Folks: Four Items
One - MLBs
MLB = Malaysian Live Bearer snails AKA Malaysian Trumpet Snails
These little devils are 1st class (as opposed to the typical snails received with plants).
Not only will they help with algae control on the tank walls as well as surfaces of rocks and wood but they are also good bottom cleaners.
Why am I so enamored with them?
MLBs will also burrow several inches into the substrate and clean it as well.
Bottom vacuuming for a planted aquarium is a real pain and I have been concerned about detritus contiguous to plants in the substrate.
I have observed these wonderful little creatures several inches into my substrate cleaning up.
Two - Dry Ferts
I have been experimenting with varying concentrations of dry ferts the last several weeks and two combinations of concentrations of these dry ferts have very positively affected my plants' health and growth.
Please ref Nutrients at the following site for basic information
http://www.rexgrigg.com/index.html
Three - Air Bubbles and Plant Growth
I recently planted several spiral Vallisnaria.
Obviously all melted down but the ones which I planted very near air diffusion bars have really grown and the others died.
The plant which is closest to an air bar and which through several leaves the air bubbles rise has experienced the most growth.
Four - Biological Filtration
Rarely seen on the Forum is "That is too much filtration for your tank".
What I believe is actually being said is "The flow in the tank due to the capacity of the pump in that filter will be too great".
Commonly seen on the Forum is "There is no such thing as too much filtration".
IMHO the latter assertion is absolutely correct.
In my filtration process which is wet/dry the biological filtration is a ton of bio balls, ceramic toroids, ceramic cylinders and sintered glass, ie although my tank is 110G biological filtration sufficient to support like a 500G tank is present.
Please note that due to the MLBs and the quantity of biological filtration media over feeding which is not significant is not a problem.
TR