wierd green stuff.........

[amy_bee]

heres the scoop. i have had my tank for 1 month now, 1 week ago a wierd green substance appeared on the rocks, plastic plants and inside of the glass.when i noticed this of course i did a complete cleaning of my tank. all was well for about 4 days, then it came back... i have 2 african dwarf frogs, an albino red fin and a penguin tetra,could one of them get sick, die, grow wings and fly???????????i need to find out what the green stuff is, and how to get rid of it. any suggestions????

[the_dougie]

that's a good case of algae, mate. caused by excess nutrients in the tank (overfeeding, not cleaning out the poop?) and lots of light for the tank. do a blackout; cover up the tank and dont let any light in for about 24 hours. this gets rid of some types of algae.

[Darkblade48]

I wouldn't recommend a blackout until we know exactly what type of algae it is, as sometimes, a blackout will not do at all (i.e. diatom algae)

What are your water parameters? How long as the aquarium been set up? Can you describe the algae in greater detail, or even better yet, provide pictures?

[FishKeeper-16]

It is algae and don't use those crazy algae busting chemicals because they can be stressfull and harsh on live plants and fish.

[the_dougie]

yea no chemicals. live plants are good competition for nutrients of algae, so you may want to consider putting some in. taking care of some live plants is easier than one would think...

[amy_bee]

in greater detail... different sizes of spots on the glass, like forest green color, almost black in color on the back of the thermometer. it is a ten gallon tank.i usually turn the tank on when i get up(around 7:30 am) then i feed everyone at 7:50 am, i go to class, come home at around 6:00pm, then the tank goes out around 11:30 pm before i go to bed. the people at the fish store that i bought them from told me to give them lots of light. i don't know if an algie eater would get along with my frogs so i have been hesitant, if some real plants (not plastic) would help the problem than i'll go pck some up,thanx in advance for any furhter info. :)

[Harlock]

Well, 16 hours of light may be part of the problem... What kind of light is it; flourescent, icandescent and how may watts? Does the tank get any direct sunlight during the day? Also, overfeeding is usually the biggest supplier of nutrients for algae, so how often do you feed and how much?

[amy_bee]

all it says on the box that the bulb came in is 18,000 k aqua-glo 15 watts. i feed the fish a pinch of flakes and the frogs about 1/8 oz of blood worms (frozen) both only once a day.

[ScottoMacD]

I wouldn't recommend a blackout until we know exactly what type of algae it is, as sometimes, a blackout will not do at all (i.e. diatom algae)

Diatom algae is not green it is brown so that wouldn't be it.

Tanks that have algae problems usually have one or more than one of the following problems.

1- Overfeeding with lack of water changes or not enough being changed.
2- Heavy bio-load. Too many fish
3- far too much light. more than 8 hours really isn't necessary. If the plants aren't getting enough light it usually is because you need a better light source.
4- using a cheap food. They tend to be loaded with phosphates. You get what you pay for.

For #1 the fish should never be fed more than they can eat in 30 seconds. Once a day. They won't starve. Smaller tanks (30 gallons and less) depending on the bio-load should have a 25 to 30 % water change weekly or bi-weekly. Heavier bio-loads will need more.
Larger tanks should have the water changed according to what the nitrates tell you.

2- Too many fish can wreck havoc on a tank. You don't seem to have this problem.

3- Most plants (green plants) usually will grow quite well with 6 to 8 hours of light daily. The tougher plants (red leaves etc..) need a better lighting source but should still grow well with 6 to 8 hours. By a Christmas tree timer. Set it to turn the tank light on 30 minutes before you get home and to shut off in 6 to 8 hours. A tank with no live plants doesn't need light at all the fish won't care. The light is for you enjoyment.

4- Cheaper brands of food are a disaster. Usually with more junk in them than the good stuff that the fish need. It's like a car. You get what you pay for. You don't have to buy the best most expensive food for the average aquarist tank but stay away the cheap stuff. Get suggestions from fellow aquarists see what they are using.

[oztun]

You can buy a scraper (long plastic stick with sponge on the end) to clean your glass. Algae stuck to rocks is hard to remove unless you feel like take them out and cleaning them. You could get an algae eating fish or snails. Some people don't like looking at snails and sometimes the algae eating fish can produce more waste then they clean.

Another thing is every tank I've ever owned has gone through an algae bloom where I just can't seem to get it all cleaned out. Usually after being setup for a few months and doing weekly water changes it goes away. I allow snails to live in my tanks and eat all the algae. They will reproduce according to how much algae you have. Once the tank algae bloom goes away I don't seem to have many snails anymore. Also I remove the majority of them once the algae is gone.

If you have or plan to have live plants they will use up the nutrients eventually and the algae will not be able to grow. As long as you don't overfeed the fish of course.

If your not growing plants you don't have leave the light on much. Running it less will greatly reduce the algae. With plants I run mine 14 hours and sometimes 10-12 if I have algae problems. If you have no live plants you can just turn it on when your around and the algae growth will slow down greatly.

[amy_bee]

thank you guys soooooo much for all your info,without it i don't know what i would have done, (probably something stupid) but i think i can halp my problem a little better now. i am open for any more suggestions on this topic. once again, thank you all sooo much. :bowing: