What is this stuff???

Question

There is this green stuff in my tank and is taking over my main center peice and a shell what do I do???first it's light green,then green,then dark green , then black. here's a pic
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stray_dog/?saved=1

I have plants in my tank do you think it's cuz that?

I have a sucker fish in there too , but He justs acts normal.
thanks all!

sorry I posted this twice.I hit "back" cuz I spelled 'just' like 'justs' and it posted it twice so sorry.

Answer 1

It seems to me that you have two different "green"s on the shell. One is more of an olive (yellowish) green, and that's algae. The other is more of a bluish green, and that looks more like cyanobacteria: http://www.aquamax.de/Shop/Artikelbilder/Zusatzbilder/Algen%20im%20Aquarium_Blaualgen%20-%20Cyanobacteria_STUG_cyano1.jpg

Both require light and nutrients to grow. Since you have live plants, it's difficult for you to keep the lights off all the time (or your plants will die too!), so you may have to try and control these by controlling the nutrients. This may mean more frequent water changes to remove nitrates, but also check your tapwater to see if it contains nitrates or phosphates - if it does, you're only adding more "food" for the algae and cyano to grow. You could try using added carbon or resin pads that are cut to fit in your filter to remove these. Or, you could use reverse osmosis water (NOT distilled!) which you should be able to buy. SuperWalMarts sell this at self-serve dispensers (the Culligan water) for about $0.35 per gallon and Target sells it already bottled for about $1 per gallon.

If the shell is the only place these are growing, you can disinfect it with a 5% bleach solution, but rinse it well and allow to air dry before you put it back in the tank.

Algae eaters and snails might eat the algae, but these generally don't eat cyanobacteria, so if you don't have them in the tank already, don't buy them thinking they'll solve your problem. As you've seen, your own algae eater isn't helping you out here.

Answer 2

Okay well it's hard to tell from the pics. Maybe it's just algae and the sucker fish isn't doing a good job.

Answer 3

Seems that there is a shell build up in your tank. Scrape it quick if you don't want any other fish to feel strange.

CC