spiral_72 wrote:
Um, I didn't know plants could use KNO3 for nitrate. Duh...... I've
just made a note of that.
Well Tom. It looks like you might be "the man" and I need to get the
CO2 Bomb running or a yeast-CO2 generator for temporary. Looks lke I
need to dose some for of nitrates too. I figure theoretically I COULD
add lots of fish for the nitrate, I think I'll do the dosing for
right
now.


Well Spiral, Let me tell you a little story about a boy and his fish.
You see, in the beginning, there was a boy who wanted to keep fish in a
square tank made of glass. He kept fish in the water, everyone was
happy. Some fish lived longer than others, some were lucky enough to
die of old age instead of cats, broken heaters, broken tanks, chlorine
poisining and other man made ailments.

Then one day the man realized he wasn't a boy any longer, yet he still
wanted to keep fish in glass tanks, but he had alot more money and he
could keep more fish in more water. These fish too, like their
ancestors, lived pretty much happy lives and some lived a long time.

Now the man, wanting to broaden his horizon and venture into new
aquatic worlds, tried keeping plants alive under water. "Heck, dahlias
are easy enough to grow outdoors in a totally uncontrolled environment,
it should be easy to keep aquatic weeds in water!"

http://Aquaria.Info/members/ervis/

The above site doesn't go into much detail on the real learning
adventure involved. Tom helped me a great deal. He also led me down
the primrose path to madness at the same time. I was about where
you are at now, when I started dumping in the ferts. Holy crap! Can
you ever grow algae with lots of light and nutrients! What I was
lacking was enough plants, lots of plants. Thick healthy plants. Only
when I'd covered the bottom of my tank with plants and plant bunches
did I see the algae finally take a backseat.

From what you've learned so far, you're on the right track. Here's
what I learned in short form.

Kill BGA with a blackout.
Dose KNO3 using the fert calculator on chucks aquarium pages.
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/46g.htm
Measure your Nitrates and Phosphate if you have those kits, and dose
accordingly.
With your zillion watt lights, you're going to have to have additional
C02. If you aren't adding any artifically, then your level is between
2 and 3 ppm. See the C02 calculator chart on Chucks Aquarium pages.
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/46g.htm
With C02, measurable levels of NPK in the ratio of 8:1:16, you'll be
amazed at how fast the plants grow and even more amazed to see the
remaining algae just sit there, sad, uneven to spread beyond the little
rock you've left it on.

steve