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Algae in my u.gigga

I started growing my first aquatic utric several weeks ago. (Thats a U.gibba BTW not a U.gigga!) It's in a typical 1/2 gallon fish bowl (peat/water mix) and seems to be spreading out just fine. However, I've noticed some algae beginning to collect along the branches.  I've read this species is fairly algae tolerant. Should I be concerned? If so, what are some steps I can take to reduce or remove the algae without harming my plant?
 
I try to think about what is happening in their natural habitat. personally, I've never seen them. Don't own any. But I do know that ponds, swamps, bogs, etc... can be pretty mucky and algae-laden. Our plants that have been started from seeds, often have a small layer of algae, just as mature plants often have the wrong kind of mosses. As long as things aren't too thick and the plants don't seem to be stressed, it shouldn't be a problem. the one thing that works against us is that we have an artificial environment for them, kind of like taking a human and putting them in 6' x 6' room and expecting them to live in it, happily, for a few decades. There will be a little stess added just because things won't be 100% ideal. I wouldn't use chemicals to rid the algae, but large enough chunks can be removed manually, if deemed necessary.
 
Opaque containers greatly reduce the incidence of algae which I have found can quickly overrun a transparent container.
 
In summer I grow U. gibba in a peaty sludge in full sun, letting the heat evaporate the winter water away and then just keeping it moist. There is algae attempting to grow in the sludge too, but the bladdertwort just grows through it flowering away merrliy. It only gets any kind of depth of water in autumn through to spring, when algae is less likely to grow due to cold temperatures and less light, and when I give it more shaded conditions anyway. You could try that?

Here's mine at the moment:

gibbacollage.gif


Best wishes.

Rob.
 
Will this flower in a fully aquatic and hard water environ? It is currently running wild in my aquarium. However, if it would flower if I put it near the surface then it would turn from pest into a welcome addition.

According to most aquatic plant gardeners...its like algae only worse....people have had it for years and can't get rid of it.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. They'll be a big help I'm sure. How about feeding? I recently scooped up some pond water where a local utric species grows (it as loaded with daphnia) and I slowly added it to the water over a two week period. I was looking at purchasing a "Daphnia Magna Desktop Culture kit". Has anyone out there tried this? Is it even necessary?  In addition, D'Amato states in the Savage Garden that gibba doesn't go dormant. Is it best to let gibba stay in a colder environment during the winter months or can I bring it indoors under growlights?  I'll take whatever advice I can get.
 
That should work just fine...but I don't think feeding is neccessary.
 
flytrap59:
Gibba doesn't go dormant, no. It can take down to 2C or so. I prefer to keep it cold over winter as this obviates any algae issues at that time (algae doesn't grow so well in cold and shaded conditions, if at all). I never feed mine - it's quite vigorous enough, and no doubt there are now plenty of beasties in the substrate for it to catch which are smaller than I can see.

Nflytrap:
It will not generally flower for you unless:
  a) it has formed a dense mat, AND
  b) the water is allowed to evoporate away in sunshine in summer.

It won't flower if it's floating loosely in masses of water. Let it multiply until the container is full of it, then let the water dry out to a wet sludge in summer. For this reason, you are unlikely to see flowers in a purely aquatic envrironment in an aquarium. By the way, all else being equal, do you find it grows OK in hard water?

Best wishes.

Rob.
 
Yes....it is a weed in my tanks.


So what is this sludge to be made out of? Does it have to be sphagnum or other similar media? Seeing they do so well in hard water i'm a bit hesitant to treat them like most other CP's
 
  • #10
I grow my aquatics in 10 gallon fish tank. There is a 2" layer of peat on the bottom. This is covered by 2" of aquatic soil and aquarium rock. The plants do very well in the tank. I do feed my aquatics, but some are rather large (Inflata). I feed them by keeping daphnia in the tank.
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]So what is this  sludge to be made out of? Does it have to be sphagnum or other similar media? Seeing they do so well in hard water i'm a bit hesitant to treat them like most other CP's

The "sludge" is a mix of water and whatever you have put on the bottom of the tank. Acidic mixes will inhibit algae. For me it is a mix of peat, dead u. gibba matter and algae
smile_n_32.gif
(moss will tend to float when you raise the water level so is not ideal). Trust me. You can see mine flowering above in the peat and water substrate. Just keep it well shaded and in plenty of water until you have a dense mat, and this will then outcompete algae when you bring it into summer sun. Raise the water again at the end of the summer and keep shaded for the winter.

I grow other aquatics too and gibba is really not an aquatic in the same way. Things like vulgaris and radiata flower in deep-ish water (a good few inches at least), completely the opposite to gibba.

An examination of the flower stalks backs this up. If the plant was floating the flower stems would sink under water if visited by insects (imagine a floating version of sandersonii). Ripples in the water would also be likely to submerge the flowers. True aquatic flowering plants like inflata and radiata have even evolved to address this issue by adding floatation devices to their flower stems. With a firmer, sludgy substrate the tiny hair-like flower stems of gibba have support and stay upright:

utricgibba1.gif


When I first started with gibba I just floated it in water and it grew well but not much else happened. I would never now return to floating it in aquaria or tanks. I find little interest in a mat of green leaves unless it deigns to flower.

Here's a photo of it flowering in the wild, in what looks to be only a cm or two or clear water before the subatrate starts:

http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/utrgib3.jpg

And another wild photo where there is no free water:

http://www.sarracenia.com/photos4/ugibb03.jpg
 
  • #12
Thanks for the info! If anyone for some weird reason wants U. gibba starts-praps I might be able to do it. Beginner though. I've managed to make a wad that covers about 3 square cm, and it is still growing like crazy in the tank(getting tangled up in java moss and generally being a nuisiance).

So if I was to try a utricularia into this(typical fishtank) and expect flowers, what would you reccomend? BTW, the traps should be no bigger than those gibba has-I heard U. vulgaris can swallow mosquito larvae, so it would be a threat(and competition) for small fish fry.
 
  • #13
The larger the plant the larger the traps in general. U. gibba is about the smallest you can float on a tank. The true floating aquatics tend to have bigger traps (you can hear them all popping as you lift plants from the water!). Most of the smaller ones (like U. stygia and U. minor) are also shallow-water, bottom scouring plants, and won't do so well free floating - same as U. gibba.

U. radiata is fairly small, and easy. I haven't measured the bladders on mine, but they are not as big as vulgaris but not as small as gibba. U. purpurea is vigorous and sometimes invasive, but the plant is of small general stature.
 
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