Some more quesitons....

[FBTennisNumberOne]

Hey...Tyler ...AGAIN...lol
Im in my planning stages of my 55 gallon lowtech planted tank...
80watts....of full spectrum t-12s...
i've heard that planted tanks break out with algae really bad in the beggining and eventually it will go away...once things get balanced...
How does this happen? i have also heard that dosing fertilizers would help...but i don't see how that would be possible...wouldn't that just fuel more agae growth? or is algae too simple to process the fertilizers?
Im REALLY dreading the algae so i would like to know how to BEST avoid it lol...
I'll be running a fluval 405 for filtration and i was wondering about filter media...usually people run carbon in fish tanks to help clear discolorations and odors..etc......but i have heard that carbon is not needed for planted tanks?.... i plan on adding drift wood in my tank...which may leach tanins..would carbon benefit the tank in helping to get rid of these tanins or just stick to a strict WC schedule?
What would be my best choice for media in this canister....
Sorry for my rambling...
Thanks in Advance
Tyler

 

[Purrbox]

If done correctly the only algae that you are likely to deal with while the aquarium is getting established is diatoms. If there are other algaes, then something was missed during setup that allowed the algae to become a nuisance.

There are a few keys. 1. Plant heavily from the start and make sure to include some fast growing stem plants even if they aren't a part of your long term plans. 2. Make sure that all nutrients are in plentiful supply so that the plants can grow and algae is less likely to thrive (algae tends to thrive when nutrient level are out of balance).

Carbon isn't necessary in any aquarium unless you are removing medications. Everything else that carbon takes care of can be accomplished through regular water changes. Of course it really doesn't hurt anything either. Depending on the type of driftwood, and good soaking/boiling may be sufficient to remove the majority of tanins. Water changes and/or the carbon would be able to remove the rest.