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Re: red algae & CO2
> From: ac554 at freenet_carleton.ca (David Whittaker)
> Subject: PMDD Paper
>
> "Because others have observed that tanks with CO2 fertilization have
> relatively little red algae [5], it tempting to speculate that at
> least some red algaes are able to utilize bicarbonate, giving them an
> advantage in aquaria where most of the available carbon is in this
> form (typically those with high carbonate hardness and high pH)."
>
> "Red algae is favored over green algae if most of the available
> carbon is in the form of bicarbonates."
I'm sorry to have to rain on the parade here, but my experience
doesn't support the theory that co2 stops red algae. About 3 or
4 weeks after I set up my plant tank, before the plants were
fully established, I tried turning on the co2 to speed up the
process. The result was a sudden and impressive plague of red
algae that threatened to smother everything. This was only
countered by the introduction of a dozen Siamese algae eaters.
The variety of red algae was not the usual dark green brush,
but a variety with reddish, long, fine strands which looked a
lot like masses of hair (ychh). There may be conditions where
co2 favors other algae and plants more than red algae, but
this is not guaranteed to always be true.