Macroalgae covered in slime and air bubbles?

[ZzyzxRiver]

I’m continuing to struggle with my red fern macroalgae. Now, a brownish-reddish slimy coating is on the fronds and it’s got a bunch of air bubbles trapped all over it- some of them look like little balloons held on a string.

This sounds like dinoflagellates based on what I’ve read? But it’s only growing on the macroalgae and nowhere else. Does anyone have any ideas of what I should do? I was about to just snip the whole branch off and hope my other ones fared better.

 

[Dan_P]

I’m continuing to struggle with my red fern macroalgae. Now, a brownish-reddish slimy coating is on the fronds and it’s got a bunch of air bubbles trapped all over it- some of them look like little balloons held on a string.

This sounds like dinoflagellates based on what I’ve read? But it’s only growing on the macroalgae and nowhere else. Does anyone have any ideas of what I should do? I was about to just snip the whole branch off and hope my other ones fared better.

The slime might be cyanobacteria. Stressed or dying algae are more likely to be covered in slime. Conditions for your algae might not be optimal.