Is there a good way to prevent globs of slime algae from forming in my floating plants? Ill get a good picture in the morning.
Algae in floating plants
- Thread starter Zanzag
- Start date
Photos will definitely help, as well as setup details such as tank size, lighting, photoperiod, ferts and livestock 
So heres the offending algae. Tank is a 55 lit by 2 t8 bulbs about 30 watts each. Photoperiod is on avereage 10 hours no ferts and stocking is fairly heavy.
Can you describe the algae? Coz i want to say its Cynobacteria or blue / green algae but not 100% sure based on these photos? As it could also be clumped up hair algae?
whats the stocking and filtration like? Coz something must be off...
whats the stocking and filtration like? Coz something must be off...
Thinking on it it may be cyano. Tank has 2 blue acara 1 firemouth a school of columbian tetras 10+ about 5 cories and 3 or 4 sa bumblebee cats tanks a 55 and has a sponge filter plus a cascade 1200 with a sponge prefilter
If its cyno, then it can be caused due to a few reasons...
Low flow around the tank can be a cause for it, along with a lot of extra organic buildup in the tanks substrate...
I’ve also heard Low levels of nitrogen can be a cause for Cyanobacteria...
With that all said, if you havent cleaned the substrate surface, maybe give it a good clean using a tip i posted yesterday in the planted section below this post...
I would consider adding a small wavemaker or something similar in the tank as well to help add more water movement inside the tank...
Main reason being just straight up sponge filters isnt going to keep your tank all that clean as far as removing organic build up etc, unless you are very dilligent in keeping it clean yourself...
Low flow around the tank can be a cause for it, along with a lot of extra organic buildup in the tanks substrate...
I’ve also heard Low levels of nitrogen can be a cause for Cyanobacteria...
With that all said, if you havent cleaned the substrate surface, maybe give it a good clean using a tip i posted yesterday in the planted section below this post...
I would consider adding a small wavemaker or something similar in the tank as well to help add more water movement inside the tank...
Main reason being just straight up sponge filters isnt going to keep your tank all that clean as far as removing organic build up etc, unless you are very dilligent in keeping it clean yourself...
I did a pretty big cleaning yesterday. Pulled most of the slime out. It had some chunks of flake food stuck in it. My initial thought was the floating plants trap the flakes at the surface. But i will definantly read up on cleaning the substrate better. Usually i just leave that to my trumpet snails.
Honestly, leftover food is never good, so try removing any extra leftover food from the surface after feeding as well as maybe cut back on feeding as much if there is that much left over...