Agardhiella in Jarquarium

[davidcalgary29]

I've decided to start a new build with some Agardhiella because a) it's available and b) it's available, and can be shipped to me (I'm a ten-hour roundtrip from the nearest LFS). I have, however, very little information about its nutritional requirements aside from some rather dry technical information that I've found online. Has anyone tried to raise this in a 2.5g pico with a closed top? This really is going in a jar.

 

[Subsea]

Welcome to the addiction. I have been hooked for 50 years.

I question the lid over your jar. Gas exchange is a critical component of biofiltration. Without a dynamic Equilibrium of oxygen & carbon dioxide between water & air I see big problems for enclosed container.

I am not familiar with Agardhiella, but I have grown other members of Rhondophyta commercially.

Dry analysis of Gracilaria Parvispora follows:
N at 2.5%
P at 0.082%
K at 13.54%
Ca at 0.555%
Mg at 1.163%
S at 4.81%
Zn at 139ppm
Fe at 107ppm
Mn at 20ppm
Cu at 7ppm

 

[davidcalgary29]

I question the lid over your jar.

Ha! So do I. We shall see, though, what will develop with my experiment. I am still contemplating drilling a hole through the lid with a diamond-tipped hole cutter to enable me to pass through the cords, and that will allow some gas exchange, but probably not alot. The lids aren't currently sitting flush on the rims as they're resting on the flow and heating cords.

It may not even be an issue: the vendor has concerns about shipping the specimens in colder weather. It's completely understandabe, but I hope that they'll reconsider.

 

[Subsea]

I have found heat in Summer is a serious issue, but I live in Austin, Texas and we ship in Summer.

With proper packing and proper shipping & handling, I see no technical issues in the way for shipping in winter, only opportunities to excell.

 

[davidcalgary29]

The problem here is cold and time. While it isn't terribly cold here right now -- temps will be hovering just below freezing today -- we've been at around -10C during the day for most of the month, and that makes a lot of shippers nervous. Overnight shipping is possible (I am a long way away from a city), but the shippers won't offer any assurances, and that's ALSO making vendors nervous. I've only found two companies that will ship macroalgae in Canada (and offer something other than chaeto), and stock is in a very limited, erratic supply, I'm trying to acquire specimens as soon as they pop up. I received one halimeda a few days ago, and it seems to be settling in to one of my jars.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Received my agardhiella today. I dumped it in one of the jars...and then noticed that it had quite a bit of green hair alga on it. Crap! I'm going to have to do a rinse during lunch, which should get rid of the cosmetic problem, but now I've introduced this into the jar. I don't have anything else in it, so the water will remain nutrient-poor, and maybe that and water changes will be enough to keep it in control, or perhaps the macro will help uptake of whatever nutrients there are in the water.