's
a total waste on any tank, especially planted tanks.

Get Seachem Fe and P test kits (That Fish Place, about $20 each), and
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals KH, pH and N test kits (PetSmart, about $6 each).
Hagen is a joke, IMO, and LaMotte and Hach are like killing a fly with a
dirty bomb.

TW