Turtle weed

[blosserl]

Anyone have any idea why Turtle Weed/Maiden's Hair (Chlorodesmis fastigiata) would turn white over night??

Everything else in the tank was fine, blenny, zenia, leather, coco...

Can't give any real specifics, it happened a couple of days ago. I was in a rush and could not do any accurate water tests, I did a stick dip and nothing there. I pulled the rock and put it into my LR tank, and added a little Kordon's water conditioner (to the original tank). The water was a little cloudy.... no color, just like it might look if new substrate was added. All is fine in the tank now.

If anyone has a clue I would love to know.

Thanks!

BTW - I've had the plant about 2 months and it has always been in the same tank. Just a little 12G JBL cube, extra nano korolina power head and a little JBL skimmer. Temp 78 ... the JBL skimmer has only been running in it for a short time (about 2 weeks) ??

[Amphibious]

Two things come to mind. First, Chlorodesmis fastigiata needs bright light. I doubt you have enough in a Nano to provide for the plant to properly photosynthesize. Second, a possible contributing factor, the skimmer probably pulled out the nutrient the plant was utilizing to surviving that long. I suspect it was barely hanging in there prior to the skimmer being added.

It's better to have the skimmer going and forget the Turtle Weed. IMHO.

Dick

[blosserl]

Thanks, Amphibious... I somehow knew you might be the one to reply

I did not think about the light issue, and should have done my homework. I was looking at the skimmer as suspect. I will take your advice and stick with the skimmer... sorry I had to loose the turtle weed

It was amazing how it happened literally over night

[Phurst]

I agree with Dick's assessment. I had a little bit of hair algae in my 12 gallon NanoCube. One night I drilled it for a sump, added carbon and GFO in reactors and a skimmer, and within 48 hours my algae did the same thing. Turned withe and just disolved because all the nutrients got stripped out of the water.

[blosserl]

This hobby is AMAZING!

Thanks for the input. I've read some things of the skimmer 'stripping'. I think it was xenia of some kind that someone claimed/suggested did better in tanks w/o skimmers. It's hard to even think of going without when I see what my skimmer gets out ... even in a little tank.