Care and culture of Aldrovanda

[wobblepip]

I've just ordered some Australian 'red' Aldrovanda and I'm awaiting delivery . My tank is full of rainwater (for 4 days now) with a 2-3 cm thick layer of peat at the bottom. I've still got lots of peat floating at the surface which I periodically remove with a tea strainer. The water is taking on a nice yellow colour but there are still lots of particulates suspended in it. I have a couple of plants (Typha minima and something else.... a reed) that I'm going to grow in the tank to remove excess nutrients. I'm also going to add carbon dioxide to the water via a yeast reactor. In addition, I've extracted an aquarium heater from the loft to keep the water at 25C and I have a bundle of Phragmites leaf litter at the ready......just in case.

Hopefully, when the plants arrive they will 'enjoy' their new home. If anyone has experience of these plants, please let me know whether or not I'm on the right lines with this set-up. Do I need to add anything else (e.g. a sample of mud from a natural bog [for the microflora and fauna]) or have I gone too far already?

[Guest Sheila]

Your set up sounds ok. You will find that in a couple more days the water will suddenly become crystal clear though still tinged yellow. I don't bother with the yeast reactor. I used to until I overdone the sugar one time and ended up with the yeast mixture bubbling up the tube and depositing itself into the water. So be careful of that. You don't need to add anything else except maybe some Daphnia when the plants are settled into the tank, so your plants can happily feed.

[wobblepip]

Thanks for the advice, Sheila.

[Guest Bjar1]

so aldrovana does well in extremly soft water with very low pH ?

(wich you get get if you ad peat to rain water)

Is this the best way to grew them?

[droseraguy]

I found a site the other day but didn't write it down.... Try doing a search on D. Darnowski and aldrovanda. I know I read a couple of papers he wrote that were on the site. I think it was a Czech one if I remember correctly.

[Rob-Rah]

Sounds like the archive of Aldrovanda cultivation papers on www.bestcarnivorousplants.com

Cheers.

[Guest Sheila]

so aldrovana does well in extremly soft water with very low pH ?

(wich you get get if you ad peat to rain water)

Is this the best way to grew them?

I followed Adrian Slacks instructions on preparing a tank for Aldrovanda. I boil up half a cup of moss peat in some rain water, let it boil for a couple of minutes then leave it to cool. Pour the mixture into the tank, (mine is just a small glass bowl) then top it up with more rain water. Leave the mixture to stand and after about 5-7 days the water will become crystal clear with a tinge of yellow. Then it is ready to have the Aldrovanda plant added.

You can add typha minima or a similar water plant to use up any excess nutrients and deter algae from forming and if you like you can set up a carbon dioxide reactor.The easiest way to do that is to get a container with a lid, fill the container to about a third full with water then add a little yeast and sugar. Make a hole in the lid of the container and push a tube through about half an inch, seal it in with some silicone or even blue tac and put the other end of the tube into your tank. An airstone is a good idea it will help to weigh it down and keep it in place. Any CO2 produced will bubble through the tube into your tank.

The plant will grow well in these conditions but if the water the Aldrovanda is in should start looking cloudy, or algae starts to form around the plant it is time to clean out the set up and start again.

[Nepenthes Nut]

Any CO2 produced from the reaction of the sugar and yeast water will bubble through the tube into your tank.

You make it sund like a chemical reaction where you add them together and they fizz or something.

The yeast bacteria just eat the sugar and produce CO2 (and alcohol if there is no oxygen left in the container)

[Guest Sheila]

However I make it sound is really irrelevent, CO2 is produced and the method works. I didn't say it would fizz, I assumed most people would know how yeast reacts with sugar without needing to go into fine details of how yeast feeds on sugar :?

[Nepenthes Nut]

I didnt say you said it fizzed, i said you made it sound like a fizzing reation. If you do not need to go into detail, you could have phrased it the way I did or just say the CO2 produced will bubble . . and leave out the reaction bit if everyone knows how they work.

Sorry if I am being pedantic.

[chloroplast]

I don't bother with the yeast reactor. I used to until I overdone the sugar one time and ended up with the yeast mixture bubbling up the tube and depositing itself into the water. So be careful of that.

Sheila, I couldn't agree with you more! I used the same apparatus for my aldrovanda setup for over one year. After having a horrible experience with reflux of yeast/sugar water into my aldrovanda tank, I stopped using it. There was no remarkable difference in the growth rate of my plants after discarding the CO2 generator.

A one-way valve or stopcock may prevent reflux, but in my experience, there isn't a need for the CO2 generator.

[wobblepip]

You make it sound like a chemical reaction

It is a chemical reaction - well, actually a series of chemical reactions called anaerobic respiration.

Thanks Sheila. I too read about the Slack technique but I didn't do the boiling peat bit - I just added the peat to cool rainwater. I'm still waiting for the water to clear, though.......

[droseraguy]

Sounds like the archive of Aldrovanda cultivation papers on www.bestcarnivorousplants.com

Cheers.

That's where it was ! There's 18 articles of which I've only read a couple but lots of info !

[Guest Sheila]

I didnt say you said it fizzed, i said you made it sound like a fizzing reation. If you do not need to go into detail, you could have phrased it the way I did or just say the CO2 produced will bubble . . and leave out the reaction bit if everyone knows how they work.

Sorry if I am being pedantic.

Ok I have edited out the offending phrase, just for you

[Nepenthes Nut]

Thank you.

Wobblepip, Yes a series of chemical reactions do occur with in the yeast bacteria cell but these reactions would not happen unless this organism was there to ingest the sugar. It is not an instant reaction like acid with alkaline (fizz) is what I was trying to say, now you are being pedantic.

[wobblepip]

Thank you.

Wobblepip, Yes a series of chemical reactions do occur with in the yeast bacteria cell but these reactions would not happen unless this organism was there to ingest the sugar. It is not an instant reaction like acid with alkaline (fizz) is what I was trying to say, now you are being pedantic.

Reactions occur when molecules randomly collide with each other with sufficient kinetic energy. This is not an instant phenomenon whether we're taking about acids and alkalis or more complex reactions inside cells.

I wasn't trying to be pedantic, just informative. However, I feel that I should point out that yeast cells are fungi, not bacteria.

[Nepenthes Nut]

Thank you for correcting my oversight. The activation energy and the correct angle must be met during collision for it to be sucessful. There are many unsucesful reations going on but with strong acids and alkalis a sufficient number of them are sucesful to make it appear instantanious.

[Guest Aidan]

If he could be bothered, I suspect Paul could endlessly "out-pedant" you on this subject. Let's call it what it is - fermentation - and forget about it.

[wobblepip]

Let's call it what it is - fermentation - and forget about it.

Agreed. Nepenthes Nut, I have some spare S. purpurea purpurea 'Cumbria, UK' and D. capensis alba seeds if you want them. Just send me a SAE (email or PM for address).

Getting back to Aldrovanda, I'm going to set up another tank today using Slack's technique for preparing the water..... Hopefully, this should be clear and ready for planting within a week.

[Nepenthes Nut]

Ok i can settle with than and agreed that he probably could (maybe I should have kept quiet)

[Greg Allan]

I find that algae is the biggest problem when growing Aldrovanda. My setup is a small glass bowl containing a few cm of peat mixed with a little detritus from my parents' pond. This is topped with a layer of river sand to prevent the peat from floating. The bowl is filled with pond water. I also have some U dichotoma growing in the water, as I read that Aldrovanda likes companion plants. The bowl is in my terrarium, and I spray soft water into the bowl every time I spray my Heliamphora and Brocchinia. The Aldrovanda have been growing well this way since Autumn, and dividing every so often, but I have not yet found a satisfactory way of keeping the algae at bay. I have to wash the Aldrovanda under the tap every few weeks. If I had more time, I suppose that replacing all of the peat, sand and water every few weeks would be the best thing to do.

Cheers,

[wobblepip]

I read that plants like Typha remove so many nutrients from the water that algal growth is severely restricted. Slack recommends growing the Adrovanda in shade to prevent algae. Elsewhere recommends an east-facing aspect with black paper shading the tank from 2cm below the water surface.

[Nepenthes Nut]

You might even be able to find a fish that can live in those conditions that can eat the algae.

[wobblepip]

You might even be able to find a fish that can live in those conditions that can eat the algae.

As long as the fish don't eat the Aldrovanda, too! I read somewhere that ramshorn snails ignore the Aldrovanda but do eat the algae. However, having too many snails (more than 2 in a 10 gallon tank) can increase the nitrogen content of the water (i.e. a better environment for the algae ).

[Nepenthes Nut]

Ramshorn snails do only seem to eat algae and not any of the other vegetation.