Stevie D Posted November 30, 2004 Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 Hi. I've got a small amount of U. gibba, which I'm bringing on in a deepish bowl of the sort which might be used to hold a plant pot. It's deeper than you might think, with that said. When I first recieved the plant, from the forum's very own Bob H, I had it floating in nothing but pure water. That was good enough to keep it stable for a while, but I started worrying that it was just too sterile an environment, even for a CP that could get its nutrients from prey. With that in mind, I put a small amount of peat into the water - nothing more than a pinch, really. Not long after that, a viscous algae set up shop in the bowl. It spread quickly over the surface of the water to the point where it outcompeted the submerged U. gibba when I was away on holdiay, and would probably have done for it by now, if I hadn't changed the water. At the time of writing, I've just changed the U. gibba's water so that it is floating in nothing but pure water again. However, even though I fine-sieved the U. gibba extensively and ran a lot of water over the top of it, I could not shift a 'cloud' (for want of a better word) of what I think is the same algae, which has clung to the U. gibba through several rinsings. My questions are thus: 1. Is this algae actually not an algae at all, but part of the u. gibba? 2. I have heard that daphnia(?), or water-fleas, are good at disposing of algae in U. gibba bowls. However, the sources local to me only sell dried (and obviously dead) specimens. Where can I find a source of live daphnia? Would it be reasonable to hope that I might find a source that could send me some through the post? That's enough questions for now. Thanks for reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob H Posted November 30, 2004 Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 Sorry to hear you having problems Steve :-( I have some U. gibba in a glass 'vase' (one of those square jobbies they fill with pebbles/ dried flowers or candles) with gravel covered peat at the bottom, no algae, no daphnia! I did sterilise the peat and gravel though ( gas mark 2 for 30 min, cooled, gas mark 2 for 30 min). You could try seperating off a goodly chunk of the gibba, from an un-imposed area and start a new colony. Good luck and keep us up to date As for daphnia... any 'GOOD' aquarium shop should keep them as food for fishes, and they should be clean too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sheila Posted December 1, 2004 Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 Stevie, I had a problem like this on Aldrovanda last year. The only way I found to get the algae off of the plant is to use a small artist type paint brush. Lift the plant out of the water and give it a gentle brush over and the algae will lift off. Make sure you get it all or it will be back in no time and eventually starts to smother the plant. If you have a lot of the plant it is time consuming but worth it. The plant is fine once you put it back into a clean setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie D Posted December 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 Thanks, guys. Will reply in full tomorrow, but I'm a bit knackered at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie D Posted December 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Thanks for your replies, folks. :) Sorry to hear you having problems Steve :-( No worries, Bob. Apparently U. gibba is quite tough stuff, so I daresay it'll pull through. Stevie, I had a problem like this on Aldrovanda last year. The only way I found to get the algae off of the plant is to use a small artist type paint brush. Lift the plant out of the water and give it a gentle brush over and the algae will lift off. Make sure you get it all or it will be back in no time and eventually starts to smother the plant. If you have a lot of the plant it is time consuming but worth it. The plant is fine once you put it back into a clean setup. I'm thinking of going for the daphnia option, as above. Given that they like an environment warmer than our winter extremes, I might set up a permanent colony of them in my indoor terrarium. Once that's done, I could regularly unleash a squadron or two of them into the outdoor U. gibba dish. Not only would they clear it of algae, they would also feed the U. gibba. That's the plan, at least! Anyway, what with it being winter now, the algae isn't doing much, so it's not a race against the clock at the moment. Plenty of time. :) Here's a bit of reading material on daphnia, in case anyone's interested: http://www.caudata.org/daphnia/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 I just grow my gibba in the water of my Sarracenia lagoon. it gets gunged up , but does not seem to mind.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aidan Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Stevie - Check your water trays... you may have them already. I have all sorts of copepods/ostracods zooming around in mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles_KS Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 I might be wrong on this, but I don't think that Daphnia eat filamentous algae - only the single-celled species. If you still want Daphnia, you should find some by looking in local ponds/lakes/ditches etc. Giles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Stevie - Check your water trays... you may have them already. I have all sorts of copepods/ostracods zooming around in mine! Indeed - where do they come from? I have a tray which was filled with rainwater from a brand new butt. The plants were received by post and potted in new sterile compost. Within weeks, there was a variety of ostracods bumbling about the tray and bouncing off the pots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aidan Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Indeed - where do they come from? A friend has convinced me that it is spontaneous evolution! :mrgreen: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 A friend has convinced me that it is spontaneous evolution! :mrgreen: That makes them Ostracus newmanii in my greenhouse then. Must get to work on a paper... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pond boy Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 I think you mean spontaneus generation Lol. It`s because there in the water.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie D Posted December 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 I just grow my gibba in the water of my Sarracenia lagoon. it gets gunged up , but does not seem to mind.... IIRC, I put a strand in one of my water trays earlier this year. However, they're also thickly populated by spahgnum, so I'll have to do a bit of fishing around to see if they've survived... Stevie - Check your water trays... you may have them already. I have all sorts of copepods/ostracods zooming around in mine! Good point, that. I picked up a colony of blackfly larvae earlier this year - don't know if they fit into the taxonomial brackets you've mentioned there. I transfered some of them to the gibba dish. Not sure if the gibba ate any, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie D Posted December 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 IIRC, I put a strand in one of my water trays earlier this year. However, they're also thickly populated by spahgnum, so I'll have to do a bit of fishing around to see if they've survived... Just a sec... sphagnum tends to nail algae, doesn't it? Might be onto a Plan B, here. Might change the gibba set-up so it's in a shallower bowl, with sphagnum as a bed-fellow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob H Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 IIRC, I put a strand in one of my water trays earlier this year. However, they're also thickly populated by spahgnum, so I'll have to do a bit of fishing around to see if they've survived... Just a sec... sphagnum tends to nail algae, doesn't it? Might be onto a Plan B, here. Might change the gibba set-up so it's in a shallower bowl, with sphagnum as a bed-fellow... I'm trying something like that....I'm using the small paint trays, for small paint rollers :-), with sphagnum growing in it, this gives various depths of water/ moss leading to a relatively dry 'beach'. One problem is the speed at which the water evaporates, re-filling every day during the summer months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie D Posted December 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 Incidentally, is it 'gibba' with a hard 'g' or soft? U. gibber! :mrgreen: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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