okay, this isn't my tank... i was looking at melanotaenia's tank pics and then I came across this pic. The algae I've got growing on my sand bed looks EXACTLY like this. Brown, not snotty or stringy, just regular ol' brown algae growing on the sand. I've been identifying it for the longest time as Dino's, but maybe I was wrong? Let me know what you guys think... thanks
please identify this algae for me... (pic)
- Thread starter jandree22
- Start date
The photo with the flash shows the best color, as the tank lighting combined with the glass gives the flash-less shot a very blue look.
It has the golden coloration that is typical of diatoms, and the fact that it thinly coats the sand supports that ID too. But cyanobacteria can have a gold-red color similar to this, and does grow in a similar fashion.
And both can occur simultaneously.
We could put you to work with a microscope to positively identify it :wink:
It has the golden coloration that is typical of diatoms, and the fact that it thinly coats the sand supports that ID too. But cyanobacteria can have a gold-red color similar to this, and does grow in a similar fashion.
And both can occur simultaneously.
We could put you to work with a microscope to positively identify it :wink:
well, a while ago i had marroon colored sheets of algae. i cut back the light for 48+ hours and they seemed to have disappeared. they looked like the purplish stuff in this pic.....
(not my tank.... Speigalreef's tank)
I take it that's cyano bacteria? Either way, like I said, i got that to disappear for a least the time being and all i'm left with is the brown stuff.
(not my tank.... Speigalreef's tank)
I take it that's cyano bacteria? Either way, like I said, i got that to disappear for a least the time being and all i'm left with is the brown stuff.
I wouldn't worry about diatoms. I dose silica to encourage diatom growth in my tank (which allows them to better compete with blue-green algae). Diatoms are great planktonic food for filter feeders, are easier to get off the front glass than algae, the snails love it, and my sand has enough turnover by critters that I've only rarely noticed even a slight brownish tinge to the surface.
If you were to keep a diatom population going at a moderate level (not the same as the bloom during initial cycling), you're going to really like the results for all of your filter feeders (including that clam I saw in the first pic).
However, I suspect that since any snails you might have are not out chowing down on the brown stuff, it's not diatoms. You're probably looking at the tail end of the previous cyano bloom and you may need to redo whatever worked last time.
Ross
If you were to keep a diatom population going at a moderate level (not the same as the bloom during initial cycling), you're going to really like the results for all of your filter feeders (including that clam I saw in the first pic).
However, I suspect that since any snails you might have are not out chowing down on the brown stuff, it's not diatoms. You're probably looking at the tail end of the previous cyano bloom and you may need to redo whatever worked last time.
Ross
well, the astrea's and margaritas i have never really go on the sand at all, which is the only place it's growing. i have a good bit of nassarius snails but they seem a lot more interested around feeding time for the fish than they do algae.
i was thinking about throwin a couple of turbos in there. I don't really have that many filter feeders that I care about in my tank, other than a sweet christmas tree worm. that first pic you see with the clams isn't my tank, it someone elses tank....i just posted that to show the algae. I just purchased a carton of Coralife Silicate Remover to see if that helps. I'd really like my sand to be white and brighten up the tank instead of drab and brown. I dunno, not a big deal really.... just kinda ugly IMO.
BTW, my tank is like 7 months old. Dunno if that's still considered immature or not.
i was thinking about throwin a couple of turbos in there. I don't really have that many filter feeders that I care about in my tank, other than a sweet christmas tree worm. that first pic you see with the clams isn't my tank, it someone elses tank....i just posted that to show the algae. I just purchased a carton of Coralife Silicate Remover to see if that helps. I'd really like my sand to be white and brighten up the tank instead of drab and brown. I dunno, not a big deal really.... just kinda ugly IMO.
BTW, my tank is like 7 months old. Dunno if that's still considered immature or not.
Yeah that's MY picture of my two clams, and just for the record, that is NOT cyanobacteria, I have a refugium that keeps my NO3 and PO4 at near 0 levels. If it was cyano, these spots would be growing rapidly, not the case in my tank, the snails graze on it while it does not really get out of control. I initially had a cyano problem but with the addition of a TUNZE and a refugium, it has since been eliminated.
melanotaenia":2zd8c12i said:
first of all, sorry about using your pic.... if you want me to get rid of it I will. second, i didn't think that was cyano in your tank, i was thinking they were just diatoms which i was comparing to what i have in my tank. the purple sheets are what i suspected to be cyano.
I would agree then that it is not cyano and that photograph is most likely of a diatom "blush". I based my earlier remarks on the Jandree22's comments which seemed to indicate that nobody was eating it, even off the rocks or glass (though that seems to have been my interpretation rather than what was written).
I know I'm in the serious minority on this subject, but I *love* diatoms (in moderation). As far as I can tell, they're a great natural food for clams, corals, featherdusters, sea cucumbers. as well as the copepods in my refugium. Diatoms also naturally remove nitrates and phosphates from the water column, something I appreciate. As a quick aside, I think that the three tiger tail sea cucumbers in my tank do most of the work of keeping the sand surface bright and shiny. Like I said before, there have only been a few times that I've been able to see diatoms on the sand. Most of the evidence of their presence is the on the glass and the fecal pellets of my sessile filter feeders.
Jandree22, if you want your sand to look better, I'd encourage you to beef up your live sand crew as well as your sand cleaners so that they can keep up with the diatom population. GARF sells a nice live sand rejuvenator kit. Various places sell sea cucumbers (I really like the tiger tails since they have a fixed "foot" and can be delibarately located right where they're needed). The live sand rejuvenation won't last if you have something feeding on sand critters (like a mandarin) but sea cucumbers should be fairly safe and a small population won't starve while your tank is producing diatoms.
Ross
hey, thanks for the tips! i def do need something in there to keep the sand clean and tidy. as i mentioned, all i have are the nassarius snails and they don't do squat for algae. I will def check into some cukes though...probably tiger tails. I was also eye'in up those sand sifting stars. Something else i should do is mix it with SOME kinda live sand, it's 100% dead Southdown seeded only with the Gulf-View LR i added initially. :|
Sponsor Reefs
We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.
Click here to sponsor $10:
