Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank

Thanks Eric, Leighmo & Wilma for your suggestions, they are most appreciated


I will try to answer all your questions throughout this post. If I miss
something you need then please let me know. Thanks.

I redid the tank. New lights (2 x 15w cool white) compact flourescents. I am
pumping DIY co2. I have 2 types of ferts (1 is a sera product and the other
is locally manufactured). I cannot get my hands on any special substrates so
I just used a fine black gravel (1-2mm) I found in one of the many pet shops
I was in this weekend!!!

I do not have test kits so I'm not even sure if it was a nitrate problem to
begin with. Believe me if you had seen the state of the tank you would have
started over aswell!!! I do water changes every Saturday, Religiously. I'm
not sure which plants I have. This weekend I bought loads of plants and have
planted all of them. I know I have 2 or 3 types of Java fern and a small
amount of Java moss. I think I have corkscrew vals and there were some long
stemmed plants with small leaves that I have not been able to id yet. Pet
shops here are not big on plants and generally don't put labels on them! I
can try and take a pic of the tank and then maybe one of you would be so
kind as to ID them for me if you have the time.

I plan to keep the lights on for 12 hours a day.
Is this too much?
When should I start adding ferts?
Fish are fed lightly once (maybe twice) per day.

Eric...Yeehaaa i got 2 siamese algae eaters this weekend. First time I've
seen a live one. I put them in my community tank as there is obviously
nothing for them to graze on in the new planted tank. Leigh, you say they're
too big for the planted tank but would'nt it be ok to put them in for a
while and then remove again once the job is done? I can get my hands on
apple snails but they seem way to bulky for the tank. I had them b4 in this
plant tank but they kept dragging my plants all over the place, these are
also in the community tank now , should I put them back in?

For future reference, If I have another cyanobacteria outbreak, what does
this mean? Is cyano a sign of a missing nutrient? Or caused from a lack of
something or maybe an abundance of something? Cyano bacteria is ime an
absolute killer, the stuff just totally consumed my tank!!!

Thanks again for all your help guys. If there is any more info I need to
supply then please let me know. As I mentioned earlier I do not have test
kits but I can tell you that our tapwater is pretty hard. My LFS tells me
the PH ranges from high 7's to early 8's. Hope that might help!

Thanks again, have a wonderful week.
Kindest Regards
Cameron