Floater Maintenance?

[FISHnLAB]

Hey guys, I'm just looking for a link to a thread or some help with Floater maintenance please. I just have Salvinia Aruculata & Phyllanthus Fluitans so far but, am going to add Limnobium Laevigatum in the near future. I am mainly interested in how much I should thin them and if any trimming of the old dying leaves is required(and the best way to do it). Thanks👍.

 

[plantnoobdude]

Just take the excess out. Floaters don’t need special trimming techniques and aren’t very picky. How much “excess” is is defined by your tank, plants light demand, gas exchange, your lights power and aesthetics, all things to consider. If I see a bit of algae pop up in my Low tech, I’ll just let the floaters go a bit and the algae will be gone soon enough.

 

[tiger15]

I have all 3 of your floaters plus Azolla I recently acquired. All floaters grow fast if they are happy. If they are not happy, they turn yellow and ugly. Maintenance is regular thinning, and trashing out the extras. Otherwise, they will grow thick and stamped the bottom to rot.

 

[FISHnLAB]

Good to know guys, thanks👍.

My floaters are growing like stink I just wasn't sure if I needed to trim the dead brown leaves underneath the good ones, particularly on the Red Root. But, it sounds like they will deal with themselves correct?

 

[tiger15]

Since they grow fast, don't bother to prune out brown leaves but to remove the whole plants. The remainder will recover with lusher leaves after thinning out and soon fill up the gaps. I have to thin out mine every two weeks in warm months. But in winter, my red root floaters, water lettuce and frogbit go through decline in my unheated tanks due to low ambient temp. The one exception is my Salvinia that continues to expand in winter. I'll wait and see how my Azolla will do in the first winter I acquired it.

 

[FISHnLAB]

Since they grow fast, don't bother to prune out brown leaves but to remove the whole plants. The remainder will recover with lusher leaves after thinning out and soon fill up the gaps. I have to thin out mine every two weeks in warm months. But in winter, my red root floaters, water lettuce and frogbit go through decline in my unheated tanks due to low ambient temp. The one exception is my Salvinia that continues to expand in winter. I'll wait and see how my Azolla will do in the first winter I acquired it.

Ok, thanks for the info. Mine are growing so fast I seam to have to throw out a bunch every day or two. I'll continue to thin them as needed, thanks again👍.

 

[sparkyweasel]

If memory serves, it took Salvinia four years to cover 500 square miles of Lake Kariba, so quite fast-growing.

 

[tiger15]

55 million year ago, quantum growth of Azolla cooled the earth from thermal maxima towards the first ice age since the Triassic. Scientists are proposing to use Azolla again to combat global warming.

Can the Fern That Cooled the Planet Do It Again?

Researchers hope to use the fernlike Azolla to reverse the global warming effects of burning fossil fuels

www.scientificamerican.com

 

[FISHnLAB]

55 million year ago, quantum growth of Azolla cooled the earth from thermal maxima towards the first ice age since the Triassic. Scientists are proposing to use Azolla again to combat global warming.

Can the Fern That Cooled the Planet Do It Again?

Researchers hope to use the fernlike Azolla to reverse the global warming effects of burning fossil fuels

www.scientificamerican.com

Interesting stuff. I'm going to read the link, Thanks👍.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

If memory serves, it took Salvinia four years to cover 500 square miles of Lake Kariba, so quite fast-growing.

<"Kariba weed">. In my <"three weed tank"> it lost out in the survival of the fittest to Azolla caroliniana.

cheers Darrel

 

[FISHnLAB]

Interesting stuff. I'm going to read the link, Thanks👍.

Ok read. Very interesting but, I'm not a fan of genetic modifications so the end of it left me a little unsettled. Humans should really quit trying to play creator and messing with things best left to nature imo.

 

[tiger15]

Ok read. Very interesting but, I'm not a fan of genetic modifications so the end of it left me a little unsettled. Humans should really quit trying to play creator and messing with things best left to nature imo.

This is not GMO, but environmental intervention. It’s only an idea, with chance of success and unintended consequences unknown. Floaters can bloom and collapse just as easily, and I have personally experienced with certain floaters.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

55 million year ago, quantum growth of Azolla cooled the earth from thermal maxima towards the first ice age since the Triassic. Scientists are proposing to use Azolla again to combat global warming.

Can the Fern That Cooled the Planet Do It Again?

Researchers hope to use the fernlike Azolla to reverse the global warming effects of burning fossil fuels

www.scientificamerican.com

I'm seeing a <"new product line">. This is from <"Can the Fern That Cooled the Planet Do It Again?">

........ While Pryer said her motivations to pursue Azolla were mostly academic, she certainly sees the potential for venture capitalism to grow up around Azolla in the future. "We wanted a genome for the people, by the people," Pryer said with a chuckle. Yet others think something beyond academic learning, environmental applications or industrial uses is to be gained from Pryer's work.......

I just need a <"strap line">* and to <"get past the fact"> that it is <"illegal to sell"> Azolla caroliniana in the UK.
*Any suggestions welcomed.

cheers Darrel