vaughn, will do! I got a pretty one anyway.

tom, I never question you, although I do know what you are talking about. The problem with planted tank types is they all want to be experts. They get thrown when faced with someone who has actually tested all of the common wisdom and rewritten it. I am -- by trade -- a journalist. I know how to pick a good source and I chose you after a bit of reading. I haven't questioned my decision!

as far as this specific advice, even though I thought it was unlikely that co2 was the problem, I went and upped the gas after I read your note. I did wait 2 days, but only because I was worried about gassing the fish and wanted to do this over the weekend. You could have knocked me over when I realized the co2 tank was empty. It was six months too soon!


My once gorgeous algeae free scape is a bba mess with green spot accents.. and some plants look like they are wilting. I'll bet co2 lack is why the fluviatilas melted, and the downoi too. and the glandulosa is frowning at me, as is the stellata. We'll see what bounces back. eesh. Thank you so much. I feel so silly for not having looked at the gauges.

I'll bet the pressure was low for awhile, because the tank had stopped pearling before the algae showed up. There were definately some bubbles in the counter, but clearly not enough and I'll bet not consistently.

Vaughn's gadget will help, but the truth is so will just looking at the tank! I was starting to research if the wavelengths of light had changed with older bulbs. I really do feel silly. .. Oh, and the last three weeks, I had a much easier time pruning. Oh the sheer folly..