This is my first aquarium in 30 years. I am learning a lot, but I'm getting
frustrated and need some advice.

I have a standard 29G aquarium with five ~2" juvenile goldfish. The tank
completed the nitrogen-nitrate cycle almost one month ago. I am very
careful about feeding and water quality (water changes, frequent water
testing, etc).

The diatoms coat everything in the tank. Threads in this list, and several
web sites suggest that it will go away, my question is, "when"?

I have tried to introduce a variety of higher order plants to help but the
brown gunk just uses the leaves as another surface for growth. I even have
pothos with the roots in the aquarium to try and help. I introduced a 55w CF
lamp two weeks ago and a Nutrafin CO2 injector (yeast type) a few days ago,
and started adding "flourish" three times over the last week. I have done
everything I am willing to do to minimize surface agitation. I am noticing
some new growth on a couple of plants, but they still look pretty nasty.

I have fluorite substrate on it's way, but before introducing it and
investing in more plants, I want to get rid of this brown creeping crud. Any
advice? Am I on the right track, or am I missing something?

chet

You've done all the right things, except maybe to add a few snails and/or
ottos.

More important than a variety of higher order plants at this point is
*quantity* - add lots of cheap, fast growing stem plants and gradually
replace them with nicer specimens later. Goldfish don't need the heat, so
keep the temperature down around 70º to inhibit algae.

These things take time. Achieving and maintaining a desirable, stable
aquarium environment is a process, not a goal.

kush

chet chet-at-surewestDOTnet wrote in message
...
This is my first aquarium in 30 years. I am learning a lot, but I'm
getting
frustrated and need some advice.

I have a standard 29G aquarium with five ~2" juvenile goldfish. The tank
completed the nitrogen-nitrate cycle almost one month ago. I am very
careful about feeding and water quality (water changes, frequent water
testing, etc).

The diatoms coat everything in the tank. Threads in this list, and several
web sites suggest that it will go away, my question is, "when"?

I have tried to introduce a variety of higher order plants to help but the
brown gunk just uses the leaves as another surface for growth. I even have
pothos with the roots in the aquarium to try and help. I introduced a 55w
CF
lamp two weeks ago and a Nutrafin CO2 injector (yeast type) a few days
ago,
and started adding "flourish" three times over the last week. I have done
everything I am willing to do to minimize surface agitation. I am noticing
some new growth on a couple of plants, but they still look pretty nasty.

I have fluorite substrate on it's way, but before introducing it and
investing in more plants, I want to get rid of this brown creeping crud.
Any
advice? Am I on the right track, or am I missing something?

chet

I totally agree with kush, but I would just like to inject that having a few
snails is absolutly a good thing, just make sure that you monitor their
reproduction. (i.e. if you get a snail explosion, then you want to make sure
you take some out) Snails are great for algae control, but you just have to
keep a close eye on them or your plants are toast...

-Jason

"kush" wrote in message
...
You've done all the right things, except maybe to add a few snails and/or
ottos.

More important than a variety of higher order plants at this point is
*quantity* - add lots of cheap, fast growing stem plants and gradually
replace them with nicer specimens later. Goldfish don't need the heat, so
keep the temperature down around 70º to inhibit algae.

These things take time. Achieving and maintaining a desirable, stable
aquarium environment is a process, not a goal.

kush

chet chet-at-surewestDOTnet wrote in message
...
This is my first aquarium in 30 years. I am learning a lot, but I'm
getting
frustrated and need some advice.

I have a standard 29G aquarium with five ~2" juvenile goldfish. The tank
completed the nitrogen-nitrate cycle almost one month ago. I am very
careful about feeding and water quality (water changes, frequent water
testing, etc).

The diatoms coat everything in the tank. Threads in this list, and
several
web sites suggest that it will go away, my question is, "when"?

I have tried to introduce a variety of higher order plants to help but
the
brown gunk just uses the leaves as another surface for growth. I even
have
pothos with the roots in the aquarium to try and help. I introduced a
55w
CF
lamp two weeks ago and a Nutrafin CO2 injector (yeast type) a few days
ago,
and started adding "flourish" three times over the last week. I have
done
everything I am willing to do to minimize surface agitation. I am
noticing
some new growth on a couple of plants, but they still look pretty nasty.

I have fluorite substrate on it's way, but before introducing it and
investing in more plants, I want to get rid of this brown creeping crud.
Any
advice? Am I on the right track, or am I missing something?

chet

Yep - try to get ones that don't eat plants - the larger variety that are
livebearing reproduce slower as well.
On the algae problem, definatly cooler water - and turn the lights down if
your not gonna put in a lotta plants - single cell (algae) will grow faster
than plants, so I'd recommend doing the plants thing - LOTS of CHEAP stem
plants, to compete with the algae. You also can try using some phosphate
removers to reduce the amount of phosphate in the tank - algae needs this
stuff more that plants do.


"Jason" wrote in message
gy.com...
I totally agree with kush, but I would just like to inject that having a
few
snails is absolutly a good thing, just make sure that you monitor their
reproduction. (i.e. if you get a snail explosion, then you want to make
sure
you take some out) Snails are great for algae control, but you just have
to
keep a close eye on them or your plants are toast...

-Jason

"kush" wrote in message
...
You've done all the right things, except maybe to add a few snails
and/or
ottos.

More important than a variety of higher order plants at this point is
*quantity* - add lots of cheap, fast growing stem plants and gradually
replace them with nicer specimens later. Goldfish don't need the heat,
so
keep the temperature down around 70º to inhibit algae.

These things take time. Achieving and maintaining a desirable, stable
aquarium environment is a process, not a goal.

kush

chet chet-at-surewestDOTnet wrote in message
...
This is my first aquarium in 30 years. I am learning a lot, but I'm
getting
frustrated and need some advice.

I have a standard 29G aquarium with five ~2" juvenile goldfish. The
tank
completed the nitrogen-nitrate cycle almost one month ago. I am very
careful about feeding and water quality (water changes, frequent water
testing, etc).

The diatoms coat everything in the tank. Threads in this list, and
several
web sites suggest that it will go away, my question is, "when"?

I have tried to introduce a variety of higher order plants to help but
the
brown gunk just uses the leaves as another surface for growth. I even
have
pothos with the roots in the aquarium to try and help. I introduced a
55w
CF
lamp two weeks ago and a Nutrafin CO2 injector (yeast type) a few days
ago,
and started adding "flourish" three times over the last week. I have
done
everything I am willing to do to minimize surface agitation. I am
noticing
some new growth on a couple of plants, but they still look pretty
nasty.

I have fluorite substrate on it's way, but before introducing it and
investing in more plants, I want to get rid of this brown creeping
crud.
Any
advice? Am I on the right track, or am I missing something?

chet