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Thread: Article on algae identification

  1. #1
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    Article on algae identification

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    http://www.floridadriftwood.com/alga...ification.html

    I think this would be useful to newbies like me...
    Cheers
    Boon Yong

  2. #2
    just to share this site .. quite good for beginner like us to know more http://www.dupla.com/e025.htm

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    Posted by Simon in another thread

    Algae:
    Control of algae growth
    All about algae
    The krib algae page

    Posted by Juggler in another thread
    Algae - contributed by George Booth
    人的一生﹐ 全靠奮斗﹐ 唯有奮斗﹐ 才能成功

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    I simply do not agree with about 1/2 of the things these folks say and I can support my contentions very very well.

    The business with NH3/NH4 and pH, the plants have the ability and any cell does, to maintain homestaisis inside the cells, the external pH can move all over and not influence the forms of ions inside the plant.

    External environment does not = internal environment.
    Same with us.

    I have these same plants in a non CO2 tank that moves 1.5 pH units every day.........

    They do quite well, but grow slower.

    Algae are not helped by an O2 rich water column.
    The reverse is true.
    Photorespiration occurs at high O2 levels, this reduces both plant and algae growth, algae are more responsive and general die off faster.
    The change in O2 also can change the species of algae making it easier to remove.

    I'm sorry, but 2-3ppm of O2 is too low for many fish, 6ppm or higher is better.
    Plant tanks have up to 7-12 ppm or more at 25 C.
    I'm not sure where these figures come from but I have calibrated DO meters measuring tanks and use DO meters for professional work as well often.

    BBA is also not a decalicifyer, mainly marine red algae form significant CaCO3 deposits.

    There are many other issues on the sites that get reapeated way too often.

    Regards,
    Tom Barr

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    Sorry to bring up such an old post (even though it's sticky ) but read some of the articles and felt the need to emphasize Tom's remark about O2 :

    Algae are not helped by an O2 rich water column.
    The reverse is true.
    I found out that in many algae cases, prior to algae's appearance (especially BGA), there's an indication of pearling diminishing and vanishing completely, which means a non saturated environment.

    Algae is not helped by an O2 rich environment...

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    Tom has shared a lot more insight of the topic on algae ecology.
    If you keen to tap on the guru's mind follow this thread :

    http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...school-no.html

    It really brought a whole new paradigm.

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    Well, it's new to the hobby, it's not new to science certainly............

    And it's smacks in the face of many long held myths, dogma and marketing models that the hobby vendors have supported for many years.

    The thing is, how can they all have gone along for so many years with it without never having tested the theory to begin with?

    That's really what bothered me and does very much so when I hear some one suggest it today, folks have access to the knowledge, they can prove things to themselves and show that this is not the case.

    If you say something causes algae, you better actually have something to show that it does and be willing to add that treatment to a tank and get repeatable results, because if you won't, I will and will call you out on it.

    Folks still say PO4 excess causes algae, I've bene waiting for obver a decade and have done many tanks over this time for clients and friends and myself, not relationship has ever been noted.

    The other sad thing on topic here, many of the species names are poorly identified.

    They have common names, but few ever did any taxonomy.
    We use plant names, acronyms etc which is fine, but few knew what staghorn, GDA, GSA, various species of green hair algae, I still don't know what GW is.

    Regards,
    Tom Barr

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    Guys, i think some of the links aren't working anymore. Need to tell admin to remove?

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    The first link is good but lacks some images.
    I'm back!

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    Hi, I have planted christmas moss but it's not growing well (stagnanting ) and black spots (?spores) appear on the moss. I have a DIY CO2 with good 36w PL light but room temperature of 28-30 degrees (hate the singapore weather, or perhaps its global warming)......any tips to improve the situation?? hope i can avoid a chiller.

    thanks
    starlightcgc

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    tank size ?
    try fan or chiller.

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    Algae Identification with images


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    These links are pretty old, like as in 10- or more years old.

    Here's this guy claiming allelopathy:

    "I think it is the allelochemicals and the plant immune system that keeps algae away. Only healthy plant can produce enough toxins to kill the algae around it.

    Edward"

    The same guy that claims to test well and suggest others to do it.
    Odd such folks cannot even set up a very basic test to see if their great theory is true, same for Diana Walstad.

    All you do is add activated carbon(AC) to your tank.
    This is used as a standard control for allelopathic chemicals.

    AC removes all the allelopathic chemicals, therefore if you assumed these substances prevent any algae, you would have to see an effect when we add AC.

    However, even a newbie can show this test fails miserably.
    More important than merely using references, test kits etc, are using them wisely.

    I never bought into the whole notion of allelopathy.
    There's no research that suggest it does in fact occur in nature systems as far as algae repression.

    The best general algae article is from Dusko in Sweden.
    I'll write a more in depth book on algae later.

    http://www.aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/

    The most likely candidates for algae blooms rely on a good understanding of the life history of the pest in a question, this is true for weeds, critter pest, bugs that eat your crops etc. Such a gardener's or a farmer's approach to pest problem is wise. The more you know about the enemy and test and see how it responds, the better you can be with it's control at these critical life history stages.

    Algae use many various cycles in their lives to deal with a wide range of conditions. Sometimes there's not much light(say in the winter), sometimes there's ample CO2, NH4, and nutrients, sometimes, there's little or no plant growth, sometimes as is the case with GDA, the stage is just growing and will quickly run it's course and not bother you if you just leave it be for 3-4 weeks, then clean it off.

    So each alga needs it's own consideration, control method/s, and look into what specifically induces the bloom.

    It's more like what causes the algae spore(or in plants, seed germination- something aquarist virtually never do with plants, it's all from cuttings/runners mostly) to germinate in your tank?

    That's the real question.
    What causes new algae growth?
    The adults that are already there will quickly die over time, with pruning etc and good conditions for the plants.

    So the focus is on the new production of both plants and algae.


    Regards,
    Tom Barr

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    Re: Article on algae identification

    Hi i have an outbreak of brown algae in my tank and was thinking of getting some algae eating fishes,would u guys recommend so species besides the siamese algae eater and pleco as the siamese algae eater is kinda hard to differ from the flying fox and the pleco can grow kinda big,i am thinking of an otto algae eater however theres a high death rate please recommend some better species of algae eating fishes thanks

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    Re: Article on algae identification

    hi folks... i believe there's certain plant that helps reduce the algae growth right?

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    Re: Article on algae identification

    is there any specific plants or fishes that helps in algae prevention or reduce its growth ?

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    Re: Article on algae identification

    hi there melvin..
    grow healthy plants, not thinking how to kill algae..
    more plants growing healthy less algae will appear.
    Learning the hardway, not the highway.
    Photo Blog - impervious-endeavors.blogspot.com

    Semi-Active currently
    "if he cant be bothered to take the time to write his question properly, why should I take the time to answer him."

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    Re: Article on algae identification

    good info!!

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    Re: Article on algae identification

    It's really true. Lately I screwed my tank because I was focusing too much in algae and chemical control. Suffered 3 weeks of necrosis and algae bloom, the plants are only starting to grow back.

    I am finding fertilizers extremely costly to maintain a healthy tank.
    Fishy Tank Results Algae Vs Dodofish 2 : 0

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