Originally posted by Xclaw
I have what appears to be millions of little white things on the glass of my 10 gallon. If you look closely enough they appear to be waving with the water current or something. When I rub the glass it feels slimey, I assume it's some type of algea. Is this good food for one of those glass sucker algea eatin fish? Say a twig catfish? or is this something I should remove?
Thankyou for your time
Dear Fellow Canadian
The white algae that is appearing your glass is caused by several things. First things first, never leave your aquarium lights on for more than 10 hours a day. What I do is turn the lights on at around 6-7 pm at night, shutting them off say at 4-5 am and allow natural sunlight to fall on the tank during the day as this allows the beneficial growth on bacterial colonies to absorb the CO2 the fish produce naturally also. White algae is not a bad thing HOWEVER if left alone it will soon become a major problem and your fish will develop parasites such as "Ick" and perhaps even gill rot if not takencare of promptly. There are ALL kinds of algae removing products on the market but I have found one that works AMAZINGLY well. Go to a site called
www.algone.com. You will find the product is an all natural substance of natural plant proteins and whatnot and it is guaranteed not to harm anything in your tank and to remove all forms of algae and purify the water as well. Look at the before and after photos both of marine and freshwater thanks and trust me you will be in awe. It works VERY VERY well just as long as you don't overdo it. I have a 40 gallon with two large red bellies and I was having the same problems with the white algae and I learned from a well known breeder this is caused generally when you do a 20% weekly water change because the ph in tap water causes this to occur. He told me generally it's a good idea to clean your filter(s) after doing a water change but don't be a Mr. Clean about it as you will remove beneficial bacteria from the filter media. One other thing folks, if you use Aquaclear filtration systems NEVER EVER EVER change all the filter media (spondge,charcoal, ammonia remover) all at once as this kills ALL bacteria that grows in your tank naturally and will cause cloudy water conditions for quite some time. The best thing I have been told to do is the following...
Change the filter spondge one month prior to replacing the charcoal insert as this allows bacteria to remain on the filter media and will not harm the fish or raise the ph of your tank. When you change the carbon insert, rinse it VERY VERY thoroughly with lukewarm tap water allowing the insert to dry overnight as this will evaporate any remaining substances in the charcoal when rinsed with tap water such as chlorine and iron also. Never feed your "kids" more than they can consume entirely in 10 minutes as uneaten food is the major cause of algae growth which causes ph spikes and this will irritate your fish no matter how hardy you've been told they are. By the way for those of you that have never raised a Pirahna from a dime sized juvenile I have several pointers for you all. Pirahnas are highly overrated as being vicious maneaters because of idiots buying a small 10 gallon tank and stocking it full of red bellies to do nothing than sit there on a Friday night with a 24 of Bud blowing hoots into the Powerhead suction hose which I DO NOT think is a good idea. Hey, what's fun is fun, FOR HUMANS marijuana is not a part of any fishes diet and feeding it or blowing smoke into the tank will only cause you grief as your fish will go into shock and die on you trust me. Don't give them beer either unless you plan on buying new fish every week. Anyways, like I said before,
www.algone.com is the best product I have ever used to remove all kinds of algae and maintain proper water conditions. Take it easy everyone and good luck with your "kids" so to speak. Remember this "what's fun is fun and when it's done it's done" so don't abuse your fish if you get the idea folks. Have fun and happy fishkeeping to all, bye for now ......
Best Regards To All,
FISHGUY_CA
They wouldn't go away untill I emptied it. If it's Hydra, cut down quickly or else, get ready to bleach out your tank...