# My Clado carpet



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

This is the same species in the 'moss balls'?

looks cool btw.
Looks like baseball turf.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Looks like Shrimp Paradise!


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

wow thats so cool!


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## jflng (Apr 5, 2007)

Thanks guys :thumbsup: The shrimp approve too.

Its texture is the same as a moss ball, but I've never kept moss balls in this tank. I'm not sure what species it is. It stays short, and slowly spreads across the substrate. It used to annoy me. I tried to kill and remove it in the beginning, but eventually gave up and accepted it. 

Whenever it fills in completely, I'll probably try and scape something with it. It forms a sheet, so I can pretty much mold it however I want; maybe a yellow shrimp golf/ putt putt course, or a baseball field (good thinking mistergreen).


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

It like detritus alot and if you tear off little bits with tweezers you can spread it alot faster. There are some amazing scapes out there with this stuff.


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

You should sell them....hehehehe


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

It looks perfect like it is now. 

Since it grows so slowly, you could do as Chad suggested or buy a few more moss balls and chop them up.


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## jflng (Apr 5, 2007)

That's basically what I've been doing to convince it to spread more. Every now and then I cut pieces out, and place them in different areas of the tank. Some of the little island bits are transplants from about a month ago.

Would cutting a moss ball work? Would it spread like this, or eventually ball-up, as they do? Are they the same species?

I've seen pictures of "algaescapes" in the past, but have never seen an entire algae carpet (BGA doesn't count ). I'll search around, and see what I can come up with..


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

it looks like those moss fields they have at high altitudes. Really cool.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

I think this might be the moss ball species. The other clado doesn't grow this neatly and grows pretty fast.

you might want to take a patch and grind it in a food processor with some binder like agar (not too hot so you don't kill the algae) and water. Spread it on a surface then let it set up and then flood it. Give it nutrients and light and watch it grow. You can do this with moss too.


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## jflng (Apr 5, 2007)

That's an excellent idea. I knew about doing that with moss, but never considered it with this stuff. I'm going to have to try it. 

I didn't think moss balls would grow this neatly either. I found some pictures of moss ball carpets, but most of them just looked like moss balls ripped apart. None of them appeared to have formed a nice, flat carpet.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Does it have a funky smell? The regular clado has a smell to it from what I remember.

From this article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marimo it says there 3 forms. One is a carpet.


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## stevenjohn21 (May 23, 2012)

Kudos for you waiting so long for it to fill ! That would kill me waiting that long ha ha ! Id of ripped it up after 6 months . It looks great though , cant wait to see it in another 2 years !


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## auban (Jun 23, 2012)

kudos on the use of algae as a ground cover. from what i have heard, clado can benefit from dosing just like a moss would. right now i am growing my own clado mats for use in algae scrubbers and to feed amano shrimp. it seems to do pretty well with normal dosing and even does fine with CO2, given that there arent too many plants in the tank with it.


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## jflng (Apr 5, 2007)

stevenjohn21 said:


> cant wait to see it in another 2 years !


Haha, hopefully I'll have something more to show for it in 2 years.

stevenjohn21:
I don't dose the tank at all. Maybe I should start.

mistergreen:
It smells like what I remember regular clado smelling like - not very good. Do Mirimo balls stink as well?



Wiki said:


> Another growth form lives as free-floating filaments, as small tufts of unattached filaments that frequently form a carpet on the muddy lake bottom.


Wikipedia's picture doesn't really help much, and their description isn't as in-depth as I would prefer either. The algae in my tank seems pretty well fused together. I'm not sure if it matches or not. I might have to buy a moss ball to compare with.


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

Not all moss balls are created equal. That looks to be the same as a moss ball I have. Very slow growing. I have seen some moss balls that were obviously not the same. You want "fuzzy" looking moss balls and not "stringy" looking moss balls. I do not know what causes the difference. I bought mine from aquaticmagic on evilbay, it's about the size of a small orange now. Bought it as a "giant marimo" and it was a little bigger than a golfball.


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## jflng (Apr 5, 2007)

So, some moss balls are created from different species of algae? I can see that happening in a river bottom. I guess if you wanted, you could fashion a ball from anything. Wabi Kusa algae balls, anyone?


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## Hidden Walrus (Oct 2, 2012)

I think the "stringy" moss balls, at least the ones I've seen, are made by wrapping java moss on a round surface. I think there is only one true algae "moss" ball. Your carpet looks just like my moss ball does. I think that they're probably the same species. They only grow round with lots of constant current bouncing them around, and if you don't rotate them in your tank they flatten in time. Eventually it would come to look like in your tank. Which looks really neat, I'm sure the shrimp love it. Mine are always picking at their little moss ball but your herd has a whole field to graze.


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## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

http://www(dot)ebay(dot)com/itm/Green-blanket-moss-pad-8x8cm-Live-aquarium-plant-fren-/140574174088

This looks like it. Can't find anything else about it though.


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## jflng (Apr 5, 2007)

Wiki said:


> The genus Cladophora contains many species that are very hard to tell apart and classify, mainly because of the great variation in their appearances, which is affected by habitat, age and environmental conditions


They list these species:

Cladophora aegagrophila
Cladophora albida
Cladophora brasiliana
Cladophora catenata
Cladophora coelothrix
Cladophora columbiana
Cladophora dalmatica
Cladophora fracta
Cladophora glomerata
Cladophora graminea
Cladophora montagneana
Cladophora ordinata
Cladophora prolifera
Cladophora rupestris
Cladophora scopaeformis
Cladophora sericea
Cladophora vagabunda

Quite a bit more than I thought. 

Nice find AVN. It does look like the stuff I have (and a flattened moss ball). 

Pic from link for reference:


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## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

I think you'd be interested to know that when I ripped the "green blanket moss" from the mesh and let it grow floating, it did not form a ball, and instead started to attach itself to the substrate.

Based on this, I don't think it's the same as the Marimo Moss ball... they have different textures. The moss balls are soft and spongy whilst this blanket moss is stringy and tightly packed.


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## jflng (Apr 5, 2007)

Ah, so you have some of this "blanket moss." Even if you let it free float, as H. Walrus mentioned, it needs decent current to form a ball. 

You may be correct on the texture. It's been a long time since I've been in the presence of a moss ball, so it's difficult for me to compare.


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## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

I tied it to the airline using fishing line so it was endlessly rolling in gentle bubbles, but it never really got much bigger, or formed a sphere.

when I let it sit on the surface of the substrate it just attaches itself and spreads.


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## Bruce_S (Jul 26, 2012)

In the gardens of Japan, moss is often used to provide a cool, soothing green carpet below everything from small azaleas to maples and red pines, surrounding and capping powerful stones . . . 

You've got the beginnings of the same look going on here. This could be very, very good.

~Bruce


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

AVN said:


> I tied it to the airline using fishing line so it was endlessly rolling in gentle bubbles, but it never really got much bigger, or formed a sphere.
> 
> when I let it sit on the surface of the substrate it just attaches itself and spreads.


It has to roll on the substrate I believe. It's like stones in the dessert. The wind blows the rocks and it would roll round.


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## rollinghills (Sep 19, 2011)

AVN said:


> http://www(dot)ebay(dot)com/itm/Green-blanket-moss-pad-8x8cm-Live-aquarium-plant-fren-/140574174088
> 
> This looks like it. Can't find anything else about it though.


So you bought some of these? I've always wanted something exactly like this but people say Marimo ball doesn't attach to substrate and will just float. So this one actually sinks when you detach it from the mesh? Awesome if true.


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## jakevwapp84 (Jul 8, 2012)

can you post a picture of your current tank im interested to see how its doing


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## jflng (Apr 5, 2007)

It's not doing good at all. My algae now has algae. It's developing a different, fluffier, longer type of clado all over the surface, and I'm not exactly sure how to remedy that. I haven't changed a thing, so I'm not sure of the cause. If anything, I've been taking better care of the tank lately. I'm not sure I can save it, but I'm trying.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Wow, I just saw this thread for the first time. Amazing! Sorry to hear it's not doing well now.

I've had my Marimo balls invaded by various algae a few times. This is easy to treat. In their native habitat, they can survive months without light, during winter when the water is iced over. So I put them in a bucket of water in the closest for a week or two. The Marimo doesn't mind at all, and the invasive algae dies.

I've also had the long, invasive clado in java moss. This too was easy to treat, by moving it to a bucket with AlgaeFix for three days.

But your case is an odd one. All chemical treatments are completely out of the question, leaving only the option of blackout. But I have no idea what the blackout tolerance of invasive clado is. Or if your blanketing clado is the same as Marimo ball clado, and has the same tolerance. It's even possible there's only one type of clado present in your tank, and that it's changing form as a natural part of its life cycle.

I would experimentally remove a chunk of it, with both the desirable and undesirable form/species, to a bucket for a one-week blackout. Then return it to the tank, wait another week, and see what happens.


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## jflng (Apr 5, 2007)

I would love to be able to dose Excel or H2O2, but that would destroy everything. It also doesn't solve the root problem anyway (whatever that is). I'll try a blackout on a sample piece as suggested, but have little hope for that. I didn't know that worked on Marimo balls, so it's worth a try.

It could be just a different phase of the same algae, but I would think this would have happened a long time ago if it were prone transforming.

I try to remove the bad stuff manually, but I think that makes the problem worse. Every time I pull some out, little pieces break off and are dispersed around the tank. That's probably why it's covering almost everything now. 

I'm also attempting a mass exodus of the trumpet snails in this tank. They could be a problem, I suppose. I'm sure there are tons of them hiding in the substrate.

As for the lighting, I'm not sure if I should increase or decrease the photoperiod, or if I should raise or lower the lights. Lessening the light levels would probably just slow the growth of all algae in the tank, but probably wouldn't do much harm to the unwanted algae. The good algae seemed to like light. The lamps are getting old, so maybe its not getting enough light? If that's the case, it might be a good idea to increase light levels.

It's a shame this is happening. I hope i can fix it. If I manage to get it back in line, and grow a complete, lush algae carpet, I expect to win some kind of master algae grower award. But don't start planning it for me yet, guys. I'm pretty sure it's doomed. We'll see.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

clado.......I hate you so much.

Darn thing got into my tank and for a whole year I battled it. Once it gets on your gravel, it never lets go. So frikkin annoying. Its not like other algaes. It prefers perfect tank conditions and grows like a plant. So out competing it with other plants is not really possible. co2 overdose, light outs all dont work much. I had to take out everything and restart.

I guess thats one way to go. Although that pic does give me shivers.


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## auban (Jun 23, 2012)

im the crazy that is actually growing clado out and using it in my tanks... not just any kind, the nasty kind. 

here is something you may want to try before you give up: germicidal bulbs. dont go and replace your lighting, and by all means, remove your shrimp before treating it, but if you expose clado to UV-C it will burn the crap out of it. for me, a ten minute exposure is enough to kill it outright. now, you will end up with some of your favored type dying as well, but if there is enough of it, it should be able to recover. the light cant penetrate very fare into organic matter. 

this means that you will also want to drain your tank to a few inches in order to use UV-C as a spot treatment. dissolved organic solids can block UV outright.

generally speaking, this is not an acceptable method for treating a planted tank with since it severely damages whatever tissue it hits, but if you run out of options you dont really have much to lose.


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## karce87 (Dec 6, 2012)

I just threw out a big clump of java moss with clado in there. The shrimps like it a lot but I don't. So I decided to spend time picking the clado off of the moss. One hour in, I just gave up. Hate it so bad!


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## jflng (Apr 5, 2007)

We all hate clado sometimes, but the shrimp appreciate it. I wouldn't dare stick moss in this tank.

Germicidal bulbs, eh? Interesting idea. I'm not sure I'll go that route though. I don't want to buy the lamps or remove the shrimp. If the tank gets out of hand, I'll probably tear it down, and restart it with normal plants.


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## auban (Jun 23, 2012)

i have spent a LOT of time trying to grow algae. consequentially, i have figured out a lot of ways to kill it.

you could always just succumb to the algae and...


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