[APD] green water competition with other algae

["Steve Pushak" <teban at powersonic_bc.ca>]

Following up several comments about green water.

I seem to get green water when I have measurable ammonia in the water,
such as with urea clay balls which tend to release ammonia at low levels
over time. Green water is very easy to deal with using the black out
procedure but its actually beneficial in some respects. It makes a great
culture for newly hatched fish but its difficult to grow enough green
water to support a thriving daphnia culture.

I've noticed similarly to the comments by Katherine Yata, that green
water seems to out compete other algae so you may want to keep a nice
thick culture for a few weeks if you have it. The fish don't mind it but
your plants won't grow very fast because it tends to obscure light and
compete for nutrients in the water. I don't know if it would be able to
compete with the tougher filament algae but why not?

I wonder if anyone can comment upon competition mechanisms between
different algae species? Roger, Thomas?

How long can macrophytes live without light? I've never killed anything
except algae using black-outs up to a week in length. I should think
they'd be ok even for a couple weeks although that might tax some
species which do not store reserves. Maybe it would be a way to
eliminate Java moss infestations!?

Steve P

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