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Brown slime algae
Recent thread re brown algae being diatome based with added comment about
slimy brown algae. I work one day a week at a local pet shop that has
installed a "Dutch" display system. There are three tanks with water
cascading from one to the next and then into an overflow with a sump
under the system pumping the water into the top tank. Nice looking setup
but done by people that don't really know much about growing plants. The
system comes with three 175w MH pendants. The surface area and gallonage
they are trying to cover would require a minimum of 500 watts total just
to keep the stuff looking good.
Most all the plants on display are from my large plant tanks. The only
plants that seem to do OK are the crypts and anubias. Bunches of rotalla
indica (rotundifolia) that are bright pink in my tank turn green after a
week in the "Dutch" tank. What is more significant is they get covered
by a brown slimy aglae. It looks like soft stringy green algae only it
is brown. I use my fingers to pull some of it off the plants and have a
disgusting brown slime in my fingers although much of the stuff stays on
the plants. Some plants are more affected than others.
The tank has no fish at this time but previouosly had a variety but we
had the same problem. When I go in next week I may take my microscope
and look at the stuff to see if there are diatoms. I am pretty sure the
problem will go away with more light. The slimy nature of the gunk
suggests to me it is not diatoms.
--Earle Hamilton from northern Michigan where coral once grew