algae

[Guest]

i noticed my aquarium looked a bit darker than usualy... and when i looked at the plastic top (the clear part under the lights, it was covered in algae, but not just flat algea, bubbly looking green algae that smelled awful. I removed the tops and cleaned them with bleach and of course covered them in dechlorinator and rinsed again before i put them back on. Any idea what that was? I have a bubble wall in the back which makes the water on top, well if you put your hand over it you can feel little speckles of water spraying up. (is that from all the bubbles popping( is the water spraying up causing the algea? i don't have an algea problem inside the tank itself, and there is about 2 inches between the top of the water and the cover. What can i do to prevent this?

 

[travis simonson]

The algae you found sounds very much like blue-green algae (BGA), which can be some nasty stuff. It's good that it isn't on your plants. My advice would be to keep an eye on your plastic top to make sure that it doesn't return. Perform regular water changes and maintain proper nutrient levels in your tank (NO3: 10-15 ppm, PO4 .5-1.0 ppm) and you should be able to keep it away. At the very worst you can do a three day blackout, which should kill any BGA you've got growing in your tank.

 

[Guest]

ahhh, blue-green algae...cyanobacterium. It's actually not algae at all, but bacteria. It's only related to algea because it is photosynthetic and can make it's own food, which is why turning the lights off will get rid of it (and also explains why it was growing on my light cover!) thanks for the insight

 

[travis simonson]

You are correct Cyanobacteria is grouped with algae (and mislabeled as such) because it grows under the same conditions as many types of algae. Nasty, stinky stuff

 

[malkore]

it may not be cyano. could be, but may not be. I've had that kind of algae you describe before...forming where an airstone was creating bubbles that splashed a fine mist on the glass versa-top.

Mine was slimy and smelly, but not the sickenly sweet, freshly mowed lawn kind of stink that only comes from cyano.

 

[Guest]

well, it hasn't come back, but it smelled like, well, not bad, just a sickening type smell, actually kind of reminded me of bleach. Maybe like a freshly mowed lawn, kind of a fresh smell, but it was nauseating.

 

[travis simonson]

Smells like BGA to me. Any time I hear the words 'algae' and 'nauseating' in the same sentence I think BGA