What algae is this?

[sfsamm]

What type of algae is this? It looks and feels like a marimo mossball. I wasn't worried but all the sudden I think it's growing on the back glass as well and I have no idea what it is?

[Slaphppy7]

Looks like some form of cladophora.

Nice nitrAte consumer, and I think it looks pretty cool.

[Boundava]

Agree, what a cute little blob, you can call it Cousin IT,

IT for short.

[Taurus]

IT for short.

IT algae ...

[BluewaterBoof]

I agree with Matt. Looks like clado.

Be careful watchful. Some clado is very tame, like the clado that make up marimo "moss" balls. There are other types of clado that are much more aggressive and release spores to spread in a tank. There aren't any know animals that will eat live cladophora due to its tough bristly texture, and it can be very difficult to eradicate it from a tank if it is an aggressive type and starts to take hold in a tank. Even removing all animals and nuking the tank with Excel/glutaraldehyde will only reset it and appear to clear things up for a couple months before it comes back.

I had a heck of a time with the stuff. Snuck into a beautiful Iwagumi-style scape I was working on. Showed up in a corner on the glass as a little hairball like yours. Seemed benign so I didn't pay much attention to it. After a month or two it started popping up all over the tank but mostly in my beautiful hemianthus callitrichoides carpet. I fought the stuff in the tank for a good year and half, ripping the tank apart and doing three different scapes. Nuked the tank on one occasion so bad that it killed off the plants. Thought I finally won and then a month or so later it was back, laughing in my face. In the end I ultimately ended up tearing the tank down and throwing it in the dumpster in defeat.

It looks cute now, but I highly suggest turning off your filters/pumps, let the water settle, then take a syringe full of H2O2 and spot treat it ASAP. Just hose that sucker down with the peroxide. Let it sit for about ten minutes before turning your pumps back on. Cross your fingers and hope it isn't an aggressive clado and already released spores.

Good luck!

[Boundava]

Wait...what

Death to IT

[Taurus]

Death to IT

Que the tannerite videos!

[sfsamm]

Boof that is exactly what made me concerned... I've had this little spot for quite a while and never worried. Then while I converted the tank to RODI it grew about 3x the size it'd been at and now I think it's growing on the back wall. It doesn't seem to be in my Fissidens at all which would just be upsetting if it's a nuke the tank thing.

Now I am not sure what to do... I finally started getting shrimplets back crazy style in this tank (as well as an almost horrifying amount of ostracods) and I am about half scared to upset anything at this point since I've just finally recovered entirely from poisoning everyone.

Think adding some floaters to help suck any nitrAtes and the small amount of ferts this tank gets might help?
I can also reduce lighting and stop ferts entirely, just add excel daily?
The Fissidens shouldn't die though it may cease its growth. From what little I know about clad it's not an increase ferts or balance better problem it's a damned if you get it problem....
I'd even be willing to pick up one of those cheap little fluval co2 kits for this tank if you think co2 would encourage the Fissidens enough to knock out the clad?

If none of that works I guess I will get a clad tank cause I won't be tossing it out... If you can't beat 'em join 'em? If that's the case think I'd spread it to other tanks if I pull the Fissidens?

[BluewaterBoof]

I personally stopped using glute products a while back due to their toxicity and now only use regular ole hydrogen peroxide because it is so much safer as it breaks down into just hydrogen and oxygen in water. Since you have a nice explosion of shrimplets, I think they will be better off with you spot-treating with H2O2 that breaks down very quickly in water as opposed to Excel or other glutaraldehyde products.

You can try all the methods you mentioned, but clado is the devil. It sounds like it has already started to spread in the tank, which isn't a great sign. Doing all of those methods you mentioned will help reduce it and will most likely appear to kill it off entirely. The maddening thing about clado is that you think you have it beat and then it comes back a month or so later. Almost everyone that has had the stuff has a heck of a time with it.

Definitely don't cross-contaminate between tanks. Don't transfer the fissidens to other tanks, and if you can, try to set aside nets and stuff just for this tank so that you don't risk spreading it to other tanks.

[angelcraze2]

Oh man! I hope it's not the aggresive type. So your tank water is softer which seems to encourage growth?

I would try to scrape it off upright with a razor blade, or pick most of it out and spot blast with h202. I really hope it's not in your beautiful fissidens. Agree with André, I still have two unused bottles of Excel, I keep buying more peroxide, it's so cheap and I use it to disinfect my hands and everything. I feel much safer about h202. I've spot treated the whole front of my 120g where the substrate hits the glass no issues. It looked awesome with all the bubbles actually.