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Re: Barley Straw
Steve Dixon in San Francisco wrote:
| I put about 2 handfuls of straw in a filter bag for a Eheim 2217 canister
| filter used on a 125 gallon tank and about 1 handful of straw in a filter
| bag for a Eheim 2213 canister filter used on a 40 gallon tank. In both
| cases after about 3 months the barley straw had disappeared completely and
I
| placed new straw in the canister.
|
| By and large I didn't change any of the other tank parameters-lighting,
| water changes, fertilization regime, etc. I noticed no changes in the
| presence of algae in either of my tanks during the test period. Neither
| tank had a significant algae problem, but both had occasional spot algae
on
| the glass and some algae on older plant leaves which continued during the
| period in which barley straw was used in the canister filters. The 40
| gallon tank had and continues to have a slight problem with filamentous
| algae. The use of barley straw appeared to have no effect on the algae
| grown in these tanks.
|
| Anyone else tried using barely straw to reduce algae?
I reply:
The barley straw did work well in reducing string algae in my pond. Others
have said it didn't work for them. I think there are certain requirements to
make it effective. Such as: placing the straw near the top of the water near
or at the point where the water reenters the pond after being filtered. The
decaying straw also needs sunlight and oxygen to work effectively. I also
believe it may or may not work depending on other water parameters. There
are so many variables in different water environments that I'd be pretty
amazed if any solution worked for everyone. Barley straw is just one
possible solution that may work if conditions are right.
There are also other possible solutions like "managing nutrients to control
algae" that is explained in this article:
http://home.flash.net/~blhill/pages.aux/pond/nutrients/nutrients.html
as well as here:
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilizer/sears-conlin.html
Keep in mind that any solution one tries can also be detrimental, so always
proceed carefully with anything you try unless you don't mind the
possibility that all your fish, plants, other creatures may be affected and
you may even have to start all over again from scratch.
Brenda
Watergardening in the Desert!