Aqua plants are turning my tank water green!?

Question

This doesn't seem normal...I bought aqua plants at Petco and stuck them in the gravel in my betta's tank. He loves them because he can swim in and out and hide in the leaves.
Recently, though, something really weird happened. The aqua plants are breaking off, sticking to the sides of the tank, and leaving bright green sludge. (looks like someone dumped green ink down the side of the tank)
The fish doesn't seem to mind, but it looks absolutely disgusting. Is this normal? Should I pull the plants out and replace with fake ones? (I bought the real thing b/c they are softer and are supposed to help regulate the water)

I guess my next question then is...if it's algae, will my fish be okay until I can clean the tank all out and get new plants? How urgent is this situation?

Answer 1

Algae is a plant. Plants need two things to grow, nutrients and sunlight.

Don't sweat it, it's no big deal and you aren't necessarily doing anything wrong. Live plants in a healthy environment actually compete with algae for essential nutrients in the water. They also shadow some parts of the tank making it more difficult for the algae to grow.

Algae itself will not harm your Betta, and even though he should have a high protein diet, it is actually pretty good for him to nibble on it. The environment he has now mimics his natural one.

The dead plant is feeding the algae, but here's something you may not have considered.... it the tank in a window or in direct sunlight? Sunlight will make algae explode!

Take the plant out and go with silk plants that look real. Make sure the tank is not in direct sunlight. You do not have to use chemicals, they only mask the problem. It's taking Tylenol for a toothache. The pain is gone, but that tooth has to go or it will just start hurting again.

Algae is a red flag that there is a water quality issue in your tank. By wiping down the sides and doing small 10-25% water changes weekly, you should never have an algae problem again. It really is no biggie and an easy fix.

Johnny mentioned cyanobacteria. it looks just like algae but grows at a raipd rate. It looks like a blanket of slime and peels off in sheets. If Petco had it, you have it. It is common with high phosphate water. If you scrub it and the slime is back in a day or two, it's cyanobacteria and it is much harder to get rid of. Follow Johnny's advice if this is what it is.

Answer 2

It's an algae bloom.It will not hurt your fish,but adding chemicals to your tank will. Algae will always grow in a fish tank.There can be several reasons it gets out of control.Overfeeding,over stocking,not changing the water often enough,too many nitrates,too many phosphates,too much sunlight or keeping the light in the tank on too long,are some of the more common causes. Test your water for nitrates and phosphates.If they are high,change 20% of your water every 2 or 3 days until they lower to a more stable level. Do not keep the light in the tank on for more the 10 hours a day.NEVER let direct sunlight into your tank. Make sure there are not too many fish in your tank and you are not overfeeding them. When you get the algae under control,change 10 to 20% of your water every week. Buy live plants.These will consume the nitrates faster than the algae,and starve it off. There are chemicals you can buy,but they are usually not good for your fish.They really just cover up what the real problem is also.Fixing the actuall problem is always the best solution. If something I suggested is the reason for the algae bloom,the soulution for it won't work overnight,but given some time,it will work.

Answer 3

TRY GOING TO THIS WEBSITE
drfosterandsmith.com

you are doing something wrong..u need chemicals for live plants..did u know that? yeah u need to get water conditioner, and platns stuff.they have all that stuffa t petco..u can't just stick it in expecting it to survive and ur tank to constantly stay clean and pretty, i clean my tank every other day..becuase i have a large tank and it needs it.i also use the right chemicals and nutrietns in the water to keep the ph balanced and the nitrates low, that is what else cause's green water..and algae, number on cause of green water- algae be gone ..jsut squirt it in and next day or two it will be cleaner and clearer.

Answer 4

stick with fake plants for the following reasons.
1 they don't die
2 they never need light or plant food
3 they never grow algae
4 fish like them just as much as real plants.
as for the algae problem it will not hurt your fish. I would remove the plant ant clean out the bowl as best you can than use a product called algae fix it will kill all the algae in about a months time.

Answer 5

There are very few plants that survive in a bowl. You need good light to keep live plants. If you get a good light for over top of the bowl then they may survive. Clean all of the algae out of there, it sounds like cyano-bacteria, a photosynthetic bacteria. In a bowl with no filtration you should do a 75% water change twice a week. Try to siphon out all of that slime.

Answer 6

it's not really the plant.. well, kinda.
The plant died because it didn't have enought light and nutrients...
the leaves are decomposing... And blue green algae is eating the decomposed leaves.. the bright green sludge is algae...

just clean the tank. and get fake plants next time.

Answer 7

The Petco 'aqua plants' are not actually aquatic plants. It is a cheap scam they use. That explains why they are dying.