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A different kind of algae

     I set up a fifty-five gallon aquarium roughly 6 months ago, and it has
been flourishing for the majority of that time.  However, recently it has
developed incredible algae growth all over the leaves and the sides of the
aquarium.  This algae is a type which I have never encountered before.  It
forms in very thick, slimy sheets, and comes off very easily.  The real
problem with it is that it grows at unheard-of rates and totally cuts of
light to my plants.  It advances easily at the rate of two to four inches per
day.  My aquarium also developed an unusually strong odor along with the
algae breakout.  I normally associate a strong odor with blue-green
algae/bacteria, but this algae seems to be very different from blue-green
algae.
     My tank had four forty-watt Gro-Lux bulbs on it, which were replaced
during the algae breakout with three Coralife Trichromatic bulbs and one
Gro-Lux.  Previously I had been using Kent Freshwater Plant Supplement and
Kent Iron as plant fertilizer, plus Kent Essential.  Again, during the algae
breakout I was able to scrape together enough to switch to Dupla fertilizer.
 I am doing a five-gallon water change weekly and adding one 20L DuplaPlant
tablet at each water change.  I am adding one DuplaPlant24 drop daily.
     Before the algae breakout, my tank was filtered by a Fluval 203 with
ceramic pre-filter rings and foam, plus a Whisper 3 for mechanical
filtration.  I "injected" yeast-produced CO2 via a upturned soda bottle.
 Give or take a week, at the time I first noticed the algae breakout was also
the time when I replaced the Fluval with a trickle filter.  This caused my ph
to promptly shoot up to about 7.6 from 6.8.  (note--I experience significant
ph swings from day to night, as the ph goes from 7.68 or so at the highest
point and 7.24 or so at the lowest point, as measured by the Pinpoint ph
Monitor.)  I then started to inject CO2 with a diy reactor, in which water is
pumped through a 2" wide reaction chamber filled with Fluval ceramic
pre-filter rings.  I am not sure how efficient or inefficient this reactor
is.
    So, please offer any suggestions you may have as to what caused the
problem, what type of algae it is, and what remedies you would suggest.  I
have read everything I can find regarding all the subjects mentioned above
before posting to this newsgroup, and was unable to diagnose what the problem
was.

Robert