A Simple Guide To Common Problematic Algae And The Means To Control It..
- Thread starter Steven R
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Great guide. Here is one that is stumping me under the scope. In the tank it is a gelatinous goop that is pretty loose and jello like. It is easily blown off with a baster and comes back in a few days. Here are some shots from under the scope @ 40x/400/1000. Any ID would be appreciated. 20 years in this hobby and this is a new one for me!
Thanks and appreciate the id.
Thanks and appreciate the id.
SuperHaze57
Active Member
What's growing on my chaeto? New tank and is in cycle mode. Chaeto doesn't seem to be growing much.
Do I start over or let it run?
Do I start over or let it run?
SuperHaze57
Active Member
Any one ?What's growing on my chaeto? New tank and is in cycle mode. Chaeto doesn't seem to be growing much.
Do I start over or let it run?
SantaMonica
Valuable Member
Probably hair algae.
SuperHaze57
Active Member
No it’s Diatoms
Michael Green
New Member
Can anyone identify this nasty red algae. It is not cyanobacteria. It is hard to remove manually. It started to take over one of my tanks and completely covered my frag racks. It would get on my skimmers inlet sponge, and when I would clean it in the sink with hot water it smells really bad. I pulled out my frag racks and soaked them in vinegar thinking that would help it come off easer. The smell of this stuff is so bad I had to wear a mask to clean it and threw up once(before putting the mask on). It's even growing on the back glass, on top of the coralline.
SantaMonica
Valuable Member
Looks like ulva, my fav color too.
Bigfish of La.
Active Member
My tank is 8 months old and I have something similar to diatoms, but mine is a rusty color and only appears during the photo period and only on the sand. Nitrates 2, phosphate 0, skimmer works great and tank looks good with the exception of this unknown algae.
Bigfish of La.
Active Member
No bubbles. Sand is perfectly white before lights come on and slowly gets the rusty red color as lights increase and reverses as lights ramp down.
Definitely a sign of Dino’s. Same thing was happening in my tank. I bought a microscope to help identify the exact strain I had in my tank. Luckily, it doesn’t seem to be the toxic kind.
Marisa Stanton
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Can anyone tell me what this green algae is? Also, I have no idea what the critter is if anyone knows. Tanks 1.5 months old.
SantaMonica
Valuable Member
Rocks are starting to look good:
What is Periphyton?
Periphyton is what turns your rocks different colors. You know... the white rocks you started with in SW, or the grey rocks (or brown wood) you started with in FW. After several months or years, the rocks become a variety of different colors and textures. Why? Because the periphyton that has grown on it is a mix of different living things, of different colors, and thicknesses. And the important part is: It is LIVING. And the thicker it is, the more natural it is.
That's right: The colored stuff that has coated your rocks is all living organisms. Sponges, microbes, algae, cyano, biofilms, and of course coralline. After all, "peri" means "around the outside", and "phyto" means "plant". Ever slipped while walking on rocks in a stream? That's probably periphyton that made it slippery. It's a very thin coating on the rocks, sometimes paper thin.
There is a lot of photosynthetic organisms in periphyton, and this of course means that they need light; but they need nutrients too (ammonia, nitrate, phosphate). And as you might figure, they will be on the illuminated portions of the rocks. And they will grow to intercept food particles in the water, based on the water flow. Just think about how sponges orient their holes for water flow; the micro sponges in periphyton do it too but on a tiny scale.
What about under the rocks, in the dark areas? Well these periphyton don't get light, so they are primarily filter feeders. So they REALLY grow and position themselves to be able to intercept food particles. And they don't really need to fight off algae, because algae does not grow in the dark, so they have no need for anti-algae tactics like periphyton in illuminated areas has.
Reef studies have shown that at certain depths, more of the filtering of the water comes from periphyton and benthic algae than comes from the phytoplankton which filters the deeper water. And in streams, almost all the filtering is done by periphyton. So, what you have on rocks that are "mature" or "established" is a well-developed layer of periphyton; and all the things that comes from it.
This is why mandarin fish can eat directly off the rocks of an "established" tank (tons of pods grow in and consume the periphyton), but not on the rocks of a new tank. Or why some animals can lay their eggs on established rocks, but not new ones. Or why established tanks seem to "yo-yo" less than new ones. Even tangs can eat periphyton directly when it's thick enough. Yes periphyton can also develop on the sand, but since the sand is moved around so much, the periphyton does not get visible like it does on rocks. So thick periphyton on established rocks is your friend. And totally natural too. That's why there are no pure white rocks in reefs. Keep in mind though I'm not referring to nuisance algae on rocks; I'm only referring to the very-thin layer of coloring that coats the rocks.
But what happens when you "scrub the stuff off your rocks"? Well you remove some of the periphyton, which means you remove some of your natural filter and food producer. What if you take the rocks out of the water and scrub them? Well now you not only remove more of your natural filter and food producer, but the air is going to kill even more of the microscopic sponges in it. And what if you bleach the rocks? Well, goodbye all filtering and food producing for another year. It's an instant reduction of the natural filtering that the periphyton was providing.
However, what if you just re-arrange the rocks? Well, some of the periphyton that was in the light, now will be in the dark; so this part will die. And some of the periphyton that was in the dark will now be in the light, so it will not be able to out-compete photosynthetic growth and thus will be covered and die too, for a while anyway. And even if the light stays the same, the direction and amount of water flow (and food particles) will change; sponges that were oriented to get food particles from one direction will now starve. So since the light and food supply is cut off, the filtering that the periphyton was providing stops almost immediately, due only to your re-arranging of the rocks.
Starvation takes a little longer. The periphyton organisms won't die immediately, since they have some energy saved up; but instead, they will wither away over several weeks. So on top of the instant reduction in filtering that you get by just moving the rocks, you get a somewhat stretched-out period of nutrients going back into the water. And after all this, it takes another long period of time for the periphyton to build up to the levels it was at before: 1 to 2 years. Even changing the direction of a powerhead will affect the food particle supply in the area it used to be pointed at.
So a good idea is to try to keep everything the same. Pick your lighting, flow, layout, and try to never move or change anything. In other words, just like the rocks on a reef. It's a different way of thinking, but you should have a stronger natural filter and food producer because of it.
What is Periphyton?
Periphyton is what turns your rocks different colors. You know... the white rocks you started with in SW, or the grey rocks (or brown wood) you started with in FW. After several months or years, the rocks become a variety of different colors and textures. Why? Because the periphyton that has grown on it is a mix of different living things, of different colors, and thicknesses. And the important part is: It is LIVING. And the thicker it is, the more natural it is.
That's right: The colored stuff that has coated your rocks is all living organisms. Sponges, microbes, algae, cyano, biofilms, and of course coralline. After all, "peri" means "around the outside", and "phyto" means "plant". Ever slipped while walking on rocks in a stream? That's probably periphyton that made it slippery. It's a very thin coating on the rocks, sometimes paper thin.
There is a lot of photosynthetic organisms in periphyton, and this of course means that they need light; but they need nutrients too (ammonia, nitrate, phosphate). And as you might figure, they will be on the illuminated portions of the rocks. And they will grow to intercept food particles in the water, based on the water flow. Just think about how sponges orient their holes for water flow; the micro sponges in periphyton do it too but on a tiny scale.
What about under the rocks, in the dark areas? Well these periphyton don't get light, so they are primarily filter feeders. So they REALLY grow and position themselves to be able to intercept food particles. And they don't really need to fight off algae, because algae does not grow in the dark, so they have no need for anti-algae tactics like periphyton in illuminated areas has.
Reef studies have shown that at certain depths, more of the filtering of the water comes from periphyton and benthic algae than comes from the phytoplankton which filters the deeper water. And in streams, almost all the filtering is done by periphyton. So, what you have on rocks that are "mature" or "established" is a well-developed layer of periphyton; and all the things that comes from it.
This is why mandarin fish can eat directly off the rocks of an "established" tank (tons of pods grow in and consume the periphyton), but not on the rocks of a new tank. Or why some animals can lay their eggs on established rocks, but not new ones. Or why established tanks seem to "yo-yo" less than new ones. Even tangs can eat periphyton directly when it's thick enough. Yes periphyton can also develop on the sand, but since the sand is moved around so much, the periphyton does not get visible like it does on rocks. So thick periphyton on established rocks is your friend. And totally natural too. That's why there are no pure white rocks in reefs. Keep in mind though I'm not referring to nuisance algae on rocks; I'm only referring to the very-thin layer of coloring that coats the rocks.
But what happens when you "scrub the stuff off your rocks"? Well you remove some of the periphyton, which means you remove some of your natural filter and food producer. What if you take the rocks out of the water and scrub them? Well now you not only remove more of your natural filter and food producer, but the air is going to kill even more of the microscopic sponges in it. And what if you bleach the rocks? Well, goodbye all filtering and food producing for another year. It's an instant reduction of the natural filtering that the periphyton was providing.
However, what if you just re-arrange the rocks? Well, some of the periphyton that was in the light, now will be in the dark; so this part will die. And some of the periphyton that was in the dark will now be in the light, so it will not be able to out-compete photosynthetic growth and thus will be covered and die too, for a while anyway. And even if the light stays the same, the direction and amount of water flow (and food particles) will change; sponges that were oriented to get food particles from one direction will now starve. So since the light and food supply is cut off, the filtering that the periphyton was providing stops almost immediately, due only to your re-arranging of the rocks.
Starvation takes a little longer. The periphyton organisms won't die immediately, since they have some energy saved up; but instead, they will wither away over several weeks. So on top of the instant reduction in filtering that you get by just moving the rocks, you get a somewhat stretched-out period of nutrients going back into the water. And after all this, it takes another long period of time for the periphyton to build up to the levels it was at before: 1 to 2 years. Even changing the direction of a powerhead will affect the food particle supply in the area it used to be pointed at.
So a good idea is to try to keep everything the same. Pick your lighting, flow, layout, and try to never move or change anything. In other words, just like the rocks on a reef. It's a different way of thinking, but you should have a stronger natural filter and food producer because of it.
SantaMonica
Valuable Member
Cyano can be reduced by the same methods for other algae. Also increase flow.
Focusing on phosphate is the key; cyano does not really need nitrate.
Focusing on phosphate is the key; cyano does not really need nitrate.
DraggingTail
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What is this green film?
I have a 55 gallon, Fluval 303 with purigen, carbon, filter floss, ceramic and matrix. 400 watt MH with Radium 20000K. 80 lbs of rock. 800 gph head pointed at surface. This green film is driving me insane.
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 20
1.024
PH 8.2
Temp 76-78
I have a 55 gallon, Fluval 303 with purigen, carbon, filter floss, ceramic and matrix. 400 watt MH with Radium 20000K. 80 lbs of rock. 800 gph head pointed at surface. This green film is driving me insane.
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 20
1.024
PH 8.2
Temp 76-78
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