Lotus Plant in outdoor pot! Help required to get rid of thread algae

oliverpool

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Not really sure where to post this as I was hoping for some help. I have a planted tank but decided to grow a Lotus plant 11 months ago. No equipment of any sort. Just the lotus plant in some really stinky soil in a large pot. I would say that the pot size is around 25" in diameter and is 3/4 filled with soil and topped up with around 6 inches of water. 5 Guppies were thrown in from day one and they have since multiplied/died. At any one time, I do see at least 8-12 guppies around even though I have not fed them any single thing. The lotus is doing very well with new leaves sprouting almost every single week and has flowered 3 times so far in the 11 months. I do put in some ferts stick into the soil every month or so. There are some pond snails that grows and I have added in some duck weed to provide additional cover for the water but would say they are flourishing but only cover at most 20% of the water as I do clear them every once in a while when I add in water. Water added in are from the tap dosed with prime.

Now everything is fine except that thread algae just seem to grow. Every week, I have to fish out what I can get with my hands or it would quickly overrun the whole pot. The pot gets around 3-4 hours of direct sun everyday and indirect sun the rest of the 6-8hours. I am not sure what else to do. I tried introducing a SAE, but could not see it alive after one week. Introduced another last night and it seem ok swimming around slowly. But when I checked another hour later, it had jumped out and died on the balcony floor. So algae eaters might not survive due to lack of maybe lack oxygen or high temp. I believe the water temp is around 24 degrees centigrade to around 31? on a hot day all year round with the average of 28. I was thinking of introducing some amano shrimp but they might not survive I guess.

Does anyone know what else I could try that does not make this too labour intensive? I like to really leave it to the elements and the guppies I have to ensure that I do not need to feed them yet, they ensure no mosquito larvae breeds. I only had to top up water every 10 - 14 days or so. So I like to keep it maintenance free if possible.
 

Wet

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What do you think about buying a gallon or more of Glutaraldehyde? This is totally cheating but is easy. I'm not 100% sure that Glut. is safe for Lilies, so maybe try it out in an aquarium for a minute.

If the Lotus are in pots, you could maybe just pull them out and spot treat with Glut. Let them sit for a while and then move back to the pond. This will also mean you don't need so much Glut.

Do you have any sort of ripple at all on the surface? (Powerhead, pump, water feature, etc.) Circulation and gas exchange is good.

I wouldn't want to dose a simple pond either. :)
 
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oliverpool

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thanks for the suggestions. I do have excel which I never used on my planted tank due to my Aura Blue and CRS shrimps. I guess I could use it in my lotus pot as there are only guppies. Thats actually a good idea as I cannot see how it would harm anything there really.

As its out in the balcony where I did not install any power point, it would mean some rewiring or leaving a window/balcony door open to run the power cable for a pump. I do not think I want to do this unless absolutely necessary. Also the balcony is relatively unblock with strong wind throughout the day. So I believe there will definitely be ripples esp with any sort of wind blowing the big lotus leaves, the stalk swaying would introduce many ripples.


Wet;77485 said:
What do you think about buying a gallon or more of Glutaraldehyde? This is totally cheating but is easy. I'm not 100% sure that Glut. is safe for Lilies, so maybe try it out in an aquarium for a minute.

If the Lotus are in pots, you could maybe just pull them out and spot treat with Glut. Let them sit for a while and then move back to the pond. This will also mean you don't need so much Glut.

Do you have any sort of ripple at all on the surface? (Powerhead, pump, water feature, etc.) Circulation and gas exchange is good.

I wouldn't want to dose a simple pond either. :)
 

Tom Barr

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90% shade cloth.

Works great for many species of algae in outdoor smaller settings, or mid to small ponds.
Typically an issue in warmer areas this time of year, but April-June and then again Sept-Oct in most USa locations.