Re: NANFA-- A word on algae

archimed_at_netdoor.com
Sun, 4 Mar 2001 00:47:37 -0600

On 4 Mar 2001, at 0:13, NATURNUT_at_aol.com wrote:

> As I understand it, algae outbreaks occur when imbalances in the aquarium
> happen, and potasium and nitrogen is used by the algae. The algae use the
> nutrients before the plants can, and outcompete them. So to succesfully get
> algae down to a reasonable level, the plants need to be outcompeting the
> algae. They need to be higher level consumers. I may be wrong on this, please
> correct me if I'm wrong. Algae are really plants, and so they need the same
> nutrients to live and grow. So do I need to make the nutrients more available
> to the desireable plants than to the algae, or do I need to remove/add trace
> elements that disencourage alage growth, but are useful to plants? I am
> confused on the whole idea, can anyone please clarify my ideas? Thank you!

The idea is to make the environment favorable for the vascular
plants, which will then outcompete the algae. In general, this
means _elevating_ light levels, providing some type of broad
spectrum fertilization, and maintaining enough vascular plant
biomass to outcompete the algae.

Prost,

Martin
Jackson, MS
-----------------------------------------------------------
Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk,
my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if
I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem
quite so funny.

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