Staghorn Algae

In this article I want to write about my experience with Staghorn algae - Latin name "Compsopogon sp.". This is not a scientific article. I dont write to you 100% guide how this algae defeat from your aquarium. But I write how I win above her. I start from begenning. I establish my aquarium in april 2006. I have a few plants and fishes. About my tank you can read in my previous articles. Step by step I planted my aquarium. Of course, with new plants I got Staghorn algae. I can not talk when I got algae, but I spot algae in my aquarium. I don´t know what a catastrofe waits for me. In the begining I see a few fuzzis. But during a week this algae grow my aquarium. For a night she grow round a 5-10 cm. Every morning I pulled a lot of algae. It was tall story how quickly she grow. Here is some photos: In this time I took holiday with my family. I was away 2 weeks. When I return I could not accredit what I spot. In the entire aquarium was this algae. Only 5 cm on the top was free. There swim my fishes. Then I decided that I must kill this algae. I began find some informations about this staghorn algae and what I must do to kill her. In some aquarium forums, I get informations, that this algae grow in hard water without fertilization. I bought some aquarium water testes and make test my aquarium water. Results are here: kH 18 pH 7,2-7,4 NO2 0,3 mg/l NO3 5 mg/l P 0 mg/l Fe 0,3 mg/l And this was my problem. Water was hard. ph alkaline. And NO2, P and Fe low. You can talk to me that, when are this values are high, that other algeas start grow. No. Only if this values are very high. Next step in my fight with algae was bought of PMDD. This is fertilizer for aquarium plants. I start fertilization according a manual. After two weeks levels of NO2, NO3 and Fe go up but algae still grow. Next I bought CO2 system from pressure bottle and inside my external filter I enter a granule peat. pH and kH go down. My new values are here: kH 10 pH 6,4 NO2 0,2 mg/l NO3 5 mg/l P 0,5 mg/l Fe 2 mg/l From this time algae slowly stop grow. I bought more plants. What remainded I unstucked. A lot of algae change colour from green to black. I think she die back. Nowdays I care atributes on same values. I can spot sometimes some this algae but she don´t grow and next day is away. I know that I never clean my aquarium from this algae, but I care state when this algae don´t grow.