My wife and I have a 50gal Aquarium. We mainly have guppy's but we also have a DoJo and two different types of Algae Eaters. The tank walls are fine, but the rocks in the bottom of the tank and the plastic trees are building a nasty scum. The stuff on the rocks looks like some kind of fungus. Any ideas what this is or what I should do to eradicate this problem?
Thanks for all answers. God Bless.
2006-10-16 18:14:33 · 8 answers · asked by ۩ Cuthbert ♂ 4 in Pets ➔ Fish
the scum is fish food .
it is called Algae
tialapas , and carp love to suck it
it is a sign that the water is healthy and to people who know what they are talking about it is beautifull
i put bones in the water and rocks ,where the sun can get to it and this scum(algae )as you call it grows on the surface
a sight for sore eyes if you are a fish
be happy you got it
and start worying when it dies
i also put roof tiles in the water on the edges to produce as much algae as posible
the problem is inyour mind
you would destroy a rich sought after fish food
the fish will call you a homosapian maniac
2006-10-16 18:23:35 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Too much light and overfeeding are the two most prevalent problems. Florescent lighting is best. Incandescent heats up water and direct sun can cause problems with green algae. Blue algae is lethal. If you have too much light (natural or mechanical), too much green algae will form.
Many people overfeed their fish. The fish also eat the green algae so you don't need to overfeed. Also get a suction tube to periodically clean (2-4wks) the gunk that lays on top of the gravel.
You may also have too many fish. A good rule of thumb is maximum 1 inch of fish length per gallon of water. You have about 40gallons of water taking into consideration the gravel, and rocks so you should have a max total of 40 inches in length of all the fish in the tank.
Other than that, the tank still requires monthly cleaning maintenance. clean glass, suction clean gravel and clean plants and rocks. I have not found algae eaters very effective. Snails are good but leave trails and breed like crazy. Good luck
2006-10-16 18:45:43 · answer #2 · answered by Cdn_Superdave 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Add an under gravel filter, and rinse all the rocks and plants in VERY hot water. The filter will pull the small debris through to the filter and the hot water should help kill off any bacteria or fungus that is living in the rocks. Had a 55 gallon tank that I had to keep at 78 degrees with 2 under gravel filters and a top filter just to keep the gunk on the bottom cleared to a manageable level for the algae eaters I had. Good luck!
2006-10-16 18:24:45 · answer #3 · answered by Bunny 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Probably just a different type of algae, that your algae eaters don't eat. Try reducing the light in the tank to no more than 8 hours if it's longer than that. Also, are you using a gravel vac/siphon when you clean the tank/do your water changes? When you do the water changes, fill up a bucket with the tank water, remove the plants/rocks and clean them with a new-never used tooth brush in the bucket of tank water. Don't want to use regular tap water from the sink, the chlorine will kill off any beneficial bacteria that may be growing on the decoration. I don't recommend an undergravel filter, IMO they cause more problems. Algae isn't bad, it bothers people more than the fish..........
2006-10-16 18:25:44 · answer #4 · answered by tikitiki 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Your sucker fish are doing all they can, but you cant get all the algae.
You just need to take the trees and the rocks out and wipe the algae off the plants and clean the stones in hot water.
If you have an excess of algae you may have too much light getting to the tank, as algae is alive and grows rapidly in light, if its near a window, move it to a darker position and only have the tank light on in daylight hours, this may slow the growth of the algae.
Good luck.
2006-10-16 18:22:02 · answer #5 · answered by Krystle 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You could also use a gravel cleaner (its like a vacuum cleaner which pulls water out) and you should also get kissing gourami fish. They are cleaning everything, all the algae and scum!
2006-10-17 05:42:57 · answer #6 · answered by Nostromo 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
go to the pet store and get an algea eater fish they will keep the tank clean. and they can give you more and better productive tips. GOOD LUCK
2006-10-16 18:19:20 · answer #7 · answered by knowssignlanguage 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Sounds like you're overfeeding.
2006-10-16 18:23:10 · answer #8 · answered by somebody783 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋