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Re: A few observations; Workshop/Auction with Karen Randall in Washington, D.C.
>other algae appear, or anything remotely resembling an algae bloom
>begins to appear, I REDUCE the plant nutrients immediately (with no
>dosing for a few days or a week to give the plants a chance to clear out
>
>Fish are handled the same way as plant nutrients. Start with a few
>algae eaters or no fish at all, and don't add the rest of your fish
>
>Best of luck, Steve Dixon in San Francisco
I think there are lots of ways to keep your tank limited. Specific tricks
and schedules that work for someone else might not work for you. In my
case, for example, I've always had a high fish load (my tanks are planted
fish tanks, not plant tanks with fish). An increase in lighting touched off
my first real algae skirmish. I am currently experimenting with CO2 and
light levels to keep my tank limited. It's working well so far.
BTW, my DIY CO2 is now about a week and a half old. I'm feeding the output
from the bottle down into the tank, and then up again into the input for the
canister filter. It took me almost a week before I was ready to leave it in
at night, but I haven't witnessed any fish problems yet. I did, however,
order a few test kits! No dramatic results yet, except for the bubbles, but
I think the swords are perking up a bit. With the pH drop - only about .5
so far - I had a little bit of ich show up on my cardinal tetras, but I
think that's now under control.
I've also never fertilized the tank with any visible results. I've got a
flourite substrate, plus I feed quite a bit. Water changes seem to
accomplish the rest. With the added CO2, perhaps it's time for added
fertilizer. I've got a few brands of liquid fertilizer around, but I'm
waiting for the test kits to arrive before I start to experiment.
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P.S., Jennifer, if you keep looking around, you'll find female powder blue
gouramis. I don't know if you've checked the Aquarium Center, but I've seen
them sold in pairs there. Often, there are more males than females, but
there's usually at least one female in the tank. I've also seen them in
other fish stores in the area, although I can't say that I've noticed them
recently.
P.P.S., y'all might want to lighten up on Kelly's remark about Takashi
Amano. Or at least, re-read the original comment. Do you have to use a
smiley face when you type something that's tongue-in-cheek?
I got the joke, and I thought it was funny. :)
Alysoun McLaughlin
Wheaton, Maryland
alysoun at planetall_com
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NOTICE... NOTICE... NOTICE...
Karen Randall... Karen Randall... Karen Randall...
Potomac Valley Aquarium Society
Workshop and Auction
THIS WEEKEND
Gaithersburg, Maryland
http://www.pvas.com/auctions.htm