Algae And Hardness

[Gnatfish]

Hello

Has there been any research into whether algae does better in soft or hard water?

Nathan

 

[George Farmer]

I would say there is no direct relation between algae and water hardness. I've not heard of any research stating either way.

Most plants do prefer soft water though. Some exceptions are Vallisneria sp., Egeria sp., Bacopa monierii to name a few.

 

[simonbrown403]

I was talking to my step dad a while, back about algae, nutrients etc who insidently teaches pharmacology, chemistry and biology at Salford university in Manchester.

As george say most plants prefer soft water with odd acceptations, the same can be said for algae, which is one of the reason we have so much trouble with it, this is because nutrients are more readily available to them in lower PH's, hence its an easy enviroment to live in.

The problem is algae is it has adapted over the years to fit almost any environment going, from acidic water of the Amazon, to the alkaline waters rift lakes and the salty seas.

I remember watching a TV program on a vast forest with a set of subterranean caverns, caves and underground rivers, where the water was so alkaline in places it would burn your skin, but surprisingly there was a variety of plat or molly or something similar that had adapted over the years to live in some of the more alkaline areas, where the only food source was algae.

I don't know how it dose it but algae can make the substances it needs to grow from the nutrients and minerals it can take in from its environment, r/o is one of the few things algae cant survive in.