Algae Question
- Thread starter EccelaEkaj
- Start date
Looks like Cyanobacteria. Lots of ways to combat it, blackouts, better water changes, increased water flow, erythromycin. Not everything works for everyone though.
In my case, I ended up dosing with erythromycin after fighting it for months and trying everything else. It died off and never came back. That was 15 years ago, I don't remember the dosages or anything.
In my case, I ended up dosing with erythromycin after fighting it for months and trying everything else. It died off and never came back. That was 15 years ago, I don't remember the dosages or anything.
If you feel the stuff on your plants, and it feels slimy it is probably cyanobacteria, true algae usually feels gritty.
Whats recommended above is an antibiotic.
I had cyanobacteria in one tank, and used Rid-X to get rid of it. Rid -X is a combination of beneficial bacteria normally added to septic tanks, that compete with Cyano, and other less desirable bacteria species.
Here is a before Rid-X pic
Now about 2 weeks after the start of Rid-X
another few dats later
It is inexpensive, available at home improvement stores, and coe a powdery flour like form.
I put it in filter socks, and when I figured the bacteria had dispersed, I cleaned the powder out.
Whats recommended above is an antibiotic.
I had cyanobacteria in one tank, and used Rid-X to get rid of it. Rid -X is a combination of beneficial bacteria normally added to septic tanks, that compete with Cyano, and other less desirable bacteria species.
Here is a before Rid-X pic
Now about 2 weeks after the start of Rid-X
another few dats later
It is inexpensive, available at home improvement stores, and coe a powdery flour like form.
I put it in filter socks, and when I figured the bacteria had dispersed, I cleaned the powder out.
This stuff? 
Also I gave an overhang filter so should I pour the powder over the sponges inside the overhang? How much powder for a 75gallon tank? how often ?
Also I gave an overhang filter so should I pour the powder over the sponges inside the overhang? How much powder for a 75gallon tank? how often ?
I had a similar problem.. except the color of mine is brown not green. But it feels slimy... do you think Rid-x will fix the problem? And if so, obviously i would have to extract the fish right?
In your case since it’s brown and slimy if you have a new tank it’s most likely not algae but something called diatoms usually lasts about 6months from when you set your tank up diatoms just stopped growing back in my tank after 6 months of it running. However I do not know whether you would have to take the fish out when treating the tank with Rid X.
Wow man I've been taking out the props, boiling some rocks, and scrubbing them with soap on a sponge... obviously I thoroughly rinsed the props out, but I've kept them out the tank for about a week now. Should I routinely clean the props everytime it builds up? and if so, what methods of cleaning would you recommend so my tank doesnt look so disgusting?
Btw heres a photo of my setup... Not sure if the fish are happy with it (malawi cichlids), as well as how long I should keep the props out.
From my experience over the past half year only way to deal with the diatoms is to keep your water changes up and scrub everything down. Regarding methods of cleaning fun your props of the brown algae really no complicated process here Just get a sponge or a dish wash scrubbed and go to town scrubbing off the diatoms of the props. I myself didn’t use any soap just warm water. I don’t believe leaving the props outside of the tank will help with the growth of the diatoms at all, as the diatoms are growing due to the new chemistry of the water of the tank itself. So you can leave the props out for half a year if you want then try to put them back in to avoid having to scrub them down, but there really isn’t a way around diatoms it’s normal for all tanks to have the issue early on and time is the only thing to fix it. Lucky for you your tank isn’t too large cleaning the props shouldn’t be too hard of a task, here’s a pic of my tank. all the rocks you see used to be covered with diatoms every week i’d have to take everything out to scrub down but thank god the diatoms have stopped growing back
