Algea Identification

[blizzack1]

Hi guys,

This just appeared in my tank over the last few hours.  It has the look of brush algea, but seems to be white.



It wasn't there at 6, and there it is at 9.

I suspect my CO2 levels need to be upped to compensate for all the new plant mass I have in the tank, but does anyone have any thoughts on what these is?  Maybe brush algea comes in different colours?

Thanks.

Josh

[charlie]

Is it only me , but i don`t see any pics.
That said, Josh , i`m a bit Leary you have algae, from the description of it not been there @ 6.00PM but appeared @ 9.00PM ( 3 hrs) & the color description makes me doubtful, sorry i have no suggestion on what it is.

[Bees]

I think it is a fungus but I can't recall the name of it.  It usually shows up on wood that is either new or transferred from another tank but dried out in between.  It will go away on its own in a couple of weeks and I've never heard it to be harmful.  You can also scrub it off.  I'm sure there were previous posts about this here but I can't find them right now.

[blizzack1]

Hey guys, was away for a couple days.  It has spread to the rock across the tank now... updated photos.

[fischkopp]

It's quite hard to tell for sure, but I would say that you are right with your first guess: it looks a lot like BBA.

[blizzack1]

It's quite hard to tell for sure, but I would say that you are right with your first guess: it looks a lot like BBA.

Groan.

I guess I'll up my CO2... it seemed to spring up right after a water change... maybe I'll perform another one.

Any other advice? 

[charlie]

If it is BBA, increasing the co2 should help along with a good cleaning of the filter, i would probably take the wood & rock out of the tank & clean it off.

[blizzack1]

If it is BBA, increasing the co2 should help along with a good cleaning of the filter, i would probably take the wood & rock out of the tank & clean it off.

Yikes - the wood is embedded into the gravel, so it won't come out easy!  I will take out the rock though, and blast it with excel/scrub.  Seems like whenever I head to the lake I come back and find a problem with the tank!

[fischkopp]

blast it with excel/scrub

Hot water and pot scrubber are good enough if you are cleaning decorations outside the aquarium. Excel is a good way to fight BBA inside the aquarium. I use H2O2 (cheaper) if algae starts to annoy me too much. 

[blizzack1]

Hot water and pot scrubber are good enough if you are cleaning decorations outside the aquarium. Excel is a good way to fight BBA inside the aquarium. I use H2O2 (cheaper) if algae starts to annoy me too much. 

I poured some excel on my driftwood when some clado algea was there, and my god did it ever eradicate it in a hurry.. I was crossing my fingers for the same on this.  I don't like how when the dosing/co2/water change regime I've been using has been constant for weeks and this stuff just shows up out of nowhere.

I am worried my circulation is a bit weak and maybe the CO2 isn't making it to the far bottom side of the tank as much as I'd like... might be time to upgrade the filter?  But the HC is growing just fine below the BBA...