What an interesting turn of events surrounding that fish. Hopefully the new one finds a happy home there.
On a side note, this hobby is a path of learning patience and measured response. I recall somewhere in this thread that you know you don't have the most patience for some things, but If you are doing 50% water changes regularly to keep things clean, you may want to slow down whatever you are putting into that system a bit. Whether it's fertilizer or feed, just cut back a fair share and see how things progress.
Fish really don't need much food and to be honest plants don't really need much fertilizer especially with fish waste to eat. Unless you are really trying to push growth for some reason, try reducing it. The plants will grow a bit slower, but they will be just as healthy. Also, check the lighting period. Bright lights shouldn't be on much more than 8 hrs. If you need more viewing time, insert a dark period in the middle. The fish won't care as there will be ambient room light so things won't get out of sorts.
I realize I come from the opposite side of things and really don't subscribe much to additives unless necessary, so take that in perspective. A good ecosystem is going to take care of things and changes will be slow and manageable. You have a great great tank. Starve it for a few days and come back slow with food, etc. That's just my 2 cents.
Noahm,
Your comments are spot on, as much as I don't want to admit it. I overfeed the fish- I am cutting back on feeding them, but even with that I need to cut back more. I am going the next 2 days without feeding them.
I'm not sure where the nitrates are coming from, but certainly the excess food is part of it. Honestly, I know dang well where the nitrates are coming from, I just want to convince myself it's a big mystery LOL. The nitrates aren't THAT bad, 30ppm is not really a big deal, but I just have it in my head that I want to get it to 10ppm once and go from there.
Fertilization for plants: I'm using the EI method- I've researched it to death and I want to stick to it. It's over-fertilization by design, but it's a very commonly used method for folks with high tech planted tanks. My plants are mostly not that hard to keep, but I'm starting to bring in some and the EI method is pretty foolproof to ensure they have everything they need. There are conflicting opinions on how quickly one should start full fertilization, but EI is based on the fact that fertilizer is not what will make algae take over and in many cases fertilizer will ensure plants can out-compete algae. I waited about a month before starting the full EI method. I found folks who would say that's the right thing to do (or that I should have started it day one) and others who say I should ramp up over a few months. I don't think the fertilizer is the culprit for the algae, though- as long as you don't include nitrates in that category.
Lighting: Ok....you've got me here. My tank is only 2.5 months old. There is pretty consistent to start slowly with 100% lighting and some folks I see only run lights at 60% and then only for 6 - 8 hours. Long term there is conflicting opinions- some say you should stop at 8 hours max, others say you can go 15 hours or more at 100%. I have the tank to look at it and don't want to be squinting through the dark at it. So, I started with 6 hours of 100%, but after a week or so, went to 8, and more recently to 11 hours 100% with the idea that with a heavily planted, well fertilized tank, my plants will out compete the algae.
That HAS worked, with one exception: slow growing plants. The guy who called the auction at my club Saturday held up a bag with a rock that was covered with various buce plants. He, somewhat facetiously called them "Bruce" and said, "I think these are those plants that you put in the tank and after a year one leaf grows." I love the buce plants I have and I love the A Reneckii (sp?), but they just grow SLOW and the dadgum algae just loves to jump right on them. When that happens, the algae gets a foothold and then sneaks over to the moss and starts creeping into other plants that would be otherwise unaffected.
So, rather than just take them out and sticking to faster growing plants, I'm determined to win the war LOL. My 15 gallon tank has both anubias (slow) and faster ones- Java Fern, Amazon Sword and some kind of penny something or other. I don't have CO2 in that tank, but the slow growers still tend to be the ones that the algae lights on (when it does). I had a war for a long time in that tank and it is dang near crystal clear now. It still has black beard algae, the King Devil of all Devil Algae, but with pruning, Seachem Excel, and water changes I'm able to keep it in check.
I want to do the same thing with the 75 gallon, but it's just not seasoned enough for the natural balance to take place yet.
Bear in mind, that I don't mind algae on hardscape. There's a lot of green algae on rocks and the wood- I like that- it's natural looking- I HATE the hair algae, though, wherever it is and I don't like any kind of algae on the leaves of my plants.
So, I try to prune the bad leaves to make way for the good ones- that works some... I'm now also trying the hydrogen peroxide thing- we'll see how it goes. The other hair algae I had went away, both through manual removal and through some spot treatment. I'm hoping the same will happen with this stuff.
Honestly, I brought all this on myself, but I'm willing to fight the fight to have lots more "up-time" with the lighting in the tank so I can sit and stare at it.
Oh, I forgot to mention- I have monte carlo I was trying to grow as carpet. It was growing straight up with thin leaves. The vertical growth is a sign of not enough light (thus my move from 8 hours to 11 hours) and the thin leaves are a sign of not enough CO2. That's when I started messing with the dKH to make sure the saturation of CO2 is higher without having to lower the PH more (it's already at 6.6). I also bought another light because the first one doesn't have enough coverage front to back (or so I decided
). The monte carlo is now growing much more horizontally, so the lighting change worked (probably the intensity more than the duration, much as I hate to admit it), but the leaves are still thin. I talked to the "plant guy" at the club and he said it's weird how much the same plant will differ from tank to tank, so maybe that's just how it is for this planting.
Anyway, I've learned over time that the more I have to explain stuff the more likely it is that I'm wrong- and in this case I know I am with some of this, but I'm pretty hard headed too, so I'm gonna keep after it.
I am still debating the other water change tomorrow. I'm really only supposed to do it once per week according to the EI method, but I'd like to do it once more to try and compensate for the sins of my past and see if feeding less, combined with the hydrogen peroxide killing of the algae will help tip the balance back toward the middle. I'm dang sure not going to do that all the time, LOL, so laziness will eventually kick in and I'll concede if my grand scheme of the moment doesn't work.
Having said all that, I appreciate the dose of reality you're giving me and request that you not stop pointing out crazy when you see it. Sometimes I'm pushing a rope uphill on purpose, but a lot of times I have no idea.
