[APD] RE: Aquatic-Plants Digest, Vol 16, Issue 13

["Thomas Barr" <tcbiii at earthlink_net>]

> > Both have a high ox/redox potential.
> > Algae prefer still water. Why is that?
> > Is it possible that alage is depressed by a high ox/redox?

> Its not this simple, also I think Tom has some links that discredit the 
> barely straw stuff IIRC. If this were true, running ozone on a tank 
> would keep it algae free also direct dosing of H2O2 would help, bubbling 
> pure O2 thru the tank, etc...

Well, adding O2 at 150% saturation and adding a general  biocide are two
very different things. 
I'd be very hesitant to compare then on equal terms.

In nature, in our tanks with good growth and no algae, we do not need to
add H2O2, O3 etc, nor do many do this as a chronic routine to achieve algae
free growth.

I added high O2 levels in various combinations of CO2 and O2 about 2 years
ago to see if there was any impact on the algae.
None as far as total algae, except the species of algae were differetn to
some degree.

The nutrients we use and typical ppm levels were the same in this test.
CO2 variations were either ambient or 25ppm.
O2 were either ambient or 15ppm at 25C

So high Redox/O2, ain't it.

See NH4 competition. Also see variations in CO2 levels.
These are the two most obvious things/reasons for algae not growing where
plants are.
Light is the other. 

>I'm a professional scientist but have given up on understanding this - I 
> chalk this one off to Zen :)

Okay Judas......

> You cannot understand "It", yet you can 
> still use "It" if you become one with the plants. Throw out the test 
> kits and meditate instead, its been more effective for me at least. The 
> more I try to reduce this to a science the more problems I seem to have.

Science got me to to figure out things with plants in a methodical manner.
Sometimes you got to screw the theory and re think it when it does not jive
with the observations.
Then go down the line of possible things it could be.

I still want to do some N15 enrichment work with algae and plants using
labeled NH4 and NO3 is seprate sets to find up who gets what and how much.
While speculation is great, and it's very likely that algae need a certain
level of NH4 to bloom from resting spores(which are always there waiting),
confirmation with this data would show much more definitively.

Regarding spiritual matters, that's another post.....:)


Regards, 
Tom Barr

> Jeff Ludwig
> Ekton, MD
> http://www.rockytop.net



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