white filmy type algea on rocks???

Question

does anyone know what that is??? ....it is in one of my tanks and not the others ....it is thick milky white film that grows on the rocks ...thanks

yes it is a freshwater tank....I do a water change twice a month maybe I need to do it more often .....I have an angel, 4 danios and 3 yo-yos in the tank

Answer 1

Could you provide some additional info - is this freshwater or salt?

My initial thoughts are that this is either a "fungal" infection (will appear as filaments when viewed up close - see photo of this growing on a dead bug in water: http://www.visualsunlimited.com/images/watermarked/227/227311.jpg ) on excess food in the tank, or a bacterial buildup.

Answer 2

Algae (singular alga) are groups of aquatic organisms that capture light energy through photosynthesis, using it to convert inorganic substances into organic matter.

Algae are photosynthetic organisms that occur in most habitats. Algae vary from small and single-celled to complex multicellular species, such as the Giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. [1]

Algae have conventionally been regarded as simple plants within the study of botany. All are Eukaryota, though Chromophyta have Bacterial (see Blue-green algae) characteristics and some authorities consider them all to be Protists, however this view is now considered to be outdated. [1] They may still be included in the algae as plants. Some authors often include the blue-green algae (Cyanophyta) but note that they are not eukaryote. Algae do not represent a single evolutionary direction or line but a level of organization that may have developed several times in the early history of life on Earth.

The protists are traditionally considered more animal-like (see Protozoa).

The prokaryotic forms, referred to as blue-green algae are only half-algae with a mixture of bacterial characteristics. However they are quite distant from the bacteria and are referrred to by some as Cyanochloronta. All other forms belong as true eukaryota algae within the study of Botany, they have a nucleus enclosed within a membrane.[2]The protoctists are defined by some as eukaryotic microorganisms with the exception of animals and plants and including fungi and algae, slime moulds and other obscure eukaryotes.[3]There is still some disagreement on some of these matters.

Algae range from single-cell organisms to multicellular organisms, some with fairly complex differentiated form and (if marine) called seaweeds. All lack leaves, roots, flowers, seeds and other organ structures that characterize higher plants (vascular plants). They are distinguished from other protozoa in that they are photoautotrophic although this is not a hard and fast distinction as some groups contain members that are mixotrophic, deriving energy both from photosynthesis and uptake of organic carbon either by osmotrophy, myzotrophy, or phagotrophy. Some unicellular species rely entirely on external energy sources and have reduced or lost their photosynthetic apparatus.

All algae have photosynthetic machinery ultimately derived from the cyanobacteria, and so produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis, unlike non-cyanobacterial photosynthetic bacteria. It is estimated that algae produce about 73 to 87 percent of the net global production of oxygen[4] - which is available to humans and other animals for respiration.