How do I have a brightly-lit tank without algae?

wrote in message
...
Gill

It doesn't sound like Nitrates are the problem. At 3 to 4 months old
(which
is still relatively young) I wouldn't worry TOO much, it may be a passing
fad. But do check the phosphates and also keep the feeding to a minimum.
In
a crisis period like this, I reduce the feeding to every other day, or
twice
a week (I know the fish are begging for the food but you have to remember
that relative starvation is normal in the wild!) - keep the feeding small
and only use quality feeds that are nitrate and phosphate free..

Again, I'm sorry if I missed the earlier posts, but with a heavily planted
tank, you can probably get away with 9 or 10 hours of lighting but in
theory, the higher plants should out compete the algae if they are able
to.
If you have CO2 and feed with a nitrate/phosphate free feed, this
shouldn't
be a problem.

I hope it helps

Mark

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Hi Mark,
Thanks for your post....nitrites and ammonia are 0, I'm not too much worried
about the nitrates as this is not a planted tank....and they are still
relatively low. No CO2 unit.

The food that I use as their staple does contain Phosphates so I think
trying to find a phosphate test or remover is a good idea.

One thing I did see today when I did my bi-weekly algae fight is that if I
loosen the algae enough the Mbunas will eat it. So I'm thinking doing this
and then skipping a feed and letting nature take it's course.

Gill