Hard to believe how much easier it is to care for a well-balanced aquarium. This life-long slow learner has finally figured out: Too many fish spoil the tank. Better late than never.

Over the past 60 or so years, I’ve spent a small fortune on tropical fish, aquarium plants, and chemicals to prevent Blackbeard algae. Overcrowding has always been the problem. I didn’t know any better. Were it not for AI, too many fish would continue to be an issue.

Water chemistry is more or less a mystery to me. All that stuff about nitrates, nitrites and the nitrogen cycle is over my head. Skipping high school Chemistry too much is at least partially to blame. Hated it.

Blackbeard algae caused me to give up aquariums years ago. I tried everything but keeping fewer fish. I finally got tired of fighting a losing battle, took down the tank, and sold all my aquarium stuff at a garage sale.

I got another aquarium several years ago to temporarily house goldfish from an outdoor pond. I got a 29-gallon tank which I soon learned is too small for more than one goldfish. I had four. Oops.

Keeping an aquarium makes me happy. Rather than fighting, I just accepted a Blackbeard infestation was inevitable. When keeping it at bay became impossible, I’d toss the plants, scrub the interior, and replace all the gravel.

AI searches listing the species, number of each, and the size of my tank provided lots of useful information and enabled me to solve the algae problem. With two honey gouramis, seven cherry barbs, five sailfin cats and an otocinclus, the tank has been below capacity all year. The fish are doing great, the plants are growing like weeds, and Blackbeard algae is nowhere to be found.

The plants doing so well surprised me. I order grower’s choice assortments with six varieties of stem cuttings. One or two varieties thrive, an equal number fade out, and the rest hang on until overcome by Blackbeard. All six varieties from my February order would take over if I didn’t cut them back every few weeks.

Planting stem cuttings is part of my strategy for fighting Blackbeard algae. The older (lower) portions of plants get infected first. Then I take new cuttings, toss the infected parts, and replant. Having solved the BBA problem, I can grow long-lived, slower-growing plants again.

Aquarium maintenance takes maybe 25 minutes once a week. I prune the plants, remove any snails I see, and rinse or replace the filter pad. Gravel gets vacuumed with the siphon hose until three or four buckets of water have been removed. The old water is great for houseplants.

I miss seeing guppy, platy and black molly babies, but keeping the tank balanced is a lot easier with a more stable population. AI says my tank has capacity for another group of six to eight smaller fish. I’ve narrowed the options to three varieties, but can’t make up my mind which one.

I’ll keep you posted. As always, thanks for stopp9ing by.