What is this stuff?

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DeeDeeK

Seeker of Piscean Wisdom
Apr 10, 2009
448
2
18
San Francisco
I have this stuff that looks like algae growing on some loose sintered glass noodles strewn around the bottom of the tank. It's a dark green, almost a blue-green but not quite. I wonder what it really is...

The other day I flipped a few noodles over while moving some plants and the green was on the bottom. A few hours later, it was up on the side, and a few hours after that, it had all moved to the top. None of the green was on the bottom or side. I've tried moving a desk lamp around the tank and found the green stuff follows the brightest light source.

Can algae patches crawl around? Why would they stay on sintered glass media only? Is this stuff slime mold? Can anybody tell me anything about this stuff?

I'm not sure if slime mold is exactly an invertebrate but I know it's not a vertebrate! Yow!
 

MTiffany

Swamp Thing
Jul 9, 2009
105
0
0
Philadelphia, PA
you wouldn't happen to have picture of the stuff, would you?
 

Arakkis

AC Members
Apr 7, 2008
990
1
0
SJ Cali
yes.. possible though to be sure try a 1/10 dose of erithro,which should kill it
 

DeeDeeK

Seeker of Piscean Wisdom
Apr 10, 2009
448
2
18
San Francisco
I'll take a few photos of it. I'll rotate the noodle/ring thingy it's on so you'll see that it moves.

Color is like cyanobacteria but do cyanobacteria move around as a group?. Photos coming up in a couple hours from now!
 

Tom.E

AC Members
Jan 6, 2000
136
0
16
New York, USA
Some cyanobacteria filaments can glide. So yes, they can move if you change the direction of the lighting. Under a microscope you can see small twitching movements if you peer long enough. Tom
 

DeeDeeK

Seeker of Piscean Wisdom
Apr 10, 2009
448
2
18
San Francisco
Introducing: The Incredible Crawling Slime!

OK, here're the pictures, about three to four hours apart in time.

1


2


3


4


5


6


7 - note that the slime has actually made a raised lump of itself on the inside edge of the noodle! This is a fully 3-dimensional slime! I agree it's probably got to be a sort of blue-green algae but I'm just amazed at its mobility!


Thanks to the person who suggested how to kill it but it seems to be happy just hanging out on pieces of biomedia (Odyssea Bio-Glass) so I'm happy just to watch it.
 
Last edited:

Wycco

Eat more pine trees
Apr 19, 2009
1,882
1
0
46
34^N 81^W
Real Name
Kim Jong Il
As long as it doesn't get out of hand and isn't a major eye-sore that's really pretty cool.

... don't think I'd want it in my tank though! ;)
 

DeeDeeK

Seeker of Piscean Wisdom
Apr 10, 2009
448
2
18
San Francisco
I think I'll call him "George."
 
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