[And Now Green Spot Algae]

I hope you were successful in your GSA treatment! I am finally deciding to tackle mine and have reduced my lighting which helped with other algae but not GSA.

 

What deets do you use? I have root tabs but my nitrates will rarely rise above 5ppm even with sparse water changes, I expect probably in thanks to the algae farm. I've heard adding phosphorus can help so that's next on my list.

 

All the best 🙂

[lead weight with the Floating Christmas moss ball]

2 hours ago, darkG said:

Plant Weights

WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM

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Lead weights to help make sure your plants stay where you want them! These are aquarium safe. They are a much higher quality than your average plant weight. A package contains 10 weights. These contain lead but we...

^ For reference.

I wouldn't put bare lead in an aquarium. Certainly not in a planted aquarium. Positively not if pH is on the low side. But I wouldn't regardless. Small amounts doesn't appear to be too bad for fish though! Or we don't notice they getting dumber or more susceptible to infections as readily as we do in humans. Being an element it will of course not "go away" but go somewhere.

Just my 5 cents.

Oh ok. I'm certainly hesitant to put lead in but perhaps it's a mix or coated. I think Aquarium Coop tests their stuff pretty thoroughly and they have raised orders of magnitude more fish and plants than I ever have so I am inclined to trust them. 

You're right about pH though, definitely something to keep in mind.

I'm thinking the brand has had good results because the concentration of lead leached from this product (specifically) doesn't go over natural levels with regular water changes. Perhaps my poor results were because of using a different product.

[Confessions of a Bad Aquarist]

2 hours ago, MattyIce said:

Been testing different room temps in the effort to remove heaters from tanks, with the first test overnight room temp was around 72, last night it was closer to 75, which explains for the difference in the control form the prior test.

Control lost 20ml and duckweed only lost 10ml

Did not notice a temperature difference between the 2 like I did with the red root floaters.

My guess is the duck weed is able to cover more exposed water surface than the red root floaters since they are smaller and fit together more tightly so there is reduced evaporation and also with it not having the insulation effect, the lower stored energy might be causing less evaporation.



A good layer of duck weed can reduce evaporation by up to 50% and a good canopy of red root floaters can reduce evaporation by around 17% and insulate a tank well enough to bring its average temp up by almost a degree.  Good to know.

Thanks for the follow up! 

I'll definitely need to find some more floaters for energy saving 🙂

[lead weight with the Floating Christmas moss ball]

I've never had these moss balls so it might be different but once I left a lead tie around some cabomba I planted and forgot about it. 

When I wanted to move the bunch, the roots had absorbed a lot of lead and were black and the texture didn't seem right. 

Bear in mind that the lead was nestled right up to the roots for about two months so you're mileage may vary. You likely won't see any impact immediately. 

It seems like the other posters have had better luck than I did 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Confessions of a Bad Aquarist]

On 10/27/2020 at 1:35 PM, MattyIce said:

Now I’m wondering if floating plants also help with evaporation and in turn humidity at all, I feel like it should, but I’m not sure if there is science to back it up.

160 ml of water in each, no floaters in one, a canopy of red root floaters in the other.  
 

Gonna give it 24-48 hours depending on how fast they evaporate, and see which one has less water. 

 

I see some flaws where the plants could cause a change the amount of water in ways other than evaporation but I think it’s still worth doing.

This an awesome idea!

I like how you're trying with different plants. I'm anticipating there will be a big difference in evaporation loss by using a different plant. 

 

When I measured evapotranspiration with land plants, the broad leafier plants often give off a lot more water while they breathe unless they have a waxier coating that prevents water loss.

 

I'm wondering if since the duckweed lays lower in the water with less exposed surface area if it will lose less water than the other floaters 😁 keep us posted!