Pedro wrote:
Im using the fertilizer three times a week.
I will describe my tank as medium planted. My planst seem to have a brownish
algae. I am trying everything i can to save them.
Any suggestion are welcome. What type of light do you suggest?

For freshwater plants, using a light that provides a minimum of two
watts per gallon (but no more than 5 watts per gallon) is a good rule of
thumb. Going stronger than that could promote excessive algae growth.
It's best to keep the light on for 12-14 hours a day, but no longer.

As for the brown algae, the way to get rid of it is by reducing the
level of waste nutrients in the water that they are feeding on. Do
20-30% partial water changes every week, be careful not to overfeed the
fish, and keep the gravel as clean as you can. You also need to make
sure you don't have too many fish in your tank, as they may excrete a
lot of waste into the water that the algae could be feeding on. There
are also water treatments that inhibit algae growth by reducing the
levels of nitrates and other unwanted substances in the tank; one such
product is called Algon which you can buy at http://www.algone.com
It also helps a little to have a few algae-eating shrimp living in the
tank. Amano shrimp are great at eating algae, ghost shrimp are OK too
and are fun to watch. Snails also like to eat algae, but be careful what
kind you get as many varieties will also devour your plants - the best
types of snails that wont eat your plants include the Olive Nerite snail
and the Japanese Trap Door snail (aka Periwinkle snail).

- Logic316



"The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy
without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to
do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose."
-- Ronald Reagan