Hello,
I run a reef tank in the classroom I teach in. Over the past few days, it has developed a pretty bad algae problem. The water is bright green, although there is minimal build up on any of the tank surfaces. We are cutting back light and feed to start, but I have been spending the day trying to ID this algae so I know what we are dealing with.
I spun down a water sample in the centrifuge at 5000 rpm for 15 minutes. I examined the resulting pellet under the microscope. The cells didn't become visible until I hit 400x mag, and they were very small. 1000x mag with oil show the cells well.
400x mag
1000x mag w/ oil
The cells are round and transparent, with a slight green tinge. The pellet to the naked eye was bright green.
Does anyone know what these might be?
Thanks!
Edit: I forgot to mention that these cells were moving, but not directionally. It was more like a slow shaking movement.
I run a reef tank in the classroom I teach in. Over the past few days, it has developed a pretty bad algae problem. The water is bright green, although there is minimal build up on any of the tank surfaces. We are cutting back light and feed to start, but I have been spending the day trying to ID this algae so I know what we are dealing with.
I spun down a water sample in the centrifuge at 5000 rpm for 15 minutes. I examined the resulting pellet under the microscope. The cells didn't become visible until I hit 400x mag, and they were very small. 1000x mag with oil show the cells well.
400x mag
1000x mag w/ oil
The cells are round and transparent, with a slight green tinge. The pellet to the naked eye was bright green.
Does anyone know what these might be?
Thanks!
Edit: I forgot to mention that these cells were moving, but not directionally. It was more like a slow shaking movement.