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Hello. I have a coolwater livebearer tank that's been running for 6 months or more with no problems until recently. The tank is a 33 gal long with a few plants such as hornwart, microsword, and one tiny strand of java moss... Most other plants are fake. I have real driftwood, and a varigated color med, sized gravel. My filter is a biowheel..the 200 I think (takes penguin rite size C filter cartridges)...Anyway, I recently removed a guppy (one of only 9 fish in my tank..all guppies) and treated her for hemorragic septicemia. She recovered, but later some other fish in my tank needed treatment too..so the entire tank was treated with Maracyn Two for the whole 5 day treatment. During that time, my filter wheel stopped turning, almost completely, and it took me a few days to figure out how to get it running perfectly again...Anyway, this is the problem... ALL the plants, and the walls of the tank, and the driftwood etc, got this stringy, hair like whiteish film on them. I've completely cleaned everything in the tank, rinsed all the real plants well, and did a 40% water change... the problem still exists..those little hair like strings are everywhere again..in just one day. How do I get rid of it..especially from my real plants?????????

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oh yeah..one more thing...my tank is at 69 degrees and all other water parameters are testing normal..

Sarah84

Guppies do better in warmer tempertures ie 78 degrees.. what other fish are you keeping in that tank? U can pick up a heater rather cheap at walmart.. or petsmart.
Septicemia is caused by poor water quaility... regular maintience should be preformed to prevent this.
as far as the hair algea, cleaning it will help, adding a few corydoras to clean it up.. (they cleaned up my tanks in the past) ...
however with that said.. you cleaned your whole tank, you might have a mini-cycle now, so keep on top of your parameters! (nirIte and Ammonia)

Sarah

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34 Gal SW Reef
55 Gal FW

Andyoybna

I agree that the fish probably got sick from poor water params, how often do you do water changes and how much? since you have had it for 6 months, you are probably doing something right. Also ottocinclus is another choice as far as getting rid of the algae other than corydoras.

I really doubt that you are having problems with nitrates, nitrite or ammonia, your tank should be well cycled by now, and with only 9 guppies in a 33 (long or cube? just wondering... ) there shouldn't be too much waste, and I assume you are doing your water changes, do you have a test kit?

I doubt your nitrates are the problem I agree with what sarah said about the temp, guppies are tropical and require warmer water 76-80 degrees. They are also somewhat brackish. Do you add salt? It may be a good idea to get a hydrometer and keep the salinity around 1.010.

As for the algae, is there any windows near the aquarium? how long are your lights on? there is probably sunlight reflecting into the tank if that is the issue there isn't much you can do about it, and if it just started and its the first algae problem you've had it'll probably go away in about a month from the rotation of the earth. It could also be a raise in phosphate for one reason or another, testing it is probably inaccurate though since you have live plants, a combanation of the algae and plants is probably consuming it all and will give you a false negative.

BJP

The general advice is to keep salt levels under 1/2 tablespoon per five gallons in planted tanks which works out to appoximately 0.06% salt solution using a salt level test kit.

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals lists 0.10% salt solution as the max in the literature with thier test kit which should be just under 1 tablespoon per five gallons.

Several companies offer dips for live plants. I've heard of a very mild bleach/water dip being used also.

For the fake plants and hard decor a stronger bleach dip can be used.

For driftwood there's always sun baking.

For the substrate, multiple gravel vacuums.

For the tank sides a good scrub pad.

Maybe a fresh cartridge for the Penguin also.

If things get to far out of hand there's always the extreme options. Move the fish to another tank or even a bucket. Place the live plants in a jar full of water on a sunny window seal, add a little bleach to the tank and leave the filter running for 24 hours. That wipes out pretty much anything but requires a good bit of rinsing afterwards and I personnely don't have a problem with spending a few dollars on a chlorine test kit from the swimming pool section of your favorite retailer to be 100% sure all the chlorine is removed before recycling the tank and adding fish back.

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Okay...
I do add the recommended amount of salt...that's not an issue. And I do have a heater, it's just not in use bk we will be moving in a few months, and it's less hastle, to leave the water room temp, so that they don't have to go through a major change during the move. At that time I will be disassembling the entire tank, and re-cycling it, while they are in a smaller tank that I have. That's why I ONLY have the guppies. They are not expensive show guppies or anything, I just enjoy them, and so do my kids. Every week, once a week, on the same day, we change 30 to 40% of the water. We use start right to condition the water.

This problem was as I stated...due to a filter malfunction during treatment of the tank, which made the water have poor conditions..it may have been malfunctioning for longer, and I just hadn't noticed...I maintain it weekly, but it wasn't not working..it just wasn't at its best bk of a bio cartridge that didn't fit right. I've since gone back to the original penguin biowheel rite size C....

Will Dwarf Suckermouth Oto's eat this? Are the corydoras better??? What to do....Hmmmm.

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Thanks for trying to help. I solved the problem myself. I went back to the Rite size C and upped the temp. to 73 degrees, cut down on the few hours of light that I was giving them, and the problem is almost gone. I also ordered Siamese Algae Eaters and they arrive tomorrow.