wrote in message
oups.com...
I will say this: more light is not better.
More light= faster growth = faster uptake =more pruning and more chance
of algae.

Agreed Tom!

I can't keep my plants under control any longer - they grow at least 1" per
week of lush thick bright green growth. I can keep the algae down by not
dosing liquid fertilizer frequently, but the pruning and amount of excess
plants that have gone back to the LFS are amazing. I wouldn't have believed
it a few months ago when I couldn't see my Val. gowing let alone sending off
side shoots all over the place as they are now.

I don't even have 2wpg - only ~1.4, substrate fertilizer, plant spectrum
tubes with yeast CO2 and the plants are almost out of control - almost

I've never seen Java Moss grow so fast as it does in the big tank and
luckily for Mr Male Dwarf Gourami I can cut it off once per week to give him
plenty of material with which to build his bubble nests (horny little
bugger he is).

BTW I have gone back to your diffuser design after installing a new canister
filter and ditching the two internals. I think this may have something to do
with the plant growth explosion - in combo. with fertilizer balancing and a
general settling of the "biotope".

I have also found that fast flowing water also causes, or seems to, an
increase in algae of the green variety, but you can get around that if you
have enough Gourami,Mollies/Platties, Apple Snails or SAE's (or similar).

Oz

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My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith