algea?

[nitrous]

well in my tank i have 1 bought bridge and variuous natural rocks, now i realized the gray rocked has developed a good amount of orange algea or what i think is algea, is this actaully algea or am i wrong and what do i do to whatever it is?

 

[Guest]

orange or brown? Might be brown algae or diatoms.. should be able to clean it off if it is.
Blue green algae ive noticed is blue green with sometimes some orange and brown, thats actually cyanobacteria.

 

[nitrous]

its orangesh brown, and so its not bad?

 

[Guest]

If it is brown algae then its not bad, but it may indicate that you are overfeeding or there are too many nutrients in your tank. Is this in the 15 or 20 gallon? If its in the 15 you could get a few Otos.. they love diatoms.. but if its in the 20 gallon you will just have to clean it off.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Slimelike and in sheets? Sounds like cyanobacteria to me as well. Often an indication of poor water quality.

 

[nitrous]

well the nitrites is 0 ammonia 0 nitrates 10-15
ph from 7-7.5
and it is just on some rocks not all

and yes the 20 gal, no tank cleaners will be compatible with the chiclids and shouldnt the pleco in the 15 clean algae?

 

[Guest]

yes a pleco will eat most types of algae,

but if it is cyanobacteria nothing will eat it, it is a bacteria... and you will have to use an antibacterial to kill it. But it really doesn't sound like cyano to me... is it slimelike? does it come off in sheets? Is there any blue/green color to it at all?

 

[nitrous]

not really just brownish yellow and can the pleco be with the chiclids?

 

[Guest]

ive heard that plecos are compatible with cichlids, but with caution. YOu will need to watch and see if there are any aggression, territory issues... but it might work.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Cyanobacteria is a funny little critter. It can be numerous colors, from brown, to yellow, to red even. Any chance you can get a picture? IME, cyano isn't as common in a FW tank as it is in a reef tank, but we should definitley figure out what kind of algae it is, so we can reccomend a good solution for you.