Green on sides of tank?
- Thread starter Rkd_x
- Start date
If possible post a pic, btw it sounds like algae. How long do you keep the lights on, also is aquarium near window. Algae also thrives on excessive nutrients in the aquarium water.
Scrubbing algae is just part of normal maintenance, all aquarists deal with it.
You can reduce its growth with water changes, and keeping lights off when your not there. But even then, there are species that grow in low nutrient water, and species the grow in low light. Some species are green, some brown, some red. Some help keep certain pollutants down in your tanks, and are a positive thing.
Had a text book in my microbiology classeson just the species of algae in the great lakes, there are hundreds of species of algae in each lake alone.
You can reduce its growth with water changes, and keeping lights off when your not there. But even then, there are species that grow in low nutrient water, and species the grow in low light. Some species are green, some brown, some red. Some help keep certain pollutants down in your tanks, and are a positive thing.
Had a text book in my microbiology classeson just the species of algae in the great lakes, there are hundreds of species of algae in each lake alone.
Post a pic of the tank in the room its in, test your water and report back in.
Sometimes it's water quality, or tak placement or a combo of both. A uv sterilizer is never a bad idea.
Sometimes it's water quality, or tak placement or a combo of both. A uv sterilizer is never a bad idea.
Hello; As others have posted the green layer is almost surely algae of some sort. There is a very pesky sort which forms a layer that can be peeled away in sheets. I believe this is sometimes called cyanobacteria and is a form of an algae and a bacterium growing together. ( May be a form of mutualism) At any rate if the stuff forms sheets on the glass and other things in a tank, this may be what you have. More on this stuff later if it is what you have.
The other forms of algae are not so bothersome. They make a layer that can be scraped off the glass with a razor scraper or a magnet scraper. These algae types do not come off in sheets and usually are not a problem.
If you do not grow live plants then some control can be had with reduced light use. If you like live plants, as I do, this type of control can be less effective.
I have been fighting the sheet type algae for a while with some success of late in my live plant tanks. At least I have slowed it down with no outbreaks for a while.
The other forms of algae are not so bothersome. They make a layer that can be scraped off the glass with a razor scraper or a magnet scraper. These algae types do not come off in sheets and usually are not a problem.
If you do not grow live plants then some control can be had with reduced light use. If you like live plants, as I do, this type of control can be less effective.
I have been fighting the sheet type algae for a while with some success of late in my live plant tanks. At least I have slowed it down with no outbreaks for a while.
