Throwing in the Towel

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: Throwing in the Towel
From: zbigniew at netcom_com (Patrick Farley)
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 1995 06:27:37 -0700

I've pretty much given up on my current setup.  
I have a 30L freshwater tank with about 80watts of Triton Light.  I use a 
DIY CO2 injector.  The tank has 2 goldfish, 7 mollies, and an angel fish.
The substrate is composed of a about 3 inches of sand/quartz that I brought 
out of a natural spring in the mountains.  The loose particles tend to drift 
about and land on the plants.

I have such an algae problem that I'm considering tearing the tank down this 
weekend and starting over.  Here are my reasons.

* The plants are dying.
* The plants have a fur coat of algae
* I think the substrate has settled and become too hard for the roots.
* I want to remove all sources of algae
* I'll use filtered water instead of tap water.

What I'm interested in is a good substrate composition?  What is laterite 
and should I use it?  How about peat?  Gravel?  Children's sandbox sand?

Patrick
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*  The Self created God creates creations.  *
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