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Suggestion about restocking to fight algae?
Hello Gentle Pundits:
I'm fit to be tied: I started ye olde plant tank two months
ago, and it's looking ugly. Parameters: 40 gallons, Tex-
Blast gravel with Dupla K; water straight out of reverse
osmosis; pH 7.5; GH 8; KH 4; temp 81; lighting, 2 Tritons
and one Coralife 50/50 left on 10 hours daily; fish load,
3 mollies and a pair of Aequidens dorsiger. I have green
algae, hair algae and the ever-dreaded brush algae. Baensch
refers to green algae as "fur algae," which in my experience
is the most commonly encountered type--it's the stuff that
covers a wide area in a stealty, innocuous manner. Oh yeah,
and I've used yeast culture CO2, but using KH vs pH extra-
polations, I saw little reason to continue to bother. I
was using two one-liter bottles.
The plants cost way too much (well over $100 from TFP) yet
aren't enough to outcompete with algae for nutrients. Which
brings up another factor. I use Dupla's 24 fertilizer, or
at least I used to, but now I'm mighty leery about feeding
hungry algae.
So, I've decided to semi-tear down the tank, stripping the
Amazons' leaves and plucking whatever else looks like
doesn't belong in the aquarium. I've ordered 50 corkscrew
vallisneria from Aquarium Driftwood of Semmes, Alabama, to
make sure the algae get a bit more competition for resources.
What else should I do? What irreconcileable mistakes have I
made that others can avoid making?
--sigh, Alan