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Pat's algae
Pat Bowerman told of her increasing tinkering with aquarium plants until the
plants were very happy and then - ALGAE!!! Hey, been there, done that. I
did exactly the same thing, going from plastics to full blown planted tank.
Then that A-word <shudder>. The algae she described hit my swords, too.
The way I fixed it was to purchase 2 freshwater shrimp (Singapore also call
Wood) to cut down on the spores and stuffs floating in the water and one ram
snail. The water became crystal clear within a few days and after 2 weeks,
the snail has the algae under control. I also turned off the lights for 2
days before doing the critter bit. I still have high phosphate, but have
added Flourish tabs to the gravel and Kent plant fert. to the water. The
plants are growing and the algae is under control. Also, I moved the
aquarium close to a window so the increase in light is helping the plants
out compete the algae. It's rough balancing all the plants requirements,
because an excess of any one thing gets that A-word in your vocabulary
going!
Rochelle Williams
williaro at ftmcphsn-emh1_army.mil