Algae ID

saltyhog · May 12, 2020

This algae has recently popped up in my tank. It's primarily on vertical surfaces of rock and shady areas. Not really on the sand. It blows of easily with a turkey baster and takes a couple of days to come back. This picture also has a single strand of cyano for comparison. It often is in the same areas where I have a little cyano (all the result of my long battle with dinos).

fishguy242 · May 13, 2020

bump

Wampatom · May 13, 2020

In my tank I have seen green hair algae with a diameter of 20 microns and cyanobacteria (like yours) with a diameter of 10 microns. Your green algae seems extremely thin. I have not seen anything like it in my tanks.

taricha · May 13, 2020

gotta be a green cyano, based on how it's narrower than the red cyano. got another pic or two?

Dan_P · May 13, 2020

taricha said:
gotta be a green cyano, based on how it's narrower than the red cyano. got another pic or two?

Awfully green Isn’t? Are we looking at a filamentous organism or a mat of aligned short, needle shaped organisms. Notice the short needles on the edge of the mass. The mat needs to be teased apart.

saltyhog · May 14, 2020

I'll try to get another sample and tease it apart.

saltyhog · May 14, 2020

When I teased it a little.

More aggressive teasing(with a pair of scalpel blades)

taricha · May 15, 2020

Dan_P said:
Are we looking at a filamentous organism or a mat of aligned short, needle shaped organisms.

saltyhog said:
When I teased it a little.

Ok! So we have a very fine filament green cyano that's frequently twisted together/around itself. Also diatoms that contribute to the spiky appearance.
What does this green growth look like in the tank?

saltyhog · May 15, 2020

taricha said:
Ok! So we have a very fine filament green cyano that's frequently twisted together/around itself. Also diatoms that contribute to the spiky appearance.
What does this green growth look like in the tank?

It looks like a film algae that is on the rocks mainly, usually in shaded/low flow areas. It often is found adjacent to or mixed with the red cyano. It blows off easily with a pipette or turkey baster and takes a couple of days to come back.

The diatoms are left over from my dosing of silicates for my dinos. It's really taking a long time for them to resolve.

Dan_P · May 15, 2020

taricha said:
Ok! So we have a very fine filament green cyano that's frequently twisted together/around itself. Also diatoms that contribute to the spiky appearance.
What does this green growth look like in the tank?

I will interpret this growth not as an infestation of an organism but of a community of organisms. The community strikes me as too green for cyanobacteria colony. I suggest an alga supporting cyanobacteria growth. There, I tossed down my gauntlet.

Now we need a high magnification picture or @saltyhog to describe what he can see at high magnification.

Double monti 61 · May 15, 2020

What kind of microscope do you use?

saltyhog · May 15, 2020

Kristopher Sekely said:
What kind of microscope do you use?

It's an inexpensive Amscope I got on Amazon.

I'll see if I can get some high power pics tonight or tomorrow. It's a little hard to get a thin sample though.

saltyhog · May 16, 2020

250x zoomed in just a little

400x zoomed in

Dan_P · May 16, 2020

saltyhog said:
250x zoomed in just a little

400x zoomed in

Nice picture. Thank you.

The 250X was the clearest. Tantalizing hints of differentiated cells, though not sure with this resolution. I am coming around to “it’s a cyanobacteria film”. These filament structures remind me of @Lasse referring to cyanobacteria as “sticks”. I am used to seeing flexible filaments, so I thought “what?” Maybe at @taricha could take a stab at a possible ID. I am more conservative and would need a clear picture.

Lasse · May 16, 2020

See here and at seven o´clock - can it be some anabaena type of cyanobacteria but the sticks - probably from the family Oscillatoriaceae

Sincerely Lasse

taricha · May 16, 2020

Screen Shot 2020-05-16 at 10.27.18 PM.png

great shot. definite cell crosswalls shown here. so a green cyano is likely.
so weird that they don't really bend, but are short sticks instead.

Wampatom · May 17, 2020

Very interesting. Thank you all. Cyanobacteria seems to take many forms. I will look carefully to see if I can find green cyano in my tanks.

Lasse · May 17, 2020

The red looks the same, only different colours. You will find them in every tank - but you will not see the mats in every tank IMO

Sincerely Lasse

saltyhog · May 18, 2020

It's weird how it's evolved. I had some typical red cyano as a consequence of my dino battle. Over the last few weeks the red cyano started to decline as the green became more dominant. I was seeing the mats of each side by side with each other.

I'm going to continue with manual removal for now. It doesn't seem to be causing any problems and is easy to blow off the rocks.

Dan_P · May 18, 2020

saltyhog said:
It's weird how it's evolved. I had some typical red cyano as a consequence of my dino battle. Over the last few weeks the red cyano started to decline as the green became more dominant. I was seeing the mats of each side by side with each other.

I'm going to continue with manual removal for now. It doesn't seem to be causing any problems and is easy to blow off the rocks.

Red cyanobacteria can become green by losing its red color pigment.

Maybe it is a good sign!