Treefer32
Valuable Member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2013
- Messages
- 1,466
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- Location
- Fargo, ND
- What state or country do you live in
- North Dakota
So, I'm confused on Diatoms, in looking at google images, they can can be filamentous algae, however, the article indicates the only part that's visible is the cyano looking stuff...
I noticed, that after having dosed vodka now for 10 days, my phosphates were brought from .15 down to .06ppm in the ten days of dosing. Which is great, nice and slow...
However, I noticed a strand of filamentous algae I had developed 2 and a half years ago when I first started the tank. It became a tangled web of really stringy algae. Back then it grew into a large ball almost like Chaeto, but was almost clear with a green hue to it. I could pull it out in clumps and it felt like fishing line almost. That weird plasticy feel to it. It would be clumped around large fish poop... After a couple months it stopped growing. Now 2-3 years later... Getting phosphates down to .06 ppm, I saw a strand of the stuff forming again on my sand bed.
According to google I think it's a stringy form of diatom...
seamboth.com
It kinda looks like the main picture at the top of the page. It doesn't grow upward in the sand like that and doesn't have the red stuff attached to it. It's just grows horizontally laying on top of the sand bed. The strand growing now is only an inch long or so. What I had 2 years ago was a giant ball close to 8 inches in diameter, it kinda knotted in on itself.
Is this a form of diatom? If so, is it due to low nutrients? I don't consider .06 phosphates low nutrients.. But a lot lower than my tank has been in a very long time! 5-6 months ago phosphates were consistently around .2 to .55 ppm. I lost a lot of corals in that range...
I noticed, that after having dosed vodka now for 10 days, my phosphates were brought from .15 down to .06ppm in the ten days of dosing. Which is great, nice and slow...
However, I noticed a strand of filamentous algae I had developed 2 and a half years ago when I first started the tank. It became a tangled web of really stringy algae. Back then it grew into a large ball almost like Chaeto, but was almost clear with a green hue to it. I could pull it out in clumps and it felt like fishing line almost. That weird plasticy feel to it. It would be clumped around large fish poop... After a couple months it stopped growing. Now 2-3 years later... Getting phosphates down to .06 ppm, I saw a strand of the stuff forming again on my sand bed.
According to google I think it's a stringy form of diatom...
Algae and diatoms
We all know that increased amounts of filamentous and blue green algae mean eutrophication. This much is clear. All kinds of algae grow much faster than vascular plants and because of that, algae c…
seamboth.com
It kinda looks like the main picture at the top of the page. It doesn't grow upward in the sand like that and doesn't have the red stuff attached to it. It's just grows horizontally laying on top of the sand bed. The strand growing now is only an inch long or so. What I had 2 years ago was a giant ball close to 8 inches in diameter, it kinda knotted in on itself.
Is this a form of diatom? If so, is it due to low nutrients? I don't consider .06 phosphates low nutrients.. But a lot lower than my tank has been in a very long time! 5-6 months ago phosphates were consistently around .2 to .55 ppm. I lost a lot of corals in that range...
