The Tide Turns

Well, the war against algae is finally beginning to take a turn in my favor (I hope I don not upset the aquarium gods with such bold proclamations). The tank has looked about as good as it has for a long time. Among the successes are:

* green-hair-algae-free plant growth
* new shoot of the Cryptocoryne wendtii (up to 3)
* strong, algae-free growth of the smaller, green-leaved foreground plants
* genuine pearling of plants (not of algae growing on the plants)

The only problems are the persistence of this green-white film attempting to cover several plants' leaves. Vigorous thumb-rubbing has been the only way to beat it back against the amazon sword, red-leaved rotala, and Cryptocoryne wendtii.

To record this historic moment, I took a look at the water parameters, to see if they would lend any insight:

* pH: 8.0 (surprising it's this high with the pearling I'm seeing)
* nitrate: ~6.0-7.0 ppm
* kH: 9 degrees (definitely lower than out of the tap)
* GH: 18 degrees
* iron: ~0.05 ppm

According to my trusty calculator, that pH / kH combination means I'm running at 2.7 ppm CO2, which is far below what the plants and I would theoretically like. This leads me to consider the possibility of aquiring an actual CO2 tank that could deliver it much more consistently, reliably, and in higher doses than I'm getting right now. I will go by a local welding supply store, sometime and see what can be done.

The iron's a little lower than the "ideal" of 0.1 ppm, so maybe I'll up the dosage a bit. I have been doing about a quarter-capful of Flourish iron every day, as well as a full capful of Flourish Excel, which has seemed to help beat back the beard algae on my temple. I'll dose Potassium occasionally, or more often in the nitrates are high, and Flourish gets dumped in once or twice a week. Obviously I'm not being too scientific here (that's why I'm an engineer...), but if I get some powdered ferts in (i.e. KSO4), maybe I'll be a little more diligent about dosing.