Help Me With Algae Issues Please :)

[ma27]

Hi everyone! I've had this tank for close to a year now and recently this algae has popped up. I've undergone multiple water changes, but it keeps coming back. What is it and what can I do? Thank you so much!!

 

[ma27]

Also it's a 29 gallon freshwater with live plants and has guppies, neon tetras, and a couple of ottos in it

 

[Wills]

When you say algae do you mean that white mass? If so I think that’s actually a freshwater sponge?

 

[ma27]

When you say algae do you mean that white mass? If so I think that’s actually a freshwater sponge?

That is what I'm referring to but how would that have gotten into my tank if I didn't put it there and it keeps returning even with water changes? Thanks for your help!!!

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

Wowie, that looks... Weird! I'm not sure it's algae, and like @Wills said, it kind of looks like sponge? Alternatively, it looks like the thing that was growing out of @JamieTYV 's BNP. Man, the aquatic world is strange.

 

[Wills]

I'm wracking my brain to trying and remember what its called its got a name and there is a way to get rid of it. I think its related to some kind of sponge or a kind of bacteria?

I don't think it will completely disapear without treatment as it will be feeding off the micro organisms and any excess nutrients in the tank.

I'll keep looking but I cant remember where I've read about it right now.

Wills

 

[Slaphppy7]

I'm wracking my brain to trying and remember what its called its got a name and there is a way to get rid of it. I think its related to some kind of sponge or a kind of bacteria?

I don't think it will completely disapear without treatment as it will be feeding off the micro organisms and any excess nutrients in the tank.

I'll keep looking but I cant remember where I've read about it right now.

Wills

@Colin_T identified it in other thread, freshwater corraline algae, if I'm not mistaken...Pneophyllum cetinaensis

 

[Uberhoust]

I am pretty sure that the white growth is not an Algae, it would have to have some pigment to get energy from the environment. It looks more like a slime mold to me but I don't know the variety. It might be an indication that there is an excess of organic material in the gravel.

 

[ArmchairAquariest]

This thread is old and dead, but for what it is worth that is absolutely not algae, corraline or otherwise. That appears to be a freshwater slime mold. The proof would be if it moves -- extremely slowly. Take a picture of it a few days apart and see if its edges have retreated like and inch or more on one side while expanding on the other. Despite their name they are not actually related to mold or fungus at all, they are protists. I am not entirely sure it is harmful or dangerous (I believe it should be eating and sustaining itself on algae ... I think) despite how unpleasant it looks.

Not sure how you can get rid of it. Even if you wanted to kill it with chemicals I think that is hard to pull off without taking everything else out first. I think your best hope is to try and physically remove it and the deplete its food source (likely algae) to the point where it can't sustain itself.