Pentagon Algae

[Mucky_Waters]

I've seen all sorts of different algae growing in ponds from green water algae, to string algae to black mat algae, but I think this stuff is the coolest I have encountered. It a sort of string algae that grows in tubular nets where the strings are interconnected by a pattern of pentagons.
I have tried to photograph the tubes before, but they are rather difficult to capture in a two dimensional picture, and the tube shapes quickly get distorted or torn apart by the slightest disturbance, but below is an attempt to show the basic pentagon structure. These photos were taken just below the surface of the water, if I try to take it out of the water it tends to mat together and just looks like regular string algae.
I'm wondering just how common this type of algae really is. Has anybody else seen this type of algae growing in their ponds?

 

[addy1]

That is neat looking! I have not seen that.

 

[HARO]

Funny thing, Mucky, here we are at opposite ends of the country, and I've noticed the same algae in the water features at the garden centre where I work. I've been there for 6 or 7 years, and this is the first time it has popped up in the water tables and lily holding tanks. I tried a little experiment: place some of this algae in a container with green water, and in two days or so the water is crystal clear! It even worked on my turtle tank!
John

 

[addy1]

new magic green water clearing stuff! neat!

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Well that's interesting John, maybe we should market this stuff?
One thing I'll say about it is it has stayed relatively localized in my pond, with no tendency to get out of control. The only place it has gotten thick at all is in my parrots feather plant, and, to some degree, in my water hyacinth tank. I only noticed the delicate tube structure when I put some in some pails I had for collecting rain water. As I said earlier, any attempt to move it in the pond to where I could get a better picture or video of the netted tube structure ends up damaging the tube.
This is the best video I have managed to take of one of the tubes. As you can see, it's kind of hard to make out that it is a tube at all because it's torn and deflated like an old netted stocking floating in the water.

 

[j.w]

Looks kinda like a hairnet.

 

[multifasited]

sure sounds like a lot of water flow there ,any in the quiet part?

 

[fishin4cars]

I've been keeping ponds or been around ponds for probably 40 years. Never seen that type before. I have seen something that was somewhat close but it didn't have that honeycomb look, It did make a web similar, but looked more like string algae and that type crossed. It was in a pond with plants and the water was crystal clear as well.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

sure sounds like a lot of water flow there ,any in the quiet part?

The video camera mic is just picking up and amplifying the sound of the waterfall, the algae grows in relatively calm water.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Ok I did some Google research and came up with a name, Hydrodictyon Reticulatum, or Water Net.
It's pretty much how I described it. I had no idea algae could be so cool. :coolgleema:

 

[addy1]

Thanks for doing the research, that is just too cool!

 

[cajunmeme]

That is really cool.

 

[Fishylove]

that really is neat. does it attach to a base and grow up from there? Or is it free falling?

 

[Mucky_Waters]

that really is neat. does it attach to a base and grow up from there? Or is it free falling?

I'm not really sure. I've mostly seen it growing in between my parrots feather and water hyacinth where it just looked like regular string algae to me. I never even noticed the net structure until I accidently ended up with some in a white bucket of rain water and it started to grow big enough in there that I could plainly see the pentagon net structure that make up the tube like sock shape. It was definitely free floating in the bucket. It might be quite common, but because it's not normally distinguishable from normal string algae it doesn't get noticed very often. Who looks that closely at their string algae?
Here is another link that sort of explains it better.

 

[Fishylove]

Not me : huh : Lol