I think a lot of people (including myself from time to time) just don't
realize or forget that there is more than one algae free path. Every single
person will have a different experience when growing plants. You can have 2
people each with the exact same tanks, fish, plants, lights, CO2, etc., but
the experience will be different due to tap water. I've found the advice
here is great, but not everyone's setup's will benefit. I had to keep
experimenting until I found what the correct dosage was for my setup. It
can take a while.

--
Craig Brye
University of Phoenix Online

"Dick" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 21:31:49 -0400, "Matt C."
wrote:

I just bought two oto's. The purpose is to remove some black beard algae.
Will they work? I wanted sae's but they didnt have any...
thanx,

If you have bba or black hair algae, your fight has just begun. I
know of no fish that will remove the stuff by themselves. A match
between tank lighting and plants is important. I discovered "Low
Light" plants during my 2 month fight. I removed all visible algae,
including some in the gravel, bought Low Light plants, was more
careful about feeding, added SAEs, and added a timer to limit the
hours of light. I won, but I don't know that any one change did the
trick. I now have 5 tanks ranging from 75 to 10 gallons and have had
the 75 gallon tank up for almost two years. It has been over 14
months since I saw a "hair" of algae, just some green spots on the
glass. I don't use plant fertilizer nor CO2.

dick