Frank wrote:
Shorty wrote,

When starting a planted tank with a few fish. How much aeration do I
need?
I am using a canister filter.


The larger the bio-load and the warmer the water, the less dissolved
oxygen. Canister filters are known to move a lot of water - most types
of aquatic plants that thrive in nature, grow in slow flowing or still
water - plus, algaes do better in a turbulent enviroment.

That is SO odd. My experience is the exact opposite. It must be
specific the the kind of plants and algae. The only place long, fluffy
hair algae grows in my whiskey barrel pond is in part of one barrel
where the water is relatively still for the water lily. The water
hyacinth is much smaller in that barrel too. OTOH, the anacharis
sitting right in front of the spillway in strong current was growing
like crazy and blooming heavily last summer. I also get tons of hair
algae and blanketweed it in the calm, sponge filtered outdoor tank. My
mollies and flagfish love the stuff so I don't worry about it.

Indoors, I have clumps of java fern sitting in the filter outlet, and
they grow faster than the java fern on the other side of the tank. The
only place algae grows along the back of my 10 gallon tank is tangled in
the baby's tears where the current is light. Again, it's clumps of
fluffy hair algae - the kind that's not really attached to anything.
Maybe it gets carried to the filter in current?

I generally put crypts in moving water too, since all the pictures I've
seen of them in nature is bent over from the current in fast-flowing
streams. They seem to do fine that way.

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