Could you help me identify some algae?

[Jeremy S]

Could you help with the identification of these three different types of algae? There is one that seems to grow mostly on the glass and on the Amazon swords while the second seems to like the pennywort and the last one that I currently have is only growing on the Hygrophila Polysperma and on the Cryptocoryne Spiralis. To see the pictures of them you can go to http://community.webshots.com/user/jeremy_s then click on the Algae Pictures album. If the album doesn’t show up on the main page click on the Normal sort button which is on the bottom right of the page. Right now it says that there aren’t any pictures in that album but once you click on it they will come up. Thanks.

[GDominy]

Ok.. The pennywort looks like its got some Black Brush Algae, nasty stuff, but SAE's eat it so its not too harsh. It doesnt look too bad yet on that plant so thats in your favor. Pull off any infected leaves, and leave the SAE's to clean up the traces (assuming you have some).

Actually after looking at the sword it looks like it has some spot algae and very young brush algae as well. it hasnt developed into full tufts of hairs yet, but I recognize it all too well. I had to fight the stuff for a while in one of my tanks.

[Jeremy S]

Thanks for the reply Gareth. How did you eventually get rid of it in your tanks? The algae first started to come when I put in some 2 year old 55-watt 9325 K bulbs. Do you think that the spectrum in these bulbs has downgraded enough to cause the algae? Thanks again.

[corigan]

Originally Posted by Jeremy S

Thanks for the reply Gareth. How did you eventually get rid of it in your tanks? The algae first started to come when I put in some 2 year old 55-watt 9325 K bulbs. Do you think that the spectrum in these bulbs has downgraded enough to cause the algae? Thanks again.

I've always been told to change my bulbs every 8-12 months. 2 Years does seem like it is a really long time. I would try to get some new bulbs.

Matt

[Jeremy S]

That’s what I thought until I read something by Tom Barr saying that the spectrum in the bulbs doesn’t really downgrade enough to justify buying more bulbs. I’m really confused now.