# What's this reddish brown algae? (Not diatoms)



## Disaronno (4 Apr 2022)

Hi all! Trying to find out what's growing on on my tank's silicone. Reddish brown in color and kind of feels like jelly. When viewed with an 8x magnifying glass, there's no visible segmentation of the strands. This is a freshwater tank too.


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## MichaelJ (4 Apr 2022)

Hi @Disaronno,  Fascinating.. I really have no idea from this close-up - the only thing that comes to mind is Gracilaria (Red algae) which is quite uncommon in our freshwater aquariums.    

Could you add another photo at a lower magnification? sometimes that makes it easier to identify. 

Welcome to UKAPS  

Cheers,
Michael


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## Disaronno (4 Apr 2022)

Oh that first photo has no magnification. Second attached pic has the 8x. So far I have not found it on any plants otherwise it would have been exterminated with a vengeance.


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## MichaelJ (4 Apr 2022)

Disaronno said:


> Oh that first photo has no magnification. Second attached pic has the 8x. So far I have not found it on any plants otherwise it would have been exterminated with a vengeance.
> 
> View attachment 185813View attachment 185814


I see... yeah, that totally looks like something you would normally find in a saltwater aquarium.  

Lets see what other folks say about this.

Cheers,
Michael


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## Hufsa (4 Apr 2022)

The only two big red algae in aquariums I know of are Caloglossa cf. beccarii and Thorea hispida. 
Your picture seems slightly similar to the latter but yours has a lot of branching that doesnt seem to fit so well with the available images.
There is a chance that a really rare species of algae has taken root in your tank, in which case there may not be an easy way to find more information about your particular guest.
I hope someone else will recognize it


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## Simon Cole (4 Apr 2022)

Caloglossa sp. beccarii was the rare one that was changing hands for stupid amounts of money a while back, like £100 for a coin size amount. Doesn't look similar to me.
You do know that it is too late for April fool's day or I'd have said Gelidium, which is saltwater [agar jelly]. 
It is a freshwater algae, take your pick, there are thousands of species, some common genus are:
Bangiophyceae, Compsopogonophyceae, Florideophyceae, Porphyridiophyceae, Stylonematophyceae, Audouinella, Batrachospermum, Sirodotia, Tuomeya, Lemanea, Hildenbrandia, Thorea, Paralemanea.  
It is worth propagating and finding out which one you have. It's the first time I have seen anything like it.


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## alnitak (4 Apr 2022)

Hello, last year I got things more or less similar in my tank. Same feeling like jelly. Is it  the same ? 







It was starting at one point, and spreading like a tree.  I had some at let's say ten points in the tank. I tried to burn it with glutaraldehyde but no result. I just removed them by pulling with a tweezers (not easy). Then never seen them again....


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## dw1305 (4 Apr 2022)

Hi all, 


Hufsa said:


> There is a chance that a really rare species of algae has taken root in your tank, in which case there may not be an easy way to find more information about your particular guest.


I don't know what it is, other than a freshwater Red Algae (Rhodophyta). We have threads about <"_Thorea hispida__"> and <"__Caloglossa beccarii__">, _but it doesn't look quite like either of them.

cheers Darrel


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## Disaronno (5 Apr 2022)

Simon Cole said:


> Caloglossa sp. beccarii was the rare one that was changing hands for stupid amounts of money a while back, like £100 for a coin size amount. Doesn't look similar to me.
> You do know that it is too late for April fool's day or I'd have said Gelidium, which is saltwater [agar jelly].
> It is a freshwater algae, take your pick, there are thousands of species, some common genus are:
> Bangiophyceae, Compsopogonophyceae, Florideophyceae, Porphyridiophyceae, Stylonematophyceae, Audouinella, Batrachospermum, Sirodotia, Tuomeya, Lemanea, Hildenbrandia, Thorea, Paralemanea.
> It is worth propagating and finding out which one you have. It's the first time I have seen anything like it.


Looks like I have a lot to read!  Yea I'll be growing it out in a separate container, don't want it taking over the tank. Thanks all.


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## getintheswing (26 Oct 2022)

I also get this worm like brown algae (Thorea Hispida) growing on my bog wood & filter outlet pipe. I've read it grows in nutrient rich water.  I'm using CO2 & the EI fertiliser method, should I cut down on the amount of fertiliser I'm putting in my 450 litre planted tank to get rid of it?


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## Hufsa (26 Oct 2022)

getintheswing said:


> I also get this worm like brown algae (Thorea Hispida) growing on my bog wood & filter outlet pipe. I've read it grows in nutrient rich water.  I'm using CO2 & the EI fertiliser method, should I cut down on the amount of fertiliser I'm putting in my 450 litre planted tank to get rid of it?


I think it would be better to manually remove it and/or spot dose the area it grows with some liquid carbon (also known as glutaraldehyde) or H2O2 (Hydrogen peroxide).
Take care if you go with the spot dosing route to ensure the safety of the livestock and no damage occurs to nearby plants.
I dont think reducing fertilizer will work out the way you intend, its likely the plants will suffer before the algae does


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## dw1305 (26 Oct 2022)

Hi all,
Welcome to UKAPS @getintheswing 


getintheswing said:


> I've read it grows in nutrient rich water. I'm using CO2 & the EI fertiliser method, should I cut down on the amount of fertiliser I'm putting in my 450 litre planted tank to get rid of it?


I'd be very surprised if it was directly related to nutrient content, most Red Algae (Rhodophyta) grow in nutrient poor conditions, but often with high water hardness. I used to have family in the Royston area, so I know you have very hard tap water <"Some handy facts about water"> hardness.

If you are adding CO2 you need to make sure that the <"mineral nutrients aren't limiting plant growth"> for the plants to be able to utisilse the added CO2. 

Have a read through <"Glide">.

cheers Darrel


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## MichaelJ (26 Oct 2022)

getintheswing said:


> I also get this worm like brown algae (Thorea Hispida) growing on my bog wood & filter outlet pipe. I've read it grows in nutrient rich water.  I'm using CO2 & the EI fertiliser method, should I cut down on the amount of fertiliser I'm putting in my 450 litre planted tank to get rid of it?


Hi @getintheswing  could you post a picture? 

Cheers,
Michael


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## getintheswing (26 Oct 2022)

I have attached pictures, sorry my phone is not the best quality. In my experience this algae does not attack plants , just grows on hardscape & is easy to scape off. If I lower my EI dosing for a week it disappears, I notice it flare up when my CO2 bottle has run out & I have not noticed it is empty.


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## jaypeecee (27 Oct 2022)

Hi @Disaronno 

I don't know if you are still investigating this having noticed that your thread was started back in April this year. It looks like Compsopogon caeruleus to me. This is a form of Staghorn algae. But, don't take my word for it. For further information, please take a look at:

Compsopogon caeruleus (Balbis ex C.Agardh) Montagne :: AlgaeBase 

JPC


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## dw1305 (27 Oct 2022)

Hi all,


jaypeecee said:


> This is a form of Staghorn algae.


I'm not sure, but I think it is <"_Thorea hispida_">_.   _This is the <"algaebase page">.

_

_

I'll be honest I like it. 

cheers Darrel


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## dw1305 (28 Oct 2022)

Hi all,


dw1305 said:


> I'm not sure, but I think it is <"_Thorea hispida_">_._


I've found some interesting bits about _Thorea hispida. 

T_his is from _<"_Comparison of the transcriptomes of different life history stages of the freshwater Rhodophyte _Thorea hispida__">_


> _.......The chantransia stages of Thorea are short, branched, uniaxial filaments that typically grow in dense tufts and are morphologically indistinguishable from another Rhodophyta genus, Audouinella (Acrochaetiales) [8,9]. In fact, molecular evidence was necessary to show that some morphologically indistinguishable samples from the genus Audouinella were actually the chantransia stage of Thorea [10]......_


....... and _Audouinella sp. _are what we call <"Black Brush Algae">.

Also found this one: <"Hidden introductions of freshwater red algae via the aquarium trade exposed by DNA barcodes">, which says:


> ......... Of the 26 freshwater mOTUs, 13 (50%) are found in the field only, four (~15%) in aquaria only, and nine (~35%) mOTUs in both the field and aquaria (Figure 3a). We have enough samples (at least three from the field and aquaria) for only five of the mOTUs to estimate nucleotide diversity and haplotype diversity (Table 1). Therefore, we identified potential introduced taxa among the five mOTUs based on genetic and geographical data. Three of these five mOTUs (_Kumanoa mahlacensis_ mOTU067, _Montangnia macrospora_ mOTU120, and _Thorea hispida_ mOTU122) exhibit no local genetic variation (i.e., in Taiwan) in the field and aquarium samples (Table 1) and are found across large geographical distances (i.e., across continents).



cheers Darrel


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## jaypeecee (28 Oct 2022)

dw1305 said:


> I'm not sure, but I think it is <"_Thorea hispida_">_. _This is the <"algaebase page">.


Hi Darrel,

When I follow the algaebase link above, it takes me to this:






						Thorea hispida (Thore) Desvaux :: AlgaeBase Images
					

Algaebase :: Listing the World's Algae



					www.algaebase.org
				




Something doesn't tally or is it a case of my bwain hurts? 

JPC


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## jaypeecee (28 Oct 2022)

dw1305 said:


> Also found this one: <"Hidden introductions of freshwater red algae via the aquarium trade exposed by DNA barcodes">


Hi Darrel,

I think I may have mentioned the above previously on UKAPS. What an eye-opener, isn't it? That's why I always dip new plants in potassium permanganate solution before adding to a tank.

JPC


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## dw1305 (28 Oct 2022)

Hi all,


jaypeecee said:


> When I follow the algaebase link above, it takes me to this:...... Something doesn't tally


Apologies that is an image from the right page, it is just one of the "red worms" enlarged.  

Here is the page <"Thorea hispida (Thore) Desvaux :: AlgaeBase">




cheers Darrel


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