Jennifer

IMO you can hardly do wrong with trace as long as you don't overdo it (dosing too much at a time). I have a couple of tanks that only get flourish comp and no CO2 or excel and the plants are beautiful. Others get trace and CO2 and others get trace and excel. You can do it either way, but it is best to be consistent.

How about I buy it for you and you come clean my tanks this weekend? LOL :lol: (hmmm, I must be feeling lazy after that glass of wine)

If the fish are unhappy, cut back a little bit and do a water change ASAP. You don't want unhappy fish. Excel can cause murkyness at normal doses and normal doses are typically not harmful to fish, but again, fish are individuals so you need to assess the situation and act accordingly.

It is absolutely fine to dose trace ferts daily. With something like flourish comprehensive you will see amazing growth if you dose 1ml per 40 litres each day. Not cheap, but really easy and produces great results even with relatively low lighting. The plants will take hold and have everything they need to outcompete the algae.

:bounce:

If it is not too murky, and the fish are all ok, I wouldn't be worried at all, it should clear up. If you are dosing excel daily, you could try dosing ferts every day as well. Your plants will start to become very happy.

Omg, I would take any one of those, seriously, if you aren't interested, please let me know!

Will you HAVE to redesign?? My friend, you will GET to redesign. What could be better? 8)

Liquid carbon can cause the water to appear murky. See if it clears up 24 hours after you dose - if so, you know what is causing the murk. It is not harmful. If it does not clear up, you could have a bacterial bloom on your hands.

No, not necessarily water changes. The diatoms/brown algae are a sign that the microorganisms aren't yet at a high enough level to keep them under control. Try the following: 1. Increase surface agitation which will help them grow. 2. Cut back on the photoperiod a little bit just to keep it under control until everything is in balance 3. Small frequent water changes (you want to keep the nitrates low but keep the growing population of microorganisms in the tank so they can begin to thrive). In no time hopefully it will all balance out.

Plants are easy to attach using fishing line. Go on, you know you want to.

Yes, definately. Adding a bunch of CO2 all of a sudden will often cause an algae outbreak. Build it up slowly as you also build up lighting and nutrients so the plants can outcompete any algae.

Theoretically, but a total lack of phosphate will also cause algae problems. If you want to get rid of phosphate, give the plants some potassium, that will help them utilise the phosphate.

Great response P44, well done.

nystagmus (a condition resulting from paying too much alimony...just kidding )

official

stasis

arrange

hhey (as in 'hhey, that wasn't a word!') (lol @ Zev...smeg...)

Edit: grrr...ninja ustilaginism (good one Caryl, I was worried nobody would be able to get that one...had to struggle with my desire to put onyx!)

userp (context is everything )

peace

breathalyzer

Snake-Necks are mostly carnivorous and will forage for food during the day. In captivity they tend to be less interested in pelleted foods but they thrive on a varied diet of small fish, crustaceans, vitamin-supplemented meat (e.g. non-fatty chicken, ox heart ), fresh frozen aquatic turtle food, tinned dog food, mice pups, soaked cat biscuits, insects, insect larvae, snails, worms, fish flakes, trout pellets and reptile pellets. A good basking area must be easily accessible to the turtle but it must also be completely dry and warm. A turtle that is not seen basking for several hours every day is likely to be having problems accessing the basking area, or the temperature difference between the water and the basking area may not be ideal, and this can result in long term health problems such as weakened bones and a softened shell. The basking area must also have twelve hours of UVA and UVB light and a heat source that will encourage the turtle to remain in the basking area (the basking area should be at least 6 degrees warmer than the water temperature so do not let the water get too warm). HTH

Beer 8)