Help with my Tank!! Please!

too chey

I have a 46 gallon Bow front tank. It has been set up for 6 months. I am having a problem with a type of algea....it looks like a foggy mucus all over everthing in the tank. I have done partial water changes. Cleaned everything in the tank...even replaced the rocks with new ones and with 2 weeks the mucas is back...the pet store told me it was algea...so I tried what they recommended and it did nothing but make my water green. My fish don't seem to be having a problem with it.

The water also smells fowl. My PH is very low...not even reading on the test strips. I have added ph increase twice now and it is not even touching it. I have had all the fish in the tank for at least 3 years. I have never had a problem before this last move of the tank.

Does anyone have any suggestions?????? I am stumped.

Jay

Your description of foggy mucus and fowl smelling says Cyanobacteria to me.

This stuff is also called blue/green algae although it will show up in all manner of color and texture.

It is not a true algae as it is both bacteria and algae, it is the primordial stuff responsible for our atmosphere today. So it is both hero and Villain that looks terrible in the tank

There are two cures:

1. A 72 hour black out of all light to the tank. No light, no peeking, keep the filter running, NO LIGHT FOR 72 HOURS. Healthy fish and plants will be just fine for 72 hours without food or light.

2. Treatment of the tank with 1/2 the recommended dose of the antibiotic Erythromycin for a week to 10 days will kill it. Erythromycin is expensive for use in larger tanks and is not available to hobbyists in the UK. Contrary to some information, Erythromycin will not kill your bio filter.

Good Luck!

Regards,
Jay

too chey

ok, thanks for the advice.

When you say black out...do you mean I should cover the tank with something? A blanket?

Is the algea growing because of light? What happens after I uncover the tank? Any idea what causes it???

Thanks for the advice, Kim

penna32

well algae grows mostly by light, more common in sunlight .. keep the lights off and cover the tank with blankets

Tommy Gun

I believe that is exactly what Jay is hinting at as far as a blackout goes. Cynobacteria does rely on photosynthesis, so removing light from the equation will place a lot of duress on cyno. I am not sure what really 'causes' cynobacteria, but I am sure someone on this forum can tell you and I will also look into it since that is a pretty good question. You can be confident that your fish can definitely survive without light for three days, and you can also skip feeding during the blackout, which will give some time for nutrients to be used up without being replenished, and hence, the cyno will suffer more. The only thing I would add is simply to make sure that you are only blocking light, and not the oxygen supply.

Jay helped me out with this same problem just a few short months ago and so I am simply here to support his advice as well as to welcome you to FTF! After Jay helped me out, and I followed his advice, I really never encountered this issue again...in that tank anyways...although I did wind up resorting to using antibiotics, but I believe that was due to my waiting too long to take action. Hopefully that is not the case with your tank.

Jay

I mean a real blackout...NO LIGHT. I have used black plastic lawn and garden bags. Tommy's advice on O2 is good, an air stone will do it, Keep your filter running. The important thing is NO LIGHT for 72 hours. When you unwrap the tank after three days you will find clear water and no trace of algae.

Cyanobacteria and some other forms of algae have no capacity to store energy like higher plants. When you deprive them of light (energy) they die.

Cyano exists in nature just as do algae and spores. They will find a way into your tank eventually. Whether or not they cause an annoying algae bloom is another question.

Regards,
Jay