This jar is about 3 weeks old. I haven't sealed it yet.
It has duckweed in it and some horn wort that started growing on its own. Additionally I put some java moss, anubias and another aquarium plant I can't identify in there.
Critter-wise, we've got a couple of tiny bladder snails, some detritus worms, mayfly nymphs, phantom midges, tubifex, blood worms, and some daphnia (although the population of daphnia has diminished significantly).
Is there anything i can do to limit algae growth? Or is this just normal?
by Objective_Emu_7542
3 Comments
I have a glass that has this kind of Alge pretty much since i have it.
Its only a couple months old but the alge doesn’t seem to be hurting anything
Algae in general are quite normal. It might take some time for a balance to establish itself, and plants to outcompete them for nutrients.
The only tweak I’d consider, is taking out a bit of the duckweed, so you’d have less organic matter that potentially starts decaying once sealed.
PS: I like your setup.
Those are diatoms and are perfectly normal. I’m not certain, but I drew the conclusion from observing this for years, that it must be remnants from the biofilm that eventually solidify and sink to the bottom or stick to the glass. It’s not algae but it’s also nutrition for the snails.
However, this stuff is the toughest to get off the glass once it settles. I had a jar I discarded which had diatom stains on the glass so bad, that the entire jar looked like tea even tho the water was crystal clear.
I ran that jar through the dishwasher 3 times and the stains were still there. They faded a bit but I ended up scraping it off with a blade.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/bizzariums/comments/19bormh/this_is_what_diatoms_look_on_the_glass_the_brown/](https://www.reddit.com/r/bizzariums/comments/19bormh/this_is_what_diatoms_look_on_the_glass_the_brown/)
Your jar looks great and healthy. I would even advise against putting a lid on it cuz the duckweed won’t like the moisture from the condensation on top of the leaves.