Jim Anderson wrote:
In article , djb@reverse-the-
er.miter.org says...

I think I finally figured out why I can't get rid of my brown algae after a
year and a half with this tank. My water department adds sodium silicate at
one of the town wells for "iron and manganese treatment and corrosion
control". They expect the SiO2 level at my house to be about 10 mg/l.

So, what should I do? (Now that I've got live plants and the leaves are
getting covered, I'm a bit more concerned about getting rid of the brown
algae than I was in the past.)
- Get an Otocinclus? (1 for a 10-gallon tank?)
- Get a silicate remover and try to figure out some way for my
Penguin mini-filter to flow water through it?
- Something else?

Thanks,
Dave





The most expensive solution would be an RO unit.

I don't know if one of those single 'whole house' carbon-block sediment
filters remove silicates. ~$30USD

I used to buy RO water at the grocery. $0.18USD per USgallon.

Good suggestions.

I'd get 2 or 3 otocinclus myself. They're a shoaling species. If they
ever run out of algae, you can feed cucumber or algae wafers. Also put
a small piece of wood in the tank for them to rasp on. I think otos are
adorable so I'd much rather carry them home than jugs of water. ;-)

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com