Dead Algae?

[Mmathis]

I read about this a lot. What does dead algae look like? And I know this sounds like a stupid question, but what causes it? How do you get rid of it?

Is this dead algae? These were taken in my QT. The stuff just floats there, but breaks up easily and is very fine. It's a darkish, greenish brown. It doesn't float up or down in the water, just congregates.

 

[tbendl]

Does it kinda ball up? This looks like what I called the "snot" in my pond. It sits on the bottom and floats during the day and is a slimy almost cottage cheese consistency.

 

[Mmathis]

Does it kinda ball up? This looks like what I called the "snot" in my pond. It sits on the bottom and floats during the day and is a slimy almost cottage cheese consistency.

Not really. And once it accumulates, it seems to stay in one spot unless I disturb it.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Just another specie of FA (floating algae). It is very much alive.

 

[Mmathis]

Just another specie of FA (floating algae). It is very much alive.

Any idea what makes it different from "regular" algae? And why would it be in the QT but not in the pond? These different types of algae are all mystifying!

 

[Mmathis]

http://www.vnwg.com/Helpful-Info/Is-Algae-Your-Friend

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Any idea what makes it different from "regular" algae? And why would it be in the QT but not in the pond? These different types of algae are all mystifying!

What do you call 'regular algae'?
There are about 8,000 different specie of 'Green algae' in the present data bases, but it is estimated that, including those yet to be named, this figure is closer to 22,000 different species.
I am not sure that there is a 'regular' algae.

 

[MitchM]

Algae (that's the plural) are like family relatives.
They're great to have around - in low numbers and for a short period of time.


.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Alga (that's the plural) are like family relatives.
They're great to have around - in low numbers and for a short period of time.


.

You have it backwards MitchM. Alga is the singular, algae is the plural.
http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/alga-algae-usage-and-phonetics.1516548/

 

[Troutredds]

Alga (that's the plural) are like family relatives.
They're great to have around - in low numbers and for a short period of time.


.

They tend to multiply like relatives, too.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I read about this a lot. What does dead algae look like? And I know this sounds like a stupid question, but what causes it? How do you get rid of it?

Is this dead algae? These were taken in my QT. The stuff just floats there, but breaks up easily and is very fine. It's a darkish, greenish brown. It doesn't float up or down in the water, just congregates.

View attachment 83329

Can you post any better close-up photos of this alga?
Not wanting to alarm anyone but after looking more closely at these photos I see some resemblance to Cyano-bacteria (Blue-Green alga) which can be toxic.

 

[MitchM]

You have it backwards MitchM. Alga is the singular, algae is the plural.
http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/alga-algae-usage-and-phonetics.1516548/

oops, fixed.

(still, ...relatives...)

 

[tbendl]

Toxic to what?? I have stuff that looks like that as well...

 

[Mmathis]

@Meyer Jordan By "regular algae," I meant the stuff we usually see in the pond: the stuff on the liner, string algae, and the suspended stuff.

What I can do on the pix is post them NOT in a collage. They were pretty close-up shots to begin with. But, if this doesn't help, I can take some more and use "macro." Let me know.... And just for fun, I might try to look at it under the microscope, but I can't take pix of that.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Toxic to what?? I have stuff that looks like that as well...

Exactly why I hesitated to in posting that comment. Blue-Green algae (Cyano bacteria) is quite rare in a garden pond setting, but it can occur.
The odds are highly in favor of what MMathis posted photos of as being just a specie of FA.

An example of typical FA.(Notice the Oxygen bubbles)

An example of a Blue-Green algae.