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bleaching plants
>I had an interesting off-list conversation with one of the more
respectable
>participants in this digest about brush algae. He thinks that there's no
>point in trying to eradicate it--the spores are probably airborne and
it'll
>probably come back anyway. I'm doing a decent job of controlling the
brush
>algae, but wonder as I set up my dream tank (or as close as my budget will
>allow), should I try bleaching everything as it goes in from afflicted
>tanks? Is it worth a shot?
In December I redid my experimental tank - everything came out and was
bleached before I set up the tank again. So far, I have no hair/beard/brush
algae problems. I had some green water, though.
Here is a list of my plants and the damage:
Valisneria all leaves melted, regrowth is good. - If you want to introduce
this plant, cut off the leaves before bleaching.
Alteranthera, Egeria, all leaves melted, stems were not affected.
Lilliaopsis, Glostostigma some melting, little damaga over all, there is
some stunted growth subsequently
Hygrophilia little to no damage, but slow to start growing again
Microsorum no damage (tough little ferns ...)
Anubias barteri var. lanceolata no damage
Rotala macandra total destruction of leaves (they turned green within 1
day, then black) stems are ok, slow in coming back
Rotala indica, Ludwigia some dead leaves
Crypts total meltdown as expected plus some root damage. I suggest to keep
crypt roots out of the bleach.
Bleach time was between 1 minute (crypts) to 3 minutes (Anubias). Since all
the algae died, I suggest 1 min is sufficient. (The algae was green hair
and beard algae - I can't speak for red algea).
Another suggestion: although it may be hard to implement, don't set up a
brand new tank with bleached plants! They are not vigoruos enough to keep
ahead of green algae, and perhaps other airborne algae. Let the plants
recouperate in jars, and only when they have recovered put them into the
tank.
Mike