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RE: Funky algae



> From: Justin Collins <weaslvil at rocketmail_com>
> Subject: Funky algae
>
> I emailed once before and got no responses, so I'll try again.  I have
> this weird algae bloom in my tank.  I've never seen the breed, and I
> could not find any reference to it in the archives or on the internet.
>  It is dark olive-green in color, and looks like long, narrow bubbles
> or tubes formed around the leaves of my plants, especially those with
> very small or needle-like ones.  It almost looks like jellyfish
> tissue.  I can remove nearly all of it from the tank, and a few days
> later it looks like I did nothing.  It breaks up easily and has almost
> a stick consistencey.  Possibly a cyanobacteria?  As for water
> quality, I do weekly water changes, which has led to phosphate
> problems in the past (high phosphates in the tap water), so this could
> be an issue.  My nitrate readings have always been virtually zero, so
> I know this isn't the problem.

I don't know what it is, but I had it myself when I started up my 280 gallon
tank.  It was exactly as you describe above.

I reasoned that it would be made of whatever it was it was feeding on, so I
concentrated on removing it from the tank, reasoning that this would remove
it's requirements from the tank as well.

Since it breaks up and comes off of the plants very easily, I did this as
follows:

I started an aquarium vacuum in the usual way, then held onto the bottom
edge of it with the thumb and little finger of one hand.  Next I would go to
each algae covered plant in turn and run it lightly between the first two
fingers of that same hand.  This pulled almost all of the algae off of the
plant and almost all of it was then immediately siphoned out of the tank.

It took a week to ten days of doing that once or twice a day for the problem
to go away, and it has not returned.

Good luck!

Frank.
-----
The very act of seeking sets something in motion to meet us;
something in the universe, or in the unconscious responds as if
to an invitation.  - Jean Shinoda Bolen

http://home.istar.ca/~fir