"Elaine T" wrote in message
...

I don't think your tank has enough light or plants. Can you afford a
power compact fixture? If your tank is like a US 20 gallon tall, you
probably want at least 50W-60W of light rather than the 30W you currently
have.

Is power compact the same as T5? I found these;
http://www.fishathome.co.uk/lighting...controller.htm
and was thinking of the T5 Twin Controller 24-39w. Would these be suitable?

More plants will help with the nitrates and algae if they have enough
light to grow well.

Can you recommend any compact but vigorous plants I can fill it the gaps
with? There are several vallis plants, so it may not be as bare as it
sounded. I may post some links to photos if this would be useful.

If you can't get a new fixture, at least make sure any T8 or T12 bulbs
you're using are under 6 months old, or designed for constant light output
like Tritons.

They are Tritons if I remember right, but the oldest must over a year old by
now. If I don't get a new lighting system I will replace them in 2 stages.

Also, Otocinclus will help eat soft green algae off of plant leaves, as
will "Amano" shrimp (Caridina spp.). Both stay an appropriate size for
the tank. Clown plecs are not great algae eaters, unfortunately.

The clown does keep the bogwood clean, he never touches the plant leaves
though unfortunately. I'm loath to add more fish until I can re-house the
old ones, and as they are now probably stunted due to nitrates/lack of swim
room, I don't think anyone else will want them. I would really just like to
keep tiny tetras, small corys and the like so I dont have to add much food
to the water.

The shrimp sounds very interesting though, I'll have read up on that one.

As for ferts, what are you dosing? You may need quite a bit of potash to
help the plants use all that nitrate.

I am using some proprietory brand whose name eludes me, added once a week in
the recommended dose at water changes. I know it contains iron, but it is
less specific about what other ingredients it contains. Maybe not much. I'd
like to try pmdd but never managed to locate the ingredients.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Many thanks for your reply.

-Jon