Slime algae

Industrial

Industrial

AC Members
Oct 29, 2009
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Buffalo, NY
So in my coldwater freshwater tank I have really bad slime algae. It is dark green/brown/black. It is covering up my java fern and is taking over all the decorations as well. It needs serious elbow grease to scrub off.

I also get algae in this tank very quickly. It's an eclipse and only the light socket in the front works so the light only shines on the front glass pane. Within three days the algae starts to grow. This algae is very thin and easy to scrub.

I have battled hair algae, and some weird almost neon green algae but this algae is taking over everything (including my large java fern mat) and I don't know how to get rid of it :help2:. I also want to plant the tank more in the future.

The tank is a 29 gallon, it has been set up since January and it has three feeders, a fantail, three dojo loaches and a large amano shrimp. I try to keep it cool, but this summer the tank has been 80-84 degrees.
 
Don't add more fish. You have too many fish in the tank and unless you are doing daily tank maintenance, you are likely having nitrate/phosphate issues with the water... which is food for algae.

Just the one fancy goldfish would need a 29G for itself and even that would be too small for a full sized fancy goldfish.

Is the tank getting any direct sunlight... or bright ambient outside lighting? Either will also foster algae growth but direct sunlight will do it the most.

How long are you leaving the lights on each day?
 
I just tested nitrate and it's at 20 PPM. I usually do either 25% water changes every two weeks, or up to 50% monthly. I don't really change the water as much as I would like to though.

The filter is an eclipse three I am going to guess. I do not have a biowheel for it though. I just cram various media where the biowheel should be.

The dojo loaches are 2 1/2-4", the feeder goldfish are 3" SL, and the fantail is 2 1/2" SL.

The lights are on usually from 11 AM to 9 PM. I understand that I will need to upgrade. I already upgraded from a 10g. I try to upgrade when necessary because empty looking goldfish tanks always look depressing lol. I am thinking of maybe a 40 breeder next. My black moor is having swim bladder issues and I moved him to his own 20g to try to treat him. I am not sure when I will add him back though. The three feeder goldfish will go into a pond as well before they reach any significant size.

How exactly would I test for phosphate?

Also, the tank is in my bedroom and I always keep the curtains closed in my room so it's only getting light from the lid.
 
jpappy789 said:
"slime algae" to me = cyanobacteria. Otos/snails will not get rid of it...usually low nitrate is the cause. Could you post as much info about your setup as possible?
Click to expand...

It usually is easy to scrape off though. I agree that having LOTS of information is best.

Industrial:

Here's the links I have in my favorites folder for algae sites with lots of pics. http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2010/08/algae-information-and-links-that-i-have.html While at my blog, check out the Sick Fish Questionnaire and give us as much info as possible from that as that will give us LOTS more info for helping you.
 
Industrial said:
I just tested nitrate and it's at 20 PPM. I usually do either 25% water changes every two weeks, or up to 50% monthly. I don't really change the water as much as I would like to though.

The filter is an eclipse three I am going to guess. I do not have a biowheel for it though. I just cram various media where the biowheel should be.

The dojo loaches are 2 1/2-4", the feeder goldfish are 3" SL, and the fantail is 2 1/2" SL.

The lights are on usually from 11 AM to 9 PM. I understand that I will need to upgrade. I already upgraded from a 10g. I try to upgrade when necessary because empty looking goldfish tanks always look depressing lol. I am thinking of maybe a 40 breeder next. My black moor is having swim bladder issues and I moved him to his own 20g to try to treat him. I am not sure when I will add him back though. The three feeder goldfish will go into a pond as well before they reach any significant size.

How exactly would I test for phosphate?

Also, the tank is in my bedroom and I always keep the curtains closed in my room so it's only getting light from the lid.
Click to expand...

Oops. You gave us more info while I was typing my last reply.

Your nitrates are not excessively high or low. There are phosphate test kits and if you decide to get one, you want to test your tap water as well. In fact, it's a good idea for EVERYONE to know that tap water baseline so they can see if and how much their tank's ecology is changing from their tap water baseline. I have a blog called "Find Your Tap / Source Water Baseline" for details.

While some of your fish may be small now, you should ONLY stock a tank based on the expected adult size of the fish, otherwise the fish will likely get stunted which causes health issues and an early death for most stunted fish.

I'm guessing you aren't just temporarily housing the feeder goldfish for food for another fish so they aren't feeder goldfish any more. They are most likely common goldfish that should grow to 16" to 18" and even up to 24". They should be in a pond or a VERY BIG tank with at least 75G of water for each one. The fancy goldfish should also be in a bigger tank, I recommend at least a 55G for no more than two fancy goldfish and even that tank will need lots of maintenance as the fish get big. A single can do OK in a 29-30G provided adequate tank maintenance is done. This means weekly PWC's, gravel vacuuming and filter cleaning. With you doing this every two weeks, that is likely a BIG cause of your algae issues, not withstanding your low to moderate level of nitrates. Nitrates is just one of the things we can easily test for but there are so many other things going on that we can't test for and just have to accept that they are there... usually indicated by some kind of problem in a tank, such as stunted fish, sick fish, algae issues, etc... some of which you are seeing.

You can't wait for fish to grow to move them... since they won't grow in an overstocked tank due to the growth inhibiting hormones that fish release. You can simulate a larger tank by doing daily 50% PWC's, after first doing a series of 25% PWC's to slowly acclimate the fish, and that would simulate your 29G tank into having the water volume of about 100G tank with a weekly 25% PWC. Some folks who have fresh well water of unlimited capacity have gone as far as plumbing their tanks to get 100% water changes daily or constantly, like a stream, and in these situations, the fish grow to near normal size.... of course, all of your fish at normal size wouldn't fit in the tank.
 
I agree with the above post.

In addition:

First of all, remove as much of it as you can by scraping and with a siphon tube, and as many times as possible.

I've had problems with cyano during various times of the year when my tapwater is high in phosphates and possibly other nutrients. If the problem is with your tap water then water changes will do nothing.
What you can do is use phosphate absorbing media. This was a necessity in my saltwater aquariums, as cyano (not to mention true algaes) can turn into a huge issue in saltwater setups, and it also aided in my freshwater aquariums when I was having cyano outbreaks due to the tapwater.

Another thing that did help is adding as much flow to the water as possible. Cyano likes to thrive in stagnant water. Powerheads with a air tube attached, or anything like that, that will add some flow, will make the cyano less happy. In fact you will notice that cyano tends NOT grow around places where there is a lot of water movement, like the ends of powerheads.

Do not overfeed your fish. Do not allow food to fall to the bottom and decay, which will aid in increasing phosphate levels in your aquarium.

Some people tend to think that Cyano is a product of an unclean (high nitrate, etc.) aquarium, which is not true. High nitrate and organic waste levels don't help, but they certainly are not the only factor, nor may they be a factor at all in some instances.

Cyanobacteria does not behave like a true algae, as it is able to utilize nitrogen fixation. I'm not even sure how to adequately explain this process without writing an extremely long post (and lots of confusing biology/chemistry terminology)...but in short it does NOT need an ammonia or nitrate source in the water like most aquatic plants...it can MAKE it itself from nitrogen...This makes it even harder to eliminate, because lowering or eliminating nitrates in your tank will NOT starve Cyanobacteria like it will many algaes and most plants, as it is producing it itself.

This is a fairly simple to understand yet descriptive article on cyanobacteria and eliminating it:
http://naturalaquariums.com/plantedtank/0608.html
 
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