Algae on glass

[DanInMichigan]

This might sound like an incredibly uneducated question, but w/e- I'm curious. When I clean my glass with a magnet algae scraper, it clouds the water a little bit with the dislodged film of algae, cyano, etc that was previously on the glass. Basically a bunch of cells suspended on the water.

Could this be considered nutritionally similar to dosing some phytoplankton into my aquarium that my corals can benefit from? or is there no value in it at all?

 

[Ron Reefman]

Usually the stuff that we scrape off our glass, assuming we do it semi-regularly, are diatoms which are a form of algae. I would also assume (I'm not a biologist) that some of the critters in our tanks see these as food. After all, that's why so many snails work over the glass. So I think it's reasonable to assume some of the corals would also see this as useful food.

BTW, a late welcome to R2R from a long time former Michigander. I spent my first 30 years in the Detroit metropolitan area and traveled the state extensively as a sales rep until I got transferred to Columbus, Ohio.

 

[siggy]

Howdy neighbors new and old;) ...north metro D

 

[Ron Reefman]

Birmingham, Royal Oak, Oak Park, Farmington, Canton then off to Ohio!

 

[siggy]

Birmingham, Royal Oak, Oak Park, Farmington, Canton then off to Ohio!

Now that is a bit of a downward spiral ;) You keep heading south, Now Florida?
Im over by the lake, New Baltimore, Anchor Bay area

 

[Ron Reefman]

Yes, and now Florida. When I was younger I never dreamed I'd end up in Florida and now I wouldn't want to live anywhere else (in the US). It's warm and beautiful weather for our 6 month dry season. And the rainy season is hot, so AC is a must. But the water gets nice and warm and snorkeling in the Florida Keys is so cool. The big reefs are nice if you haven't seen them before. But snorkeling shallow flats (1' to 4' deep) near uninhabited islands is a blast. It's like flying at low altitude over the surface of an alien planet and seeing all the critters up close and personal. From snails and crabs to squids

and sharks and everything in between!

 

[AlgaeBarn]

This might sound like an incredibly uneducated question, but w/e- I'm curious. When I clean my glass with a magnet algae scraper, it clouds the water a little bit with the dislodged film of algae, cyano, etc that was previously on the glass. Basically a bunch of cells suspended on the water.

Could this be considered nutritionally similar to dosing some phytoplankton into my aquarium that my corals can benefit from? or is there no value in it at all?

I do believe there is some benefit from feeding the algae that scraped from the glass, but I do not believe it matches the same nutritional benefit of dosing live phyto. You will tend to see copepods loving the algae on the glass (depends on the species), and those definitely will benefit your corals.