# Strange Algae ID help wanted.



## J-P (Jan 5, 2010)

Sorry I don't have a pic at the moment. What I thought were water drops on the side of the tank seems to be a growth on the inside of the tank glass. It is only in one corner that I can see but it looks like broccoli that is white / clear. It is really strange.

I didn't find anything similar to it in the algae finder.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

If they are white/clear and not green, then they are not likely to be algae. They may be snail eggs.


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## J-P (Jan 5, 2010)

most assuredly they are not snail eggs. Think of hydra (it is that small), that is attached to the glass, by a single stalk and the tendrils end in bulbous fronds. They look very flat and one dimensional (just like broccoli). 

I'll have to get my laptop and portable microscope to take a pick, which may or may not be today.

2 days ago we did have a very nice sunny day (1 day on 14) in which the sun would have hit that corner of the tank. The tank does not have any other lights other than the ambient room light.

Could it be a case where the sun caused it to propagate but the lack of light has depleted the chloroplast? or possibly a fungus?


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Vorticella colony?


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## J-P (Jan 5, 2010)

looks somewhat similar.

here is the pic 

not quite a clear as yours.. sorry. I tried to get the entire thing in there.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Not a Vorticella colony. You have a slime mold! It is a giant multinucleate amoeba that feeds on bacteria and whatever else it can engulf and digest. They are fascinating to watch under the microscope. They are also harmless to your tank inhabitants, or at least the ones you care about.


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## J-P (Jan 5, 2010)

oohhh cool thanks for the ID 

I suppose it is from over feeding ... it does look cool under the scope, very vascular and plant like.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

HeyPK you are pretty amazing! I've never seen anything like that before. I love this forum. There is so much to learn here!


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Slime molds are fascinating. I discovered one when I was 12 or 13 years old. I had a dime store ten dollar microscope and some petri dishes, and somehow got one going in a petri dish filled with water and a piece of banana peel. It grew across the bottom of the dish and I could see the cytoplasm moving in tube like structures you can see in J-P's picture. The cytoplasm would flow forwards towards the tips for about 10 seconds, and then reverse and flow away for the next 10 seconds. I had no idea what it was, but it had to be alive. A day or two later, when I wanted to look at it some more, it had died. The culture had gone all smelly and anaerobic. I thought, if I boiled the culture, it might come back, (I was 12, remember!) but all I achieved was to stink up the house and hasten the departure of some neighborhood ladies visiting my mother. My microscope almost wound up in the trash can that day!


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## J-P (Jan 5, 2010)

glad to be of entertainment!

If you want, the microscope also takes video


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## J-P (Jan 5, 2010)

J-P said:


> I didn't find anything similar to it in the algae finder.


maybe if I can get better pics .. we could add it to the "other" section of the algae finder?


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## J-P (Jan 5, 2010)

I don't know how I can thank you for the ID .. I have asked around .. and apparently this is a hotter topic than anticipated.


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