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Ok here goes nothing.... I just got the june issuse of TFH and saw a tank on page 99. I want this tank. However I cannot afford 2k worth of test kits. I have tried keeping a planted tank and got nothing but algae. I even had algae growing on hornwort and its supposed to release a anti algae chemical. I can save up and buy a real co2 injector. I current have a 125 I want to plant with live plants. Its running a 32x2 watt homedepot light with 6500k lights and a coralife 65 watt 67k light on it. I want a nice planted tank with no algae and not much use of ferts cause everytime I add ferts the algae just blossoms.


Chris


PS- I have read many articles on this site and still i get algae all diffrent kinds. Except for green water I have never had that yet (crosses fingers and hopes against hope)

Good luck with the planted tank !

I use to have algae issues in both my planted tanks.. Especially the 10 gal was always scraping the glass and the heater.. I added one type of fish and no longer have an issue...

Bristlenose plecos ! Get them when they're small..
One keeps my 10 gal spotless, 2 keep my 40 clean...

Another thought: Don't add fert if you're already having an algae issue.

Last edited by DaFishMan at 21-Aug-2005 09:04

The Amazon Nut...

Yes, with only about 1wpg (I think I did the math right) you should not need much fertilizer. You should also restrict your plants to low light requiring plants. This includes the anubias species, java moss, and java fern. You could possibly get away with a few others like swords or a couple stem or floating plants. I'd check out [link=tropica]http://www.tropica.com" style="COLOR: #FFD700[/link] and use the advanced search to see what might work in your tank. If you want plants that require more light I would suggest maybe getting another compact flourescent fixture for the tank.

CO2 isn't as necessary with a low light tank as it is with medium and high light - if you upgrade your lighting I'd try to get the compressed CO2, but do this as soon as you get the plants, or you may end up with a bunch of algae.

The best way for you to avoid algae IMO is to fill the tank completely with plants from the get go, it helps to keep nutrient levels under control/ more room for error.

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

ok going out right now and buying a 40wattx2 light fixture with 6.5k bulbs.


Chris

That's still not going to gain you enough that co2 will be very useful. It just means it will be easier to keep some of the lower light plants. If you put all that light on you only have 1.6wpg which is considered a low light tank. C02 is usually added at 2wpg or above. I'm not saying co2 will do absolutely no good but it's probably not worth the cost of a large system. It's possible to setup a heavily planted low light tank without co2. You just have to do a bit more research and put more thought into your plants.

weighates

No matter what you decide on the first cost will be big. selecting the correct plants, correct lighting, Co2 (optional) setting up the tank correctly substrate etc.

Choosing the correct fish algae eaters etc.

But once it is fully established it is well worth it and it will basically look after its self.

Keith

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You can also get reflectors for your tubes. I don't think it doubles the output, as is usually the claim, but it certainly help and will stretch your light output a bit further. They're also relatively cheap and don't need replacing. A good buy, in my opinion.

If I were you, I would still try the co2 if you go with 1.6 watts per gallon. I've seen enough instances of this being beneficial. Give it a try and you might have the advantage of having light limited plants -- don't grow that quickly -- and yet still have a beautiful tank. As above, I'd stick with Crypts and Java fern and anubias varieties, perhaps water sprite. I'm gaining a new fondness for java fern because I've actually found it to be one of my better pearlers!