# Good algae for algae eaters?



## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

I have been trying to grow algae on rocks outside for weeks without any luck. Then, all a sudden, the water is covered with a few kinds of algae, none of which are soft enough for little otto mouths to rasp, at least, I don't think.

I have a thick bubbly slime with green specks throughout it that has no smell what so ever, so I don't think it is cyano-it looks more like tiny flecks of shredded plant matter mixed with mucous along with fine green threads/hairs. The water is really green too, so maybe I have at least 3 different kinds of algae in there. 

The odd things is, I don't see any soft fluffy stuff growing on any of the rocks--mixture of smooth river rock and some other kinds of rock with a fine grainy texture like lumped sand. A couple stones seem to have a slight green appearance around the bottom that is hard to remove.

Is there any way to help encourage some softer algae to attach to the rocks and out compete the other algae? I am wondering if I should just dump it and start over since I really don't want floaty pond scum or green water in my tank...

Any ideas appreciated!
Pandragon


----------



## brandon429 (Oct 14, 2009)

post full tank shot

it would be easy to diversify the algae, easy

just add more lights even a standard led setup for 50 bucks could spotlight a group of rocks with extra lumens and in a month big green


----------



## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

I am growing it in a tub OUTSIDE for clarification, I will not be exposing indoor electric devices to outside conditions for obvious safety reasons. The site gets sunlight from sunrise to sunset, lack of light is not an issue. I am growing algae, just all the wrong kinds, a lot of tough hair/thread floating on the surface along with a few others all bright green and mostly floating. I can get a pic later tonight, but all you will see is a green bubbly mess which would be hard to differentiate between different kinds of algae in without the use of a high powered microscope which I do not have.

I am starting to think the only way to grow the kinds of soft algae that typically grow on rocks would be to find an algae culture of a specific species or group of species, none of which I know by name or even where to look for, and grow it in a sealed container with injected co2 to keep from becoming contaminated with other algae. I was hoping to not have to have such a controlled environment, but it seems inevitable unless I can find ways of deterring the growth of other species of algae.

Where I used to live every horse trough, pond, irrigation ditch, hot spring, etc would have soft algae growing on the sides and rocks with very little suspended in the water, unless the clumps got disturbed, and no floating algae except small blooms once or twice a year that would go away on there own. Maybe the natural algae spores in the area I live now don't include an abundance of the softer varieties that tend to be a bit more contained to mineral based surfaces like rocks and old water heaters turned into water troughs. Oh well, I am at a loss, maybe as the temps drop later in the year the floaty stuff will die off allowing other cooler weather algae to colonize the rocks or be replaced by cooler weather floaty junk with my luck. :/


----------



## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

Here is a pic of the green mash of messy stuff.


----------



## FFC (Nov 11, 2014)

Yummy


----------

