Re: sterilizing soil, Daphnia and name this thing

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: Re: sterilizing soil, Daphnia and name this thing
From: krombhol at felix_TECLink.Net (Paul Krombholz)
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 1996 19:21:29 -0500

Stephen.Pushak at saudan_HAC.COM Date: Fri, 12 Apr 96 wrote (much snipped)

>.....I can see that the chances of finding undesirable organisms
>is much higher in manure than ordinary garden soil. Paul K.,
>do you sterilize your manure if you add it for composting?
>
No, I never sterilize soil or composted soil-manure.  Nematodes are quite
specialized little critters, and I have not heard of any nematodes that are
pests of aquatic plants.  There are nematodes that are pests of some
terrestial plants, but they are specialized parasites that can't live
underwater for one thing, and for another, are usually quite host-specific.
That post on r.a.fw.plants, sounds like a good example of a 'little
knowledge being a dangerous thing'.

I don't worry about any undesirable organisms in manure, and I worry a
little bit about introducing some kind of hair algae from soil that might
be growing on the surface and able to grow in my tanks.  So, I get soil
from the woods where there is a covering of dead leaves to shut out the
light, and I usually scrape away the top 1/2 inch or so and take what is
underneath.

JOlson7647 at aol_com, Fri, 12 Apr 1996 wrote:
>
>WOW! It is a long time since I have heard anyone suggesting daphnae to get
>rid of green water. Excellent suggestion. Here in central Iowa, there are
>enough decades of pesticide use that daphnae are a bit rare nowadays. As a
>little tyke, i often found daphnae in water-filled cow hoofprints in my dad's
>pasture. Sounds like you folks up North have purer surface waters than we do.
>I'm envious. :-)
>
I doubt that the pesticides are so prevalent that you can't find Daphnia in
a small pond.  Cow hoofprints are pretty temporary, and it may be a
hit-or-miss thing for Daphnia to get established in them.  Ostracods are
more likely because they or their eggs can withstand drying out, but they
don't clean up green water.  I'll bet you can find a variety of Daphnia
species in a pond.  There is a common type that doesn't hop about in the
water, but hangs by its antennae when undisturbed which I have used for
many years to clean up green water.  I have found it in ponds in Wisconsin,
Massachusetts, and Mississippi.


gtong at sirius_com (Greg Tong), Fri, 12 Apr 1996 wrote:

>At first it looked like a mass of roots gathered over my H. polysperma.
>Then I found it was just sitting above them, i.e., was separate from the H.
>polysperma. It feels and looks like netting, multi-branched, and very pale
>blue-green in color. I certainly didn't buy it so it may have come in with
>another plant. I have since removed it but wonder what it is. TIA.

It might a colonial freshwater bryazoan.  I used to have them in my tanks a
long time ago.  They are harmless.  With a magnifying glass, you should be
able to see the little crowns of tentacles in undisturbed specimans.

Paul Krombholz                  Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS  39174