"Matt C." wrote in message ...
I am having a real tough time with some GBA. I have four oto's and they
don't touch it. I can not locate a local source for real SAE's either. It is
really starting to take over some of my small Echinodorus Tennellus (pygmy
chain swords).Its on my Ludwigia also. I am worried about whether or not
this plant can cause harm to my chain swords. It has fully engulfed several
leaves and even some runners. will my sword still get enough light through
the algae? Is there a way to kill it? I would possibly even consider a
chemical if necessary.
thanx!

Matt, rather than chemicals, deal with the poor plant growth, that's
why algae grows.

Your goal is to grow the plants, not kill algae.
If you grow the plants, the algae will not grow.

Even if something kills the algae, it'll keep coming back till you
learn to grow the plants.

Start with CO2.
20-30ppm for the entire light cycle.
Check this, make sure it's in this range.

Do you dose KNO3, PO4, K, Traces etc?
Pruning infected leaves and providing good conditions will allow the
new growth to come in without algae.
This(good plant growth) is the ONLY long term solution to algae
issues.

It has nothing to do with getting rid of the algae and THEN this will
somehow magically make plants grow(killing all the algae).

If that was the case how'd the algae appear in the first place?
Think about it, poor plant growth, not magic made the algae bloom.

Something is going to grow in there, you have a choice of what.

Regards,
Tom Barr