Pet Forum / Aquaria / Plants / April 2005

I have a 33gal tank with several fish ranging from guppies to gouramis,
barbs, plecos, crabs and almost ten diferent kinds of plants ranging
from small to large plants.
I also haev an aqua glo 20W 55Lux 18k.

I have an algae problem, and I have plants that I don't want to poison
getting rid of the algae... it is a green algae in the goldfish tank,
and a brown algae in the danio/guppie tank... are there some breedsof
fish who live off algaee that won't decimate my other plants?  which

What is the limit amount of Nitrates for plants without harming fish? I know
some fish want pristine waters.
Before I had cichlids and they could tolerate a higher amount of nitrates
but if it went too high, they would get scratchy.

Since I got a larger tank for my anubias plant.  I was
wondering about the shop light.  I looked on google and some
people use them, is that good enough?  I plan on getting other
plants, even high light requiring ones.

Are you folks still receiving posts from rec.aquaria.freshwater?  I haven't
had anything since 14/04, so am wondering whether to contact my ISP or is it
some other problem?

You know . . the first time you discovered plants and you were
just going nuts over them; learning, buying all the plants you
can, stocking up on otos, driving all the way to Torrance for
tiger lily's, etc.  Remember the disappointments as well, when

i've been facing algae problems for some time, i first bought an
alguicide which had very little results and used the tipical magnet
brush (by the way, which way is suposed to clean algae: the soft one
or the spicky one? i've tried both!). But algae continue to grow, and

I saw this idea on a discus site.  (I forget which one.)  The idea is that
the roots will use the nitrates and such just as regular aquarium plants do.
You dangle the bare roots in the water and have the plant out hanging over
the aquarium.  Anyone have experience with this?  ...

I have a t12 25 or 40 watt shoplight fixture (48 inches) on one of my
tanks, is it true I can use t8 bulbs with it as well (I am assuming the
t8 bulbs would be required to be 48 inches long and 25 or 40 watts in
power)? Please confirm - thanks all!

Hau kolas..I'm looking for info on how to properly propagate this plant..got some basic questions but am having a hard time finding a website etc that really provides quality info. any recommendations? I've got a plant that has sent up the stalk that I've heard others here ...

You folks are the nicest people.  Helping out newbies and such.  
Other newsgroups berate newbies.  I also don't see an
escalating ongoing battle with certain personnas.
This is rare on the internet.  Thanks for such a great NG.

I have a question.  I want to try saltwater.  What can I
expect?  What type of hardy animals?  I heard Damsels.
I want to set up an EASY saltwater with fish and maybe
invertebrates.  Can I run a setup that cleans itself like my

I tried Elodea a couple of years ago, but my Platys were ravenous and
completely destroyed the plants.  After removing the Elodea, I reduced the
gravel depth to 1/2" to make gravel vacuuming easier.  I've decided to try
again and this past weekend I added some plants to my ...

To all:
I am keeping some Discus fish in my planted tank temporarily for a
brother-in-law.  I am completely bewitched by these gorgeous fish!  What a
great complement to a planted tank.

I thought I read that anaerobic process in the potting soil,
like rotting, will produce beneficial things for the plants
like CO2.  And xomething about facilitating something about the
affinity for root exchange receptiveness to beneficial ions or