sophie wrote:
I have a four foot coldwater tank, which until a month or so ago had no
hood and no lights - it gets slanting sun in the afternoon, and the only
plant I had in there was creeping jenny, which I appreciate isn't an
aquatic plant, but has grown happily for me over about eight months.

A month or so ago I added dojo loaches, who are notorious jumpers, to
the tank, so I also added a hood & a light, and some anacharis - which
did quite well in an unlit tank for me last year until it got eaten...

The lighting is pretty inadequate for plants at the moment - I think
it's 38 watts (fluorescent) and the tank is about 46/47 US gallons, and
I've started to get a fuzz of green algae on the stones/shells/wood and
plants - and on the tank glass. I'm not fussed about it on the
furniture, but I don't like it on the glass or plants much.

I have an idea that I need to: put another bulb in and add more plants.
Would this be a good plan? Part of me thinks I would get more algae,
part of me thinks that with more light the plants would be able to
out-compete it. I also think that maybe frequent water changes for a few
weeks might help? Nitrates are somewhere between 12.5 & 25, I think
closer to 12.5 but the kit (Tetra) only has those two options.

You are definately short of light for plants, and yes, adding more light
and plants can shift the balance away from algae. It does take a bit of
care to get the tank really going well, and you can still get algae
blooms even in heavily planted tanks. To find a balance, the plants
must be fertilized properly with a trace element mix, iron, potash, CO2,
and sometimes even nitrates and phosphorus. You also need lots of
plants, so that they use up everything before the algae does.

In the short term, water changes will help with the algae if your
tapwater is lower in nitrate and phosphates than your tank.

If this is a good idea, are there any other coldwater plants suitable
for a beginner? I'm coping with a small (overstocked) tropical tank
fine, but I'm finding coldwater plant advice hard to get in the two
(very nice) LFS I go to

I'm starting a pond outside and just did a bit of research on coldwater
plants. I ordered Cambomba carolinia, Vallisneria americana
(needs 67 degree water), and Egeria najas (a prettier form of anacharis)
to go out in the colder water. Myriophyllum aquaticum (parrot's
feather) and many of the native Sagittaria species also prefer cooler
water. For more ideas, try going to a pond store instead of a tropical
fish store.

All advice very gratefully received...

One other thing - I don't know of any coldwater algae eating fish, but
some of the Japanese algae eating shrimp are temperate and handle cold
water perfectly well. There's one called the Amano shimp and another
called Tiger shrimp. If you get a bunch, they'll eat the algae off of
the plants and furniture. You may be stuck scraping to clean the glass.
Algae magnets work great and you don't have to dunk your arm into that
cold water. Brrr...

--
__ Elaine T __
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