Hi,

I have had my aquarium going for 3 months now. I am now getting a little
more algae than I hoped for and the promised 'you only need to spend a 1/2
hour a week changing the water' has now turned into a 2 hour gardening &
water change exercise. I have 2 questions that I hope you can help me with.

1) Because I live in an area that adds chloramine to the water the LFS have
always recommended a chlorine/chloramine remover. I have always used Aqua
plus for no other reason that I bought a big one and it's still going. I
also have a number of plants (Hygrophila Polyspermis, Cambomba, Egeria Densa
(doing v.badly), Anubias Nana (2 flowers), Cryptocoryne ???, Java Fern,
Echindorus Amazonia,). A few weeks ago I reckoned that the leaves of some of
the plants were not as green as they used to be (I also had some algae at
that time). Understanding that higher order plants that do well should
restrict algae growth I was keen to ensure that my plants do well (for a
system with no CO2). The LFS recommended API's Leaf Zone for the Iron.

Question: Does the anti-chloramine part of the Aqua Plus also remove the
Chelated Iron?

2) When I oriinally set up my tank, the package I brought contained a 'tea
bag' which was supposed to remove Phophate and thus restrict algal growth.
This did seem to work for the first couple of months. Now that I am seeing
more algae (green hairy bits on plants that becomes quite matted if left for
too long, plus very tiny strands floating in the water - 1-2mm long) I
thought that I would get some more tea bags. As my wife was passsing the LFS
I asked her to get some 'tea bags that remove phosphate'. The man in the LFS
sold her a giant tea bag (15cm diameter ball if scrunched up) 'Prewashed
filter material CLEANWATER prevents growth of algae' by C.R.Products
Belgium. This claims to remove nitrate, phosphate and nitirites from water.
I am happy that it removes both nitrates and phosphates, however the
nitrites worry me a little.

Questions: Surely this will interfere with the normal nitrogen cycle? Will
the nitrite-nitrate bacteria then die off? What happens when I add more
fish (I only have 4 zebra danios - I am taking it s...l...o...w...l...y )?
Will I have to ensure that I have got one of these bags in from here to
eternity? I have not yet put the bag in (despite it's miracle claims).

Thanks for your assistance.

Andy.
P.S.

Background Data:
90 Litre tank.
Fluval 2+ filter
Ammonia 0 (only had v. small spikes when cycling with 2 danios & lots of
plants)
Nitrite 0 (only had v. small spikes when cycling with 2 danios & lots of
plants)
Nitrate 40-80 (Tap water generally comes out at 40-50 tests hard to read at
top end).
pH 8.5
KH 7 degrees (125 ppm)
GH 15 degreees (179 ppm)
Gravel (what is visible is hoovered weekly)
20% water change weekly.
Lights on 09:00 - 18:00
Fish 4 Zebra Danios - will be getting 2 more soon plus who knows what (SAE?,
Ottos? Cherry Barbs? ...)