Has anyone ever tried using plants as a means of keeping algae from growing? I planned on having my 1 yr old female, about 5 inches across, in a pond in my backyard all summer, but because of construction issues with my house, she ended up in a plastic kiddie pool on my patio. When I talked to a nurseryman about plants, I was told that snappers love to hide out in plants such as under water hyacinth, and that duckweed will float on the top of the water, blocking sunlight and keeping algae down. Son of a gun, it worked like a charm! The hyacinths had gorgeous purple flowers, multiplied like crazy, and whenever I parted the floating duckweed to toss food to her, the water below was clear! There were a few small blobs of algae floating along the bottom, but clear water and especially NO SMELL. I was flabbergasted. Especially since I throw a dozen or two rosies in there almost every week, along with crickets, reptomin, and mealworms a few times a week. About every two weeks I would change most of the water. So my question is, has anyone ever done this and is it possible to continue when I bring her in for the winter? Right now the winter quarters are a long, tall clear plastic bin for easy portability. I haven't decided on a place for the tank yet, since we're redecorating and everything's misplaced right now.
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Plants, no filter
Replies (2)
I think the key is a 5 inch turtle in a big kiddie pool. This'll help the plants do there thing. For an adult snapper this'll have to be in a much, much larger pool; still with the water changes every other week.
Kudos to the plants as they are a beautiful and healthy addition, but they won't replace the need for a filter.
Ian
ps, as per your winter question, you'll have to provide the lighting requirements to keep the plants alive.
Thanks. I guess I'll dig out the filter and uva/uvb light I used for the sliders I had temporarily last winter and set her up with that. I wonder if the plants can take the light intensity. It'll be an experiment. She really likes to hide out under the plants and chase fish around, never coming out to bask. But I'll stick a large rock or something in there just in case.
