Battle against cyanobacteria and other notes

[budak]

After a week of sustained daily assaults with 125 mg of erythromycin, the stinky blue-green slime that had covered my 2 ft's bogwood, mosses and substrate has turned into disintegrating bits of light brown debris. It's so much that I can't suck up all (do you BGA veterans do it?), so I shall hope they disintegrate further. Meanwhile, I'll dose for 2 more days just for good measure. My thanks to all who have contributed to a good cause.

As indicated by my earlier post, I have ripped up my 2 month old old lawn - tangle rather in my 3 ft. Decided I didn't want to spend each weekend removing them from invading the crypt patches and ascending the mossy wood. And in fact, the tank looks a whole lot better with a totally barely front 2-3 inches, bar a few short crypts. I added in some Pellia and Marsilea sp. to try a different look.

Again, from another thread, I mentioned that with some plants, you just have to try and try again. Of course it's bad for the wallet, but the satisfaction of seeing them actually thrive is priceless. That's the case with my recent batch of Crypt balansae and retrospiralis, which have taken firmly root in both my 3 ft and 2 ft (despite the bga), instead of disintegrating to the touch after two weeks like usual. I suspect the difference is I hardly planted them at all, and just let them rest shallowly on top of the gravel for their roots to find the way down themselves.

Now I am waiting for the Bolbitis heudtlii to show signs of life. Two months already and counting...

BTW, if anyone sees a large SAE at Nature, that was mine...

[timebomb]

After a week of sustained daily assaults with 125 mg of erythromycin, the stinky blue-green slime that had covered my 2 ft's bogwood, mosses and substrate has turned into disintegrating bits of light brown debris.
----------------
Don't berate the Blue Green, my friend; they were the very building blocks of life on earth.

Erythromycin will eventually wipe out all the Blue Green, there's no need to siphon out the debris. As for your Crypt balansae and retrospiralis, I seriously doubt that they are growing in your tanks now because you didn't shuff them into the substrate. More likely, it's because your tank is now well established. Crypts generally do better in matured tanks.

Loh K L

[checkerboard]

yupz... i think your crypt just need some time. I used to have problem with crypt griffiti... they start rotting the moment they arrive, just leave them alone, and soon they would start sprouting new leaves again. i did not remove them actually. Might be crypt disease.

as for the Bolbitis, put it at the outflow of teh filter, it helps in my case. i also shade it with leaves from hygrophila... they will take a bit more time, look out for hairy shoots sprouting out from the rhizome.

[budak]

heheh, I read/viewed Attenborough's Life On Earth nearly 20 years ago, so blue-greens aren't new to me..... but respect for senior citizens hasn't always been my forte......

I don't know about the mature tank idea, though. The retrospiralis grows in my 2 ft which is barely a month ago, after a total overhaul (to add new base fert), while my 3 ft has been up for about 3 years and most other smaller crypts seem to grow ok.

checkerboard, could you share your experience with griffithi?

The bolbitis is right in the filter outflow's way, and shows life in having minute bubbles forming on the old leaves late in the day. But really damn slow - even the Bolbitis heteroclita is forming adventitious plants and the narrow-leaf java fern is expanding.

[checkerboard]

I tried to grow c. griffithi 3 times. The first 2 attempts, it rotted immediately and i removed them. For my 3rd attempt, this time round, I allow the plant to rot without removing them, soon new leaves sprout out. Growth is initially weak at first, but becomes more steady. Understand that they need cool water, ard 27C and do not like much light. that's all i can share for now, I will be adding laterite to the base of the plant to stimulate further growth.

Interestingly, I found my C. griffithi at petmart selling for $1,,, chance find i guessed... Saw it being sold at $8 at GenX.[:]