brown slime algae?

Question

Hi BioGeek I prefer you to answer this. I have a ten gallon cold water fresh water aquarium. The problem I am having is what I believe to be brown slime alge on my tank walls and and bottom. I graduated to this tank from a 5gallon. I rinsed and used the gravel from the 5 gal tank and added some new rinsed gravel so it is cultured already. I run a top fin bio filter and aerator with a buble wall. I do partial water changes weekly and wipe down the algae from the walls and decor ( one small pagoda). However the tank has aquired a smell. Is it possibly new tank syndrome or do I need to get rid of the gravel . I read somewhere it is not neccessary to have gravel in a tank around my size to cut down on how much waste deposits there. I do vacumm the gravel well during the water changes. Is the tank cycling or do I need to get some algae destroyer for the next water change? I just changed the water on Sunday. Help I can't stand the smell

Answer 1

Hi-



Sorry, just saw this one.



How much are you feeding?



My best guess is that your old gravel has a lot of detritus, uneaten food and junk in it. When changing it to the new tank, you stirred it up some.



As you know cold water tanks take longer to cycle. The smell is probably that 'fishy' smell. If it just smells like fish then this is common with goldfish and cycling. You can add some Amquel or Ammo Lock 2 to render the ammonia less toxic for now but it just takes time.



As for the algae, brown slime alage is normally associated with marine aquariums. While brown diatoms do populate freshwater systems, especially cold water ones, it is less common. If in fact you do have a freshwater diatom, your main problem is silicates. These are in some municiple water systems and also in some rocks and such. Have you added any natural rocks to the tank?



The main cause for alage in general and brown diatoms: excess nutrients, silicate and silicic acid are the ingredients for a diatom bloom. Silicic acid enters the aquarium by using tap water; substrate can contain silicates that leach out over time. RO/DI units can filter silicic acid out, but only for a limited time. Eliminating silicates can control diatoms.



Algae in the tank is natural, as long as the growth is controlled and not spreading with at an explosive, destructive rate.



Algae eaters are a helpful tool to prevent algae from getting out of hand, however they do not eat all algae types. Further, they prefer "fresh" and "young" algae. Outgrown old algae are mostly left untouched.



Algae spores are always present in the water. Spores can be introduced by almost everything that is introduced to the aquarium. New fish, snails, plants, rocks, freeze dried food, shrimp, etc. All these spores require to explode is enough nutrients, that's when the trouble starts.



However, I am concerned that you really smell the odor. This is ususual. Even with cycling. As for an alage destroyer, it may be worth it to try. Normally I do not like these products as they only fix the symptoms not the underlying problem. A useful product in this case is called Algone. http://www.algone.com/reseller.htm It should be at many local area petsores. I know that it works in most cases so it is worth the time to use it properly. You could also try adding BioZyme, It is a powder enzyme 'bacteria' supplement fr cycling. It will help if the cycle is slow because of cold water.

I will check back to see if you have added anything else.

Answer 2

Brown Slime Algae

Answer 3

sorry I'm not BioGeek, but I have fish tanks too and have had them for about 4 years now and have had a similar problem before... When you do your water changes, do you use tap water or do you use other water? I would also recommend that you change the filter bag every two weeks or at least once a month, if you do not do so. You may have some residual algae in your gravel, and if that is the case, you could always take out all the gravel and soak it in some bleach water for about a day to kill all the algae or anything else you have growing in it. After you soak it in bleach water, rinse it well and soak in water with a dechlorinator (available at any pet store) for at least a day so you don't kill the fish when you put the gravel back in. I have found that if you use some ammonia removing crystals (usually you just add it to your filter bag) that helps, too, for algae grows with more ammonia present. I don't know what kind of fish you have in your tank, but I would be careful in using the algae destroyers, for they can hurt the fish too. I used some once and it blinded my fish, and he died soon after, presumably because he could not find the food in the tank. I hope this helps!

Answer 4

Your tank is prob in direct sun light, so it is going to have more algie, I know my tank does.. When it gets bad I use an algie distroyer. but I have some snails to help control it.. stress zyme speed up the cycle I think...

Answer 5

WARNING: this has nothing to do with ur question.

k that one "question" u answered about hjdfhfjnmx or whatever, u sound like on the kids in my grade(7th) r u?