Mark, believe me, I’ve definitely thought about calling it an algae-ridden biotope, but that doesn’t always go over well with the Mrs. I believe the grassy-looking plant you’re referring to is a Potamogeton species I found. The blue spots are definitely out and about, except when the light is the brightest mid-day. When all the lights are on, not a single fish is visible. This makes sense to me, as smallish wild fish, if you weren’t hiding in the grassy during the brightest part of the day, you were likely lunch!

Chongyu, you’re right that raising the light might be another option for me. You’d think I should be able to balance out the nutrients/light/CO2 where it’s at, but if it persists, I may end up raising it up.

Thanks everyone!

In the second photo, what’s the tall, grassy-looking plant in the rear of the ‘scape, to the left of what appears to be ludwigia? It’s very graceful-looking.

Brandon’s suggestions sound good to me … but, if they don’t produce the same results for you that they’ve done for him, I cast my vote in favor of “breaking the rules”, and tossing in a few ancistrus!

If nothing else, your blue-spotted sunfish appear well-adjusted to tank life – specifically, less shy and more out in the open. Is it possible that the algal bloom helped with that?

The hobby is always an adventure, isn’t it?

What’s interesting about the planted tanks, is that I don’t want 0ppm of N/K/P. Accordingly to the test kits, the levels are where I want them for plant growth. It’s quite possible that the kits are off by a little bit, but they shouldn’t be way off. As for food, these fish are wild caught, and don’t take non-live foods, which I feed sparingly. Perhaps I need to add a ton more plants.

Warren