Do you also export to the Netherlands? I would like to buy the cardinal shrimps.

Rhodé

Thanks!

Re the grass. Having both riccia (which I thought it was at first) and the Cladophora aegagrophila but in ball for, – that confused me as it didn’t look like either but both (I had seen it grown under high light set up in Chinatown store on wood). But never as a foreground.

Here is a link for more information. I tried to atatch the ball onto wood but it never did attach. Here is interesting conversation (The Krib group) on the subject – maybe two different types as from one person’s experience his ball algae would never adhere but his friend’s would? Best Sherry

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/cladophora.html

Has anyone here had any experience with using the algae Cladophora aegagropila in aquascaping?

It’s a dense, green thread algae with very slow growth. If I’m not misinformed, Tropica has recently started selling it and it’s becoming quite popular in Denmark. It’s used stretched out in the foreground of the tank to form a lush, green carpet – much like Riccia in Amanos tanks. The difference being that Cladophora stays in place and doesn’t need constant pruning since it grows very slowly. And to my eye, it’s at least as beautiful.

(more at link)

The type of Cladophora (whether it’s a different species or just a different form is open for discussion) that forms these balls doesn’t seem to want to adhere to a substrate. I have them sitting on driftwood, sitting on the substrate and tucked into the branches of Anubias. They have never attached in any of these situations. And as Tom mentioned, they don’t seem to be very tasty. I have good algae eating crews in my tanks, and the balls have remained untouched. I can’t think of any negative aspects of this algae!

Because of my positive experience with algae balls, I became interested when a friend’s tank developed a beautiful growth of Cladophora on a large piece of driftwood. He watched this develop over quite a long period, and the algae never climbed off its perch to infest other parts of the tank.

Eventually, he sent me some to play with. Unlike the algae balls, this form does attach to wood. But like the algae balls, it is very slow growing, and has shown no sign of being ill-behaved. It is clearly different from the algae ball type, with shorter filaments that develop into a shorter, velvety mound. I actually have both sitting touching each other, and neither invades the space of the other.

I don’t think this type competes well with fast growing plants. I have not been able to establish it in my high light/fast growth tanks, but only in my moderate light/no CO2 tank which houses only ferns, mosses and Anubias.

Maybe if I were to transfer it already attached to a piece of driftwood it would do better, but I’ll need to wait until it has grown more before I try that, and as I said, the growth is slow. Maybe next year.

I think this type has a better chance of being used as an effective foreground plant, if you got it to colonize a flattish piece of driftwood
across the front of the tank, it would fill the same roll as Riccia covered rocks, and could be easily lifted up to shake/brush off mulm.