Clint
Stay chooned in for more!
Whats up my peeps? I've got a "problem". My Aldrovanda tank is cloudy! Now I know about fish and why aquaria can get cloudy, but this Aldrovanda tank (really just a big rubbermaid tub) had no living critters in it visible to the naked eye. Not even any mosquito larvae. It has 2 kids of grasses, arrowhead plants, and Azolla in it as well as the Aldrovanda. There is about 5 gallons of media in the tank, consisting of oak leaves, clay, a very healthy amout of LFS to decay, lots of peat and all of that is covered by about 15-20 pounds (3-4 inches) of inert , washed aquatic plant media.
Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate test to be zero. I'm sure it's high under the media what with the rotting leaves and LFS, but the water column is what matter. PH is mildly acidic. 6.6-6.8 or so.
The Aldrovanda is doing spectacularly. In fact when I got them, they were mostly rotten except for the very tip. Now, about a month later, they are full-sized strands and most of them are bifuricating of not trifuricating. The companion plants have healthy root systems and in fact I just cut them way back to give the Aldrovanda more light. I do not remove any dead leaf litter. There is no algae what so ever (not even a little speck!). I do not fertilize, and don't do water changes, although I do replace evaporated water with RO water.
This isn't really a growing issue. The plants look great, and when I get my camera I'll show pics, it's just an aesthetic issue. I COULD change the water but I'd still like to know what the cause of this problem is. On the other hand if it ain't broke...
Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate test to be zero. I'm sure it's high under the media what with the rotting leaves and LFS, but the water column is what matter. PH is mildly acidic. 6.6-6.8 or so.
The Aldrovanda is doing spectacularly. In fact when I got them, they were mostly rotten except for the very tip. Now, about a month later, they are full-sized strands and most of them are bifuricating of not trifuricating. The companion plants have healthy root systems and in fact I just cut them way back to give the Aldrovanda more light. I do not remove any dead leaf litter. There is no algae what so ever (not even a little speck!). I do not fertilize, and don't do water changes, although I do replace evaporated water with RO water.
This isn't really a growing issue. The plants look great, and when I get my camera I'll show pics, it's just an aesthetic issue. I COULD change the water but I'd still like to know what the cause of this problem is. On the other hand if it ain't broke...