[Michael Hoaster]

I didn't mean to differ with you, Scrubber Steve, as much as share my own experience and advice. It makes for good discussion!

So you're saying naothan should try to keep algae at bay, early in his tank's life by keeping the lights out. Thus favoring nitrifying bacteria over algae-associated bacteria. That kind of makes sense. Has that been your experience? How long would you have him keep the lights out?

Was there anything in your articles connecting algae-associated bacteria to a detriment of nitrifying bacteria? I would think that in a new tank, with vast territory for bacteria to colonize, that both would be able to grow without inhibiting each other. It would seem more likely to have bacteria conflicts later in the tank's development, as uncolonized space becomes scarce.

I think 'the algae phase' is an important part of an aquarium's ecosystem development. I never suggested he let algae get crazy overgrown, just let it develop naturally to get the process started sooner rather than later. This basically cut my algae phase duration in half, even with dinos and cyano.

Great discussion and fascinating stuff! It's good to get different perspectives and opinions. Naothan, I hope this is helpful.