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Re: Cultivating Elodea.




Re: Cultivating Elodea

Steve Pushiak wrote:

>.......Good luck! Elodea are excellent plants for growing with fish to
>keep the water conditioned and oxygenated.

One caution I would add is to occasionally check the pH because Elodea in
good light can take up so much CO2 that the pH can get very high.  Elodea
can utilize the bicarbonate ion, taking the CO2 and leaving behind
hydroxide, and a heavily planted tank in good light can get the pH up to
around 10, which is a little rough on most fish.  I once measured a pH of
9.6 in a 15 gallon tank with Elodea lit by 3 20 watt fluorescents.  I had
some zebra danios in that tank that were looking rather unhappy at that pH.
As I recall, one of them died, but the rest recovered when I lowered the
pH down to 7 by adding CO2.

Paul Krombholz                  Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS  39174
In soggy Jackson, Mississippi where it raind about 1.5 inches yesterday.