What does dying algae look like??

[Joshsmit56001]

I have had algae in my tank for awhile now and now in some spots there is a white powdery substance where algae was. Could this be algae die off??

Thanks,
Josh

 

[mojoreef]

Josh different algaes die in different ways. Most will turn a white transparent color and then fade away. Normally thier is not a residue, it sounds more like the algae died, went away and now you have a bald spot with some detritus on it. Blow it off and the algae shouldnt come back to it.


Mike

 

[c0mf0rt]

I had some just disentigrate on me.... it went from a plant to a pile of mush...

 

[Brad]

I have both grape caulerpa and Halimeda (sp?) do that. It is a form of reproduction. It happens incredibly fast..so fast that you can almost see it happen if you watch for an hour or so.

Some people are concerned that causes a sudden release of nutrients to the water, but I have not seen anything dramatic come of it.

 

[c0mf0rt]

I think it caused my nitrates to go up a little...... I got the algae out of there... as much as I could scoop anyway....