I might buy the plants from you but I sure need your advice again. I don't
know what to do now but I'm thinking to start from a scratch. Can you
please ID my algae. It looks like Hair or Brush Red Aglae.
Yup, that's what it is. I had that algae briefly, when I first set up my first
real planted tank.
How can I remove nitrates besides water change to
keep it under 10ppm?
If your plants grow well, they will remove nitrate. In fact, you may have to
add nitrate to your tank.
Have you seen Chuck's article on algae?
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_algae.htm
He claims that a common cause of this problem is not enough nitrate! I think
that was why I had it. I put compact flourescent lights over my tank and a ton
of plants in it, and nitrates dropped to zero in days. Probably for the first
time in years. Being new at the time, I had no idea that could be a problem.
Try searching this newsgroup (at Google) on BBA, and you'll find a lot of
discussion on it. Pay no attention to those calling it Satanic. g It's
algae, uglier and tougher than most, but still just algae. SAEs eat it, which
is why planted tank folk like them so much. I think they prefer the tender new
growth, though, rather than the tough old stuff, so if your tank is heavily
infested, pruning leaves that are covered with algae will help, even if you
have SAEs.
I wouldn't start over. You need to learn to keep the tank in balance, or
you'll just the have same problem, with this or some other algae. You can cut
off infested leaves, which will help your tank look better right away. To fix
the problem in the long term, consider getting some true SAEs if you don't have
any, and adjust your nutrients. And if you got rid of a lot of stem plants,
well, maybe you got rid of too many, and need to add some back. :-)
I don't restrict nutrients to try to control algae. Not even phosphate. I
have a ton of phosphate in my tap water (40 ppm!). It hasn't caused algae
problems for me. As long as I don't let nitrate drop to zero in my tanks, I
don't have any algae problems.
Leigh
http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/