# Spyrogyra



## Edvet (10 Dec 2018)

Anyone has a certified spyrogyra eater?
I am removing it manualy atm and my ammano's arent touching it.


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## Oldguy (10 Dec 2018)

Edvet said:


> spyrogyra eate


The only creature I've ever seen eating blanket weed were Mute Swans and they might have been after other stuff in the spyrogyra. Not very useful. In our patio water garden tubs I use chemicals. Pull it out by the bucket full, at certain times of the year, out of the garden pond. Ducks won't touch it and it doesn't compost.


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## Edvet (10 Dec 2018)

I don't think a swan will fit anyway, but thx


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## tam (10 Dec 2018)

If you work it out let me know, I can't get rid either. Keeping it at bay manually, and lower light has reduced it but still an annoying amount left when you look close.


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## Edvet (10 Dec 2018)

Sadly i don''t want to/can lower the light, i seem to need it as my tropical lilies are making new growth for the first time in 4 tries.
Gonna try 2 Macrobrachium brasiliensis tomorrow


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## zozo (10 Dec 2018)

Play this in the morning and they might dance right out of your tank..


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## Parablennius (10 Dec 2018)

Edvet said:


> I don't think a swan will fit anyway, but thx


It'll do nowt for your water quality either!!


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## tam (10 Dec 2018)

Edvet said:


> Sadly i don''t want to/can lower the light, i seem to need it as my tropical lilies are making new growth for the first time in 4 tries.



Could you do it selectively? I shifted all my floaters to the worst side and that's got a bit better. Maybe use a airline circle just above the lilies to keep it clear? I'm still waiting for my lilies to put floating leaves up and shade things a bit - super healthy looking but only 2" tall - not helpful!


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## Edvet (11 Dec 2018)

This tank is dedicated to the lilies for now, i am soooo happy to see new growth. I've tried these 4 times already. So i remove the algae everyday as good as i can, and as they are on the older leaves mostly,  i hope i can trim them.


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## zozo (11 Dec 2018)

Edvet said:


> This tank is dedicated to the lilies for now, i am soooo happy to see new growth. I've tried these 4 times already. So i remove the algae everyday as good as i can, and as they are on the older leaves mostly,  i hope i can trim them.



Darn, always working someting against you..  Can imagine after the 4th time trying with such a difficult delicate plant you are reluctant experimenting.
Blackout likely aint that good of an option with these young lilies.. How do they coop with liquid carbon? Not as spot treatment, but a periode of for example 2 x normal dose? Eaters i didn't see repeorted yet, only black out and LC.

Tho a few years ago i got me a bunch of Black mollies, these little hungry pigs aren't very picky. These are the only ones i've seen pulling Hair algae out of my moss.. Maybe worth a try, get a few black molly and see if they do when they get hungry.

If the don't no harm done, they cost about nothing and in my case after the job, i did offered them on Marktplaats (for the other that's a national Dutch site to get rid/sell used stuff etc.) for free and they where gone in a day. Remarkable actualy, if you offer something for free your phone will be glowing red within a few hours.

Or what about, shut off the filter for a while and add a bunch of daphnia etc. Lilies don't mind stagnant water..


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## Edvet (11 Dec 2018)

I am removing the older leaves now, these are withering. Got two leaves heading for the surface now and new (smal)leaves at the heart.


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## zozo (11 Dec 2018)

Exciting!!..


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## Edvet (11 Dec 2018)

Seems the extra light is the trick.


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## zozo (11 Dec 2018)

That's typical for lily.. They are very light hungry and indeed refuse to float if it doesn't get enough.. I experience this every winter again with the natural lit tank.
After the summer i switch to artificial light and the lily stops producing floaters and only makes submersed growth. Obviously not enough par for it..

I do not realy mind actualy, what i have growing grows one or the other and yet never both at the same time. Thus this way i still can enjoy best of both worlds, floaters in the summer and submersed growth in the winter. 

Still waiting for flowers too in the summer. That would be the cherry on top.. Best of all 3 worlds..


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## tiger15 (11 Dec 2018)

I have a shirmp bowl by the window that receives a few hours direct sunlight.  It is filled with filamentous algae that is light green, non slimy, thin and strong like human hair.  When I tried to pull it out, the threads can be feet long and entangled in clumps. Do I have spyrogyra or something else?

It's not too hard to pull them out as they come in clumps except that I have to patiently un-entangle it from attachment to plants.  I stopped fighting it as it's not objectionable in look and shrimps are more comfortable to crawl in the entangled 3D space than to swim in open water.


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## zozo (11 Dec 2018)

tiger15 said:


> Do I have spyrogyra or something else?



I know that stuff.. Also have it in a tank.. It likely is Clado.. Nothing much to do about it than keep pulling it out..

All tho a blackout severely reduces it, but never completely.

What i once did is pull out as much as you can, drain the water.. Spray H2O2 all over the place, wait a 15 minutes, fill it back up, followed by several day blackout.. Than after that you find anything left grey in color, syphon it off and water change again.. Than it'll be gone for a while..


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## tiger15 (12 Dec 2018)

No, it’s not Cladophora, because the threads are non branching.  The threads are single,  thin, and long like human hair dyed green.


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## zozo (12 Dec 2018)

Oedogonium maybe? A pocket microsscope isn't a bad investment if you like to get to the bottom of it. 

https://www.slideshare.net/10060607-053usman/oedogonium


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## Edvet (12 Dec 2018)

Looked under my workmicroscope: single hairlike strand, unbranched, single cels, stacked end on end, cellength about 6 -7 times cel width.

Like this:

  (spirogyra pratensis)


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## dw1305 (12 Dec 2018)

Hi all, 





Edvet said:


> Single hairlike strand, unbranched, single cels, stacked end on end, cellength about 6 -7 times cel width


@Edvet, those are in really good condition, you often find the chloroplasts lose their spiral structure and integrity under lower light in the winter. 

I fished some out of the fish tank the other week for some microscopy sessions and they were much less good. You can often sort out out the _Spirogyra_ strands from a mixed green algae on length, texture and colour, basically long, slightly slimy and pale green. Dark green, slightly gritty algae is usually a _Cladophora sp., _and after that you need a microscope for a definitive ID.

cheers Darrel


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## zozo (12 Dec 2018)

Clado is not only gritty to the touch it also has a typical pungent smell if you rub it between your fingers.. (And put it under your nose)  

But i sertainly don't know if clado is the sole stinker among the algae.. But gritty feel and sharp smell probably? Narrows it down pretty much.

The commonly found Oedogonium sp. also feels more like silky.


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## tiger15 (12 Dec 2018)

zozo said:


> Oedogonium maybe? A pocket microsscope isn't a bad investment if you like to get to the bottom of it.
> 
> https://www.slideshare.net/10060607-053usman/oedogonium


I think I have Oedogonium because the threads are silky, not slimy like spyrogyra, nor smelly like Cladophora. They remain silky after drying outside that resemble even more like human hair.


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (25 Dec 2018)

I don't know why but reading through this is remaining me of pond blanket weed treatments... need someone far better versed in the differences between the pond and aquarium hobby to tell me if these natural products would help and be suitable here... stuff like barley extract...


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## Edvet (25 Dec 2018)

Matt @ ScapeEasy said:


> stuff like barley extract...


I think this was debunked already.,


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## rebel (25 Dec 2018)

Could mollies eat em? Worth a try....


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## Edvet (18 Jan 2019)

H2O2 seems to do the trick
I added 15 ml 3% 5 times a week, coupled with removing manually. It seems i am winning the war.
I started with adding some extra shrimp, there were 10 amano's ( still youngish), 2 Macrobrachium brasiliense and about 10 mixed, tiger, cherry, black/blue. These didn't help (or made a visible dent).
Then i lowered the light level a bit and started adding H2O2, growth slowed and seems to be halted now. Don't have to remove large masses anymore, they are gone, there still is some "hair" around. I will continue with the peroxide and see wether the shrimp remove it when it's "killed of/damaged" by the peroxide. Added a bit of light again.
It may look horrible to some, but it's heavenly compared to 3/4 weeks ago.


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