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.
I see... yeah, that totally looks like something you would normally find in a saltwater aquarium.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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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.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.
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.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.
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).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'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.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?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'm not sure, but I think it is <"Thorea hispida">. This is the <"algaebase page">.This is a form of Staghorn algae.
I've found some interesting bits about Thorea hispida.I'm not sure, but I think it is <"Thorea hispida">.
....... and Audouinella sp. are what we call <"Black Brush Algae">........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]......
......... 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).
Hi Darrel,I'm not sure, but I think it is <"Thorea hispida">. This is the <"algaebase page">.
Hi Darrel,
Apologies that is an image from the right page, it is just one of the "red worms" enlarged.When I follow the algaebase link above, it takes me to this:...... Something doesn't tally