what is this stuff?

Question

i have this blue stringystuff growing all over my rocks filter and thermomiter i thought it might be alge but i am not sure how do i get rid of it? it is not on the side of the tank.

Answer 1

What you have in your tank is blue/green algae.

You need a Siamese Algae Eater http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_sae.php to help you get rid of it. Reducing the amount of light getting to the tank and reducing the nutrients in the water with extra water changes will help a lot as well.

Hope that helps

MM

Answer 2

I have the same problem with my tank, I don't use any chemicals because they do affect fish,its just unnatural. I have tried a few methods at battling this plague.

1. I bought an Pleco - it did not eat the algae, so i returned it after a month

2. I then bought 2 Chinese algae-eaters, they cleaned the glass but it kept growing on my Madagascar lace leaf plant. they did not clean that.

3. Next I went to my LFS and asked them to give me some of the snails that they get in on the plants. they gave those to me for free gladly. I got about 20 and they began consuming the algae on the leaves but only when it was short.

4. I notice that when the algae is dried out, it turns pink and dies.

Therefore I recommend that you remove all the algae encrusted objects, but that is not a guarantee that it will remove all the algae. with one strand still alive it will continue to reproduce.

the best solution, if possible, is to set up a quarantine tank and move all the fish there while removing all the water from the main tank and letting it dry or blow drying it for 15 minutes, or less, to kill all the algae. the algae just has to dry out to die.

I am just setting up a quarantine tank and preparing to undertake this extreme measure. good luck in your own struggle with this string algae.

CZAR

Answer 3

What color of blue is this? If it's really a dark blue green, it might be cyanobacteria. See photo: http://www.aquamax.de/Shop/Artikelbilder/Zusatzbilder/Algen%20im%20Aquarium_Blaualgen%20-%20Cyanobacteria_STUG_cyano1.jpg This is a bacteria rather than an algae (although it was formerly called blue-green algae), so traditional algae cures won't work that well - and algae-eating fish won't usually touch it. You can treat it with an antibiotic (erythromycin), and I've heard of copper being used to eliminate it, but these are measures I'd use last. The first will destroy your beneficial bacteria (biological filter) and if you have sensitive fish, snails, or plants, they may not do well with the copper.

Here's a website that gives some biological means of control that I'd try first: http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/cyano.shtml

If this isn't it, you might have a true algae - see this page for identification of some common types: http://www.floridadriftwood.com/algae_identification.html

If you can identify it as either a brush algae or green algae, see these pages for treatments: http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/tonealg.shtml
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/algcont.shtml

Answer 4

Sounds like cyannobacteria.

It smells like crap. Its not algae, but bacteria that grow like algae. Change more water and reduce the lighting duration a bit.

It comes around from having too much nitrate in the water.

Answer 5

sucker fish , i dont know about the official name because its hard to remember.they eat alge . those are the fish that take thier time ans suck off alge.they are black and grey spotted and they grow to about a foot long . if they dont clean it , you can get alge removal chemicals . they dont harm the fish if u buy tetra.

Answer 6

get a alge eater

Answer 7

you clean the tank.