shoggoth43;41736 said:
I was recently reading someone having issues with hair algae and they referenced EI and several other methods. Accordingly he went into the CO2 and whatnot he used and how he could never quite get it under control and that the idea that once the plants get going the algae will subside wasn't the whole story. His theory was that this algae actually used large amounts of silicates and due to the high amount in his water as well as the silica sand in the tank may have been a large contributing factor for the plague.
Any thoughts on this? I haven't really had time to chase that down any further but from all appearances his efforts were a step up from the usual "EI is bunk" naysayers.
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S
Diatoms use Si, not the other species.
Do you or others really, honestly, have diatom issues of any sort?
Some get a little in the initial 2 week phase then never see it again.
Some brown diatoms, slimy growth, long strands, Melosira typically, might also occur if you really mess things up.
Limiting Si in tap?
Tap is loaded with Si, lots of it.
If they claim is true, then we should all have noxious blooms of Diatoms, and yet extremely few do.
The claimant's theory does not hold water with the observed algae issues in the hobby, diatoms are just not that big of an issue, otto cats and most every algae herbivore loves diatoms over most other species also.
Diatoms are always there also, at low levels.
You just cannot see them.
Many species of algae will persist after the focus on plant is done and growing well. This is hardly surprising we might see that. We see this often with GDA............however, I cannot induce it with good CO2.
Plants grow well etc, but with somewhat suboptimal CO2, I cannot grow it for the life of me, and yet in another tank, I can, the difference was CO2.
Still, GDA will hang on, so will green water, and lately, so will Spirogyra with good plant conditions and growth.
This is not new.
Once induced, these algae need another method to eradicate/control, good/better CO2, allowing it to run it's cycle, using a UV/diatom filter, 3 days on/off blackout cycling all can be effective at killing these algae, even if the nutrients/light are the same, reducing light helps also.
So it's not only about good plant growth, but rather, improved plant health and growth. Then control measures to kill/beat back algae work much better.
They need not be nearly as harsh and long term.
While the observation is correct IMO/IME, that simply growing plants alone is not the whole story, the Si theory is so full of holes, and most anyone can see it, it's hardly a debate before it even gets started. You might argue this (Si limitation) in a central ocean gyre where the levels are very low/spartan.
Regards,
Tom Barr
They still try to say a lot more than they can based on the support.