Chara

Leech Lake, a lake I frequently visit, is full of Chara species, one of which being a dark green, fine-leaved shallow water species that grows about 3 inches tall. I've had my eye on it for years, but I have absolutely no experience with these kinds of macroalgae and I'm guessing it needs a whole lot of light. I understand there are easy Chara species, does anyone know what I would need to grow some? I'm picturing some Iowa darters and northern redbelly dace on a thick bed of it (sounds pretty awesome right?). Also, I'm not sure if it's legal or right to collect Chara, which apparently is a really valuable breeding material and is not as common as it used to be. Could I find out by calling the DNR? I couldn't find anything on their website. Thanks.

I have often wondered the same thing. I thought it would need high amount of light, but I see that it is quite variable. When I see in in relatively shallow areas that are in sunlight nearly ALL day, the plant grows in a much more compact, dense and short in height. However, I have also seen it in 3+ feet areas that only get AM sun. In these areas the plants are well over 1.5 ft tall and very bushy. I't imagine if you could get the water parameters, light and nutrition requirements for Chara right, you would need some serious trimming in aquaria.

Check out the thread from last year HERE . Sadly, scheduling, time availability and space have limited any of my little experiments I wish I could have done all summer and fall.

Interesting thread. I've seen I think 2 different species, the tiny dark one and one that looks more like the kind in your thread in deeper, more turbid water with less light. My water is super hard so it might work, especially for the species that needs less light. Next year I'll see if I can get my hands on both and try to grow them.