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

Disaronno

Member
Joined
22 Feb 2019
Messages
72
Location
NY
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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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
 
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.

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

algue2.jpg
algue1.jpg


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....
 
Hi all,
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
 
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! :eek: Yea I'll be growing it out in a separate container, don't want it taking over the tank. Thanks all.
 
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 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
 
Hi all,
Welcome to UKAPS @getintheswing
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
 
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
 
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.
2022-10-26 17.41.22.jpg
 

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Hi all,
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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