HELP ....Creeping Crud

terry54

HELP .... I'm in need of some quick advice from someone please. I need to take some action and fast with my tank. It's a 15 gallon community tank that has been up and running with no problems for about 6 months now. A couple of weeks ago while doing a water change I noticed some light brownish algae in the center of the tank and on the inside glass. I cleaned the gravel and the glass well and at the time just made a mental note of it . Since then we have had a guest in from out of town and you know how that goes. All of the sudden I became a tour director and slacked of on being a good fish keeper. Anyway's now it seems like this light brown almost orange algae has spread all over the bottom of my tank. What was once a white gravel bottom tank is now orange ! Yikes, what should I do???? I plan on putting in a algae eating fish and covering the tank for a bit, hoping it will help.

Should I just get rid of the top layer of the gravel? I really want to use one of the "algae be gone fizzy tablets" made by Jungle. Please tell me what if any are the disadvantages to using this kind of product to clear things up?. If I were to use it in my tank, should I use it before or after the cleaning and water change.I sure would appreciate anyones advice about how to get control of and ultimatly rid of the creeping crud in my tank.

Thank You........Terry

Jay

Sounds to me like a soft nuisance algae. If it is...

A handful of Ottos will eat it.
Scraping the glass, turning the bottom and vacuuming will wear it down

This stuff will produce spores within minutes of being hassled so do your scraping and cleaning during big water changes.

Cut back on your light

Do not over feed

It should retreat after a few weeks of keeping after it.

The blackout method...

Instead of Nuking it with a "Fizz tab" I don't care what cute name they give it, it is still designed to kill living organisms. I would do a 100% blackout for 72 hours. Use plastic lawn and garden bags. NO light, leave the filter running. Your fish will be fine, they can easily do 3 days without food, the algae will die.

You may get away with the "fizz tab" once or twice, but you can bet that the next algae that comes along will be much tougher to control, and sooner or later you will kill your fish.

After the blackout you will need to revisit your light and feeding practices, plus regular large water changes and a good vacuuming.

Regards,
Jay