Fallout wrote:
"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?

I found that page is a bit confusing. If the twin controller runs two
24-39 watt bulbs, it would be a great fixture.

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.

With your current lighting, you might try Rotala indica or rotundifolia,
Java moss (Vesicularia dubyana), or smaller swordplants like Echinodorus
"Ozelot" or Echonodorus parviflorus "Tropica". Java moss grows quite
quickly in my hard water and keeps my 2g betta tank nitrate free.

With more light, try Limnophila, Water sprite (Ceratopteras cornuta),
any Hygrophila spp. (all are tall and quite vigorous), Baby's tears
(Hemianthus micranthemoides - great for smaller tanks), Alternantheria
reinckii (also tall but grows slowly), or Echinodorus tenellus (pygmy
chained sword). There are many other suitable plants for higher light -
those are just some attractive, smaller ones. Water sprite and
Hygrophila polysperma are particularly vigorous growers for me.

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.

No sense replacing Tritons. They keep a very good output until they
die. I really like those bulbs. See if a polished reflector is
available for your lighting fixture instead. You could also have a
mirror cut as a backdrop to the tank to reflect light back in to the plants.

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.

If you increase lighting, you will almost certainly need some algae
eating fish. Controlling algae with plants and fertilizers alone can be
done, but it will be harder with your high nitrates. I understand your
reluctance to add more fish to the setup, though. Shrimp might be a
good way to go. Mine hang out on plant leaves all the time eating soft
green algae. My favorites are the little bumblebee shrimp I found at
LFS one day.

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.

You can get Tropica Master Grow from the same place that sells the
lighting you're considering.
http://www.fishathome.co.uk/watertre...mastergrow.htm It's a
great fertilizer. www.gregwatson.com sells PMDD ingredients from
Canada, but I don't know what shipping would cost.

Also, what's your pH? If it's high, you can use Seachem Acid Buffer to
lower KH and pH to make more C02 and trace elements available to the
plants. http://tinyurl.com/866ua That should help a bit too.

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