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[APD] RE: algae killing



On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 15:19:19 -0800, Steve Pushak <teban at powersonic_bc.ca> wrote:

Thomas wrote:
The entire algae killing notion is seriously flawed,
if you grow the plants well, then there's no algae issues.

This is the premise that you would like us all to subscribe to. :-)


The fact is that in real life aquarists have to deal with algae from
time to time. You can remove it with a toothbrush, hide it in the dark
until it dies, poison it or blow it up with dynamite.

It may take several years for Oedogonium to become established to the
point that it becomes a serious problem. If you have an aquarium with
well established colonies of Oedogonium and you "feed" it with a good
supply of nutrients, it will grow irrespective of how fast the
Hygrophila polysperma is filling the tank. You have to remove the old
leaves that are covered with fur. If the tank is predominantly slow
growing plants such as Echinodorus, Crypts or Anubias you're not going
to be able to grow new leaves on those plants fast enough to keep ahead
of the spread of Oedogonium when you have huge colonies of it in the
tank.

If you start with a sterile tank and sterile conditions, you may never
get an Oedogonium invasion. If you do get it, it may take years before
it becomes a problem. I think this is where the confusion is coming in.
Start clean. Your problems will definitely be fewer even if you can't
maintain 100% quarantine.

Yes, by all means: grow your plants well! Feed the roots.

Steve

Have dared to add phosphate yet and join 'the believers'?


--
Andrew McLeod
thefish at theabyssalplain_freeserve.co.uk

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