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- May 22, 2016
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Ok. Can we maybe try to say what this GHA is? At least down to a genus? Or at least be clear about what it is not?
*crowd protests* But there are hundreds of species of GHA, and they all look the same - it's pointless!
Maybe. But maybe not.
Whenever I've seen description or pics of GHA that nothing wants to eat, it looks like this...
I've gotten samples from other people's tanks, and this is what theirs looks like too.
Important features:
Filamentous, branched, no visible cell divisions or segmentation within filament (siphonous), no segmentation at branch points, chloroplasts visible and arranged around the walls, branching not symmetric, branching not fern-like, growth tip is clear half-dome free of chloroplasts, no spore structures visible.
Other filamentous algaes that it's definitely not (and why):
Lyngbya, Calothrix, Spirulina, or any other cyanobacteria (they have cell segments)
Spirogyra (different internal structure)
Cladophora, Cladophoropsis "turf" algae (cell segments)
Enteromorpha another "turf" algae (cell structure/arrangement within filament is very different)
These 3 are very close, but wrong in some way
Derbesia (these form spores - see adv aquarist article)
Vaucheria (weird curvy spore structure)
Bryopsis (large scale growth structure is fern-like with segmentation at the branches)
Any ideas?
Bonus: here's a video sped up 6x where you can see chloroplasts moving within the filament.
*crowd protests* But there are hundreds of species of GHA, and they all look the same - it's pointless!
Maybe. But maybe not.
Whenever I've seen description or pics of GHA that nothing wants to eat, it looks like this...
I've gotten samples from other people's tanks, and this is what theirs looks like too.
Important features:
Filamentous, branched, no visible cell divisions or segmentation within filament (siphonous), no segmentation at branch points, chloroplasts visible and arranged around the walls, branching not symmetric, branching not fern-like, growth tip is clear half-dome free of chloroplasts, no spore structures visible.
Other filamentous algaes that it's definitely not (and why):
Lyngbya, Calothrix, Spirulina, or any other cyanobacteria (they have cell segments)
Spirogyra (different internal structure)
Cladophora, Cladophoropsis "turf" algae (cell segments)
Enteromorpha another "turf" algae (cell structure/arrangement within filament is very different)
These 3 are very close, but wrong in some way
Derbesia (these form spores - see adv aquarist article)
Vaucheria (weird curvy spore structure)
Bryopsis (large scale growth structure is fern-like with segmentation at the branches)
Any ideas?
Bonus: here's a video sped up 6x where you can see chloroplasts moving within the filament.