Purple Algae?

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Offline jesnon

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Purple algae?
« on: October 04, 2013, 12:32:57 PM »
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I've never really had any algae problems in my tank before, but recently I've notuced more Brown algae on the sides of my tank and most oddly this strange purple fluffy algae growing on my plastic plant!

I'm planning on just scrubbing it off during my waterchange later but I wondered what it is and if I should be concerned?

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Offline ColinB

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Re: Purple algae?
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2013, 12:44:17 PM »
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Purple algae is just showing off! ;D

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Offline jesnon

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Re: Purple algae?
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2013, 12:47:35 PM »
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Haha, it is quite snazzy huh? It's very weird, the plastic plant is right under the water flow too so it gets nicely wafted around ha.

Another thing I've noticed are small white balls, which I've realised might be snail eggs from whatever snails are living in my tank?

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Endler's Livebearer (8) - Panda Cory (4) - Cherry Barb (3) - Galaxy Rasbora (6) -
Note: The user may not necessarily own these fish, these are tanks that they may be building or researching for stocking purposes


Offline Natalia

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Re: Purple algae?
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2013, 07:47:47 PM »
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Hi Jesnon,
“Getting serious”  now  :) – you have BBA (Black Brush Algae) appearing in your tank. This algae does not turn up until later on in a tank so it is a no surprise that you did not have any before but now have some... Moving did not help either but believe me, BBA would have surfaced up anyway...
For the time being, what you can do: take the plastic plant out,  pour some bleach over the BBA, leave for 5 mins or as long as you like. You will see the change of colour as the BBA is dying.  Dead BBA is much easier to scrape off (It is quite tough!). I would then rinse the ornament under tap for a good while – and then put it in a bucket with a good overdose of declorinator (10 times), “wiggling” the plastic plant a few times in this and leaving it for a while there before you return it into the tank. This is me – I don’t like taking any chances...
There must be a cause for the BBA in your tank and it will reappear... It depends where it settles onto – you can actually leave it to be if you like (many people with just a few plants or non planted tanks do) – or think about eliminating the cause for it...
As for the brown algae – you probably know that this type of algae is typical for new set ups. As you moved, you had no choice but to disturb the balance in your tank. It should go away eventually (rubbing it off before water changes can help with it at the moment). If it stays for long or continues to re-appear, then it will be a bit of a worry – that would mean you have a “new tank syndrome” continuing for some reason which will have to be really dealt with seriously (but no reason to worry at the time being )...
P.S. Small white balls – this is something not usual for snail eggs. “Pesky” snails tend to leave their eggs encased in a jelly-like “strip” or “blob”, Nerites (I cannot remember if you have any) leave theirs stuck to surfaces (hard to remove and looking like sesame seeds), but “white balls”? :-\ Can you take a photograph?

Offline jesnon

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Re: Purple algae?
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2013, 09:27:27 PM »
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Thanks for your informative reply Natalia :-)

The algae isn't bothering me too much though if it's something that is likely to spread quickly I think I'll take yoyr recommended approach to get rid of it.

Hmm I'm not sure what the cause could be as such. The tap water is very similar here to the water in Bristol so I wouldn't have thought it would be something like that. Maybe I have my lights on too much which could be a cause, or perhaps my nitrates are getting too high... Hmm I'll do a full water test tomorrow to see how everything is looking. Can you think of any potential causes?

Re: snails - unfortunately I only have snails which came 'free' with my plants, they're quite small and haven't bothered me enough to get 'aerious' on them as their numbers haven't exploded. They managed to survive the move. The white things - I only notice them every now and then but they're always at the top of the tank, perfectly spherical and very small and pure white. It's a bit too dark for a picture now but I'll try and grab one tomorrow. Not really sure what they are!?

In good news I my 3 shrimp have survived not only despite all the others dying but during the move too. I'm hoping to add to their numbers with some males (and get that fluffy plant for baby shrimps) soon and also an actual pretty snail but will hold off until any potential problems are ironed out.

A Selection of Fish in my Fish Community Creator Tanks
Endler's Livebearer (8) - Panda Cory (4) - Cherry Barb (3) - Galaxy Rasbora (6) -
Note: The user may not necessarily own these fish, these are tanks that they may be building or researching for stocking purposes


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