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Intro and first question

Forrest wrote:
>Subject: Intro & 1st Question
.... I just recently graduated from college and used my first
>real paycheck to set up a killer tank. I could have bought a Porsche but what
>the heck.

Hi Forrest...welcome to the APD...wow that must have been some big
paycheque (note the Canadian spelling...got some French in it). Seriously
though it is good to have a very serious new member.

<snip> I've had many algae plagues even though I bleached the
>plants. Greenwater has come and gone. My substrate went bad (or something) and
>some fish died one time.

Don't get discouraged. I've had algae plagues too. I'm not a bleacher
anymore. I used to be but I've found that all alages go away with patience
and the right conditions. My substrate has never "gone bad". What were the
symptoms?

>Like many others, I have often dreamed about the stuff Mr. Booth writes about.
>I love his web-site (Aquatic Concepts) and I think the photos he has there
>just totally rule! So, now that I'm momentarily rich, I set up a 90 gallon
>tank just like the "SST". It's been set up since February and just blows me
>away.  I've had only teeny bits of algae like he describes in his "Starting
>Out" page.  I'm already supplying the local fish store with most of the plants
>they need. This is a great hobby.

Glad you found a method you like. But be ready for troubles anyway... they
seem to come with almost any set-up. George sure does have lovely tanks (so
do others on this list...have you checked out Karen Randall's?) I tend to
think of Booth tanks as "balanced". Believe it or not (I guess as you're
new you may not have seem my "frustrated with algae" postings) I think I
have finally balanced mine. I have no algae at all now except those
annoying little spots on the glass ... which are good for the algae eaters
anyway. The bothersome thing is that I'm not 100 percent sure what I did to
achieve this state and therefore I live in fear that it will dissolve.
Maybe it was the reduced light period... maybe it was extra algae eaters...
maybe it was PMDD adjustment. Oh well, that's what makes this hobby
exciting!

>One question though. There has been discussions of BGA recently and someone
>stated that it only grows in still water. I have a little bt between the
>gravel and front glass so that makes sense. But I also have some growing in
>the wet/dry filter skimmer box and siphon tube.  This doesn't strike me as
>being especially still water. Do I have two different kinds of BGA or was that
>still water stuff a bunch of guessing?

Good question. My basement 25 gallon tank now has BG algae that it has
never had before and here is how conditions changed. I took out all fish
except a breeding pair of Kribs... mainly because the Kribs were trying to
kill everything, and, I removed a large quantity of duckweed. Everything
else remained the same. Therefore the BG algae was either: a) being eaten
by the SAEs and otos that I removed, or b) the duckweed was sucking up all
the nutrients it needed to grow. And the BGA is growing on Rotala
rotundifloria that is sitting right in the jet stream of a
powerhead....definately NOT still water. I have some between gravel and
glass too.... so are there TWO kinds??

Once again, welcome to the group,
Olga
in Vancouver