Barley straw extract.

[Caliban07]

Does this really work or is it another fish keeping gimmick?

I know there are other ways to tackle algae but please just focus on the question. I know this stuff is for ponds but would it work in an aquarium and will it alter any of the parameters if I use it?


Ive been doing research also but was wondering if anyone had had any experience with this stuff.

 

[Delapool]

I've never heard of it. How's it work may I ask?

 

[DragonFish71]

I think it's supposed to absorb the nutrients the algae feeds off of.

I've never used it. I know my hubby was asking me about it for our pond since every spring we have a huge algae outbreak until the BB and plants start coming back from the winter.

I've read mixed reviews on barley additives.

 

[Caliban07]

I think it's supposed to absorb the nutrients the algae feeds off of.

I've never used it. I know my hubby was asking me about it for our pond since every spring we have a huge algae outbreak until the BB and plants start coming back from the winter.

I've read mixed reviews on barley additives.

Hmm well it was just a thought. I'm going to add live plants and cut lighting down. There is nothing to compete with the algae and the amount of it is ridiculous. It's that really stringy stuff dark green. I have t5s and the tank wasn't strategically placed so it gets more light than it needs. I just hope the stock doesn't make a mess of the plants as I've heard they do.

 

[DragonFish71]

Fast growing stem plants work well for that. What's your stock?

 

[Caliban07]

Fast growing stem plants work well for that. What's your stock?

Just four firemouths in a 50 gallon. Yeh I'm gonna get stem and floating plants.

If I can source floating plants near me.

 

[DragonFish71]

The plants should be ok with the firemouths. My firemouths leave them alone. Of course, my firemouths find it more fun to annoy each other all day than bother anyone or anything else in the tank.

 

[jetajockey]

I have barely straw in the sump in my greenhouse. It's used in some waterways to combat nuisance algae. The idea is that it breaks down into h2o2 or similar compounds that inhibit algae growth. I can't really comment on it's effectiveness since the personal evidence I have is arbitrary at best, but I can say it doesn't hurt anything.

 

[DragonFish71]

Ah, so that's what it's supposed to do. I thought it was supposed to absorb the nutrients, I think I read that on a pond site some time ago.

Interesting. Now I'm going to research it some more.

 

[Caliban07]

I have barely straw in the sump in my greenhouse. It's used in some waterways to combat nuisance algae. The idea is that it breaks down into h2o2 or similar compounds that inhibit algae growth. I can't really comment on it's effectiveness since the personal evidence I have is arbitrary at best, but I can say it doesn't hurt anything.

Thanks to both so far. The guy in the LFS mentioned something to do with enzymes. I need to do more research myself.

Jeta you say straw but this is the extract. I'm just wondering if the extract would contain other ingredients etc. i know it's unlikely but I don't know the technique they use to extract or if they add anything else to preserve if need be.

It is advertised for ponds but thought it may be useful in liquid form for an aquarium.

 

[Caliban07]

http://www.ceh.ac.uk/sci_programmes/documents/barleystrawtocontrolalgae.pdf

This is a good article. I've only read the first few pages and will continue later.

Jeta your are right. The end product IS hydrogen peroxide. It explains how it does this which was very interesting. Part of which was the creation of acids so I wonder if this would alter ph. Still this is talking about straw and not extract.

I'm wondering if people who claim it isn't working are either not waiting long enough or not placing it correctly I.e too big a bundle.

 

[jlk]

I believe the extract is supposed to function in a similar manner to the actual straw but I have nothing scientific to back this up. It's supposed to produce humic acids that soften and acidify water in a manner similar to peat. Some 'barley' extracts also contain peat extracts. I have tried the extracts in my pond in the past and it accomplished nothing. UV and wcs has proven to be much more effective in dealing with nuisance algae along with a healthy trapdoor snail and plant populations.

 

[Delapool]

http://www.ceh.ac.uk/sci_programmes/documents/barleystrawtocontrolalgae.pdf

This is a good article. I've only read the first few pages and will continue later.

Jeta your are right. The end product IS hydrogen peroxide. It explains how it does this which was very interesting. Part of which was the creation of acids so I wonder if this would alter ph. Still this is talking about straw and not extract.

I'm wondering if people who claim it isn't working are either not waiting long enough or not placing it correctly I.e too big a bundle.

Great read - really interesting article. Good to see they studied O2 levels.

Thanks for posting. I'm wondering if you could bypass this and just go straight to h2o2 dosing?

 

[Caliban07]

I believe the extract is supposed to function in a similar manner to the actual straw but I have nothing scientific to back this up. It's supposed to produce humic acids that soften and acidify water in a manner similar to peat. Some 'barley' extracts also contain peat extracts. I have tried the extracts in my pond in the past and it accomplished nothing. UV and wcs has proven to be much more effective in dealing with nuisance algae along with a healthy trapdoor snail and plant populations.

Thanks jlk. I'm adding plants today. Hopefully they will be ok in sand with cichlids but I can't let this happen again the algae was everywhere and made cleaning twice as long and difficult.

I was going to try the extract for my dads pond but sounds like a waste of time although the article does state that it has proven effective in industry.

 

[Caliban07]

Great read - really interesting article. Good to see they studied O2 levels.

Thanks for posting. I'm wondering if you could bypass this and just go straight to h2o2 dosing?

Yes I enjoyed it too. I don't know about adding straight h2o2. People usually avoid getting it anywhere near their water.

 

[Delapool]

Yes I enjoyed it too. I don't know about adding straight h2o2. People usually avoid getting it anywhere near their water.

I'll have to look up . Below is what I had from an old post for algae treatment. I tend to spot treat only with h2o2 (mainly as it comes in small expensive bottles here so far). I saw the article had 2ppm to inhibit algae so I'll have to work out the maths to see how they compare.

[FONT=&quot]Hydrogen Peroxide 3% solution - 1 to 3ml of Peroxide per 1 gallon of tank water. Turn your filters off and pull the proper amount of Peroxide for the size of your tank in a syringe and slowly squirt the Cyano/algae as close to it as possible. Leave the filter off for 20 minutes. You can do this once a day.[/FONT]

 

[Caliban07]

I'll have to look up . Below is what I had from an old post for algae treatment. I tend to spot treat only with h2o2 (mainly as it comes in small expensive bottles here so far). I saw the article had 2ppm to inhibit algae so I'll have to work out the maths to see how they compare.

[FONT=&quot]Hydrogen Peroxide 3% solution - 1 to 3ml of Peroxide per 1 gallon of tank water. Turn your filters off and pull the proper amount of Peroxide for the size of your tank in a syringe and slowly squirt the Cyano/algae as close to it as possible. Leave the filter off for 20 minutes. You can do this once a day.[/FONT]

Ah right so people actually spot treat with it?

This algae I had was like really long and stringy horrible dark green stuff that went right across the surface of the tank.

Right I'm off to get some plantation.

 

[Delapool]

Ah right so people actually spot treat with it?

This algae I had was like really long and stringy horrible dark green stuff that went right across the surface of the tank.

Right I'm off to get some plantation.

I did a quick search and a switch to liquid carbon spot treating seems underway. I searched for posts by Rivercats mainly. I've tried liquid carbon spot treating (or overdosing) but not much luck so far. I know it should work and think I'm only halfway to the dosing level needed (fish seem fine so far and no trouble with dosing directly into tank).

I've found peroxide is great for beard algae and can see it fizzing away. The bottles I get are 6% which makes it a little easier but still slow going. Green spot algae on plants I've had no luck with using peroxide.

I'm sorry, I'm not sure on that algae type.