I always try chemical free approach first and I keep ilve plants from day one its amazing what a cpl of marimo balls can do and some duckweed.
and they basically care for them self and can live in low light conditions
I couldn't agree more. ive gotten so much info from this site over the past.....10 years??? even though ive only had tanks for the first year and these last 3 months. ive done a lot of reading, I personally enjoy learning about stuff I like. stopped talking to the lfs ppl long time ago.
TTF...
definitely reduce your light, black your tank out for 48 hrs, and a massive water change(75%) and the next 2 after that I would do 50% changes. and plants god yes live plants are they way to grow
I use the plastic bottle to reduce filter noise.
except I did it to control fish food being sucked away and my duckweed from being battered to death.
I used two bottles{1 cheap flimsy water btl& 1 just barely bigger} cut the tops off and placed them inside the other so where the closed bottoms...