Alternanthera Reineckii melting!

[ceg4048]

PS
The "fertilisers don't cause algae" is a bit hard for me to understand. If you look at environment and nature, we know that agricultural fertilisers cause huge problems in rivers, lakes, coastal waters. Especially now when summers are getting warmer. So why not in aquariums?

Yes, correct, except we do not have rivers, lakes or coastal waters. We have a glass box that is synthetic and whose system has nothing to do with nature. Even in nature, depending on the specific location, eutrophication has varying effects. In some systems is causes algae, in other systems it causes the emergence of some plants and the decline of algae.
A typical thread discusses this point => Nutrients and eutrophication
There is also a concrete example of this in the thread=> Little Shop of Horrors - How EI frightened the gardener

Cheers,

 

[MichaelJ]

Yes, correct, except we do not have rivers, lakes or coastal waters.

Hi @ceg4048 Yes, as I understand it, the level of severity of the fertilizer pollution we see in rivers, lakes etc. also depends a lot on the actual compounds - whether, say the phosphorus is organic (manure, compost etc.) or not... and in the hobby we don't really fertilize with organic compounds. I live on a lake here in Minnesota (soon to be skateable 🙂 ) where the city is currently building what is essentially a huge rain garden to suck up the run off from the surrounding watershed and stormwater before it hits the lake... Very different dynamics than an aquarium for sure. However, it makes me wonder if the same excess organic waste that ends up in a lake and cause O2 depletion and wreck all sorts of havoc including algae blooms is perhaps not too much different from what happens to our tanks if we neglect WC's and let waste build up?

Cheers,
Michael

 

[tiger15]

Yes, correct, except we do not have rivers, lakes or coastal waters. We have a glass box that is synthetic and whose system has nothing to do with nature. Even in nature, depending on the specific location, eutrophication has varying effects. In some systems is causes algae, in other systems it causes the emergence of some plants and the decline of algae.
A typical thread discusses this point => Nutrients and eutrophication
There is also a concrete example of this in the thread=> Little Shop of Horrors - How EI frightened the gardener

Cheers,

Hello,
suddenly my Alternanthera Reineckii is starting to melt!
Don't know why, has been growing well so far.
The only thing I am suspicious of is the use of EasyCarbo, I've dose 2-3ml daily in my 55planted tank to get rid of the annoying BBA.

Matti

Don’t blame on nutrients to cause algae. Environmental studies of river and lakes are biased toward water bodies that have no vegetation or only seasonal vegetation in temperate zones where most studies are conducted.. Algal bloom and nutrients linkage is statistical association, not necessarily causation, as many water bodies with high nutrients do not experience algal bloom, specially in tropical zones where aquatic vegetation is perennial.

Don’t blame on glutaldehyde to kill your AR, which is not known to be sensitive to glut. Glut sensitive plants are typically non emergence hydrophytes such as Vals, mosses and Hornwort.

AR is simply not an easy plant. I tried it 3 different times and each time it melted away. I have no clue why as my other plants are thriving, and I dose Glut after weekly WC for years with no issue. A few difficult plants I tried never made it so I have to settle with easier ones. For red plants, Luwidgea, Rotala and Crypt are good alternative to AR and do well in my set up.

 

[Wookii]

Don’t blame on glutaldehyde to kill your AR

I tried it 3 different times and each time it melted away

I dose Glut after weekly WC for years

. . . cause and effect?

 

[ceg4048]

Hi @ceg4048 Yes, as I understand it, the level of severity of the fertilizer pollution we see in rivers, lakes etc. also depends a lot on the actual compounds - whether, say the phosphorus is organic (manure, compost etc.) or not... and in the hobby we don't really fertilize with organic compounds. I live on a lake here in Minnesota (soon to be skateable 🙂 ) where the city is currently building what is essentially a huge rain garden to suck up the run off from the surrounding watershed and stormwater before it hits the lake... Very different dynamics than an aquarium for sure. However, it makes me wonder if the same excess organic waste that ends up in a lake and cause O2 depletion and wreck all sorts of havoc including algae blooms is perhaps not too much different from what happens to our tanks if we neglect WC's and let waste build up?

Yes, these are all factors that have an effect in all systems. Although our glass boxes are not the same as natural systems, some natural processes do occur, however, since the level and diversity of organisms in the tank are limited, not everything that happens in a lake or river can occur in the tank. As a result, the chemical profile/organization, environmental factors - such as weather and topography, as well as the interaction of species in each system determines, to great extent, which species dominate. So for example, some natural systems are high in nutrients (eutrophic), while others are poor in nutrients (oligotrophic). In eutrophic systems, typically, this supports a high population of macrophytes (higher plants) and in oligotrophic systems, there will be a higher percentage of microphytes.
As I mentioned in the other post, The Everglades is an example, of an oligotrophic system where greater than 50% of the biomass is composed of algae and other microphytes. Adding nutrients to this system, which is occurring due to runoff, actually causes a decrease in the microphyte community and causes an increase in certain macrophytes. In other systems adding nutrients does the opposite. So the fundamental driver is something other than waste buildup (although this is another variable that can occur and can change the dynamics of the system). The basic cause is a shift in the mechanisms responsible for the operation, functionality and interaction of those species.

Cheers,