Hi Elaine and the group:

I don't think I have a SAE, I have two Otocinclus Catfish. I'll get a
bristle-nosed tonight. The fellow above was right about 4.7 watts
/gallon! W/in three days I had serve alge all over my nice plants: clumpy
green stuff entangling my dwarf swords and hairgrass. Sooooo, back to
2.4/gallon. I finally ordered a CO2 setup fm ebay and will get a CO2 tank
when it comes in.

By the way for a warm water/acid 82F/6.5 low KH/DH tank which would
be better as background plants: Vallisneria or the Sagittaria species?
Thanks again!


Vallisneria americana or the
"Elaine T" wrote in message
m...
Mr. Zee wrote:
Hi Elaine:

Thanks for all the info. (Thanks to the other group members too.)
I have a lot of alge on my plants. I bought a Clown Pelco thinking he
would take care of it but he just hangs out in the driftwood. So last
week I bought 2 1" Chinese Algae Eaters. They are busy little guys,
cleaning thing up. Are two enough for a 55 gallon? I'd like to buy a
couple more but don't want to starve them.

Chinese algae eaters?!? You might want to read this - those are pretty
nasty fish when they grow up. http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/
I've found Ancistrus spp. to be better algae eaters than Peckoltia spp. I
also like Farlowella spp. and otocinclus.

When I had a planted 55, it was home to 1 Ancistrus, 1 Farlowella, 6
otocinclus, and 3 siamese algae eaters. You could add any of those fish
to your tank in preference to more CAE.

Also, I had bought a nice 12" long Ludwiga but after a few days it
started to lose all it leaves. I took it out, cut it back to a small 4"
strand or two and replanted it. I hadn't gotten the extra lighting when I
bought it so perhaps that's why it died? I have soft water, pH 6.7, 81F.

By the way, a few friends came over yesterday. Everyone said 'ohh ahh
are those REAL plants?' It's a nice feeling yes? So nice to have
beautiful green planst in the aquarium.

That is a lot of fun.

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