What kind of algae is this?

[skiweeangel]

Just that.

 

[severum mama]

Looks like cyanobacteria to me. Yuck!

 

[skiweeangel]

that's what i feared. it was a small patch two days ago before the water changed and i wasn't sure what it was, now two days after a water change and my husband forgetting to turn off the lights in my son's fish tank (and me feeling too tired to turn them off ) it has covered this shell and gone up the glass.

What do you recommend to get rid of it? i am going to pull the shell out and treat it somehow, but i'm not sure what to do with the patches on the glass.

 

[Matt68005]

They make special algae brushes thing-a-ma-jigs. I found it to come in quite handy. For as soon as you scrape it off, it seems to re-grow in a matter of a few days.

 

[phoenixkiller]

I, too, recommend the specialized algae scrubbers that are both inexpensive and quite useful.
Phoenixkiller

 

[skiweeangel]

I have one, but i wanted a rather permanent treatment.

 

[aqua_chem]

BGA has several potential causes:

High organic content
Low nitrates (usually in planted tank)
Low O2
Too much light
Low Flow

You need to find which one is causing you issues and fix that, or it will come back. As far as eliminating it, the only 100% method that I know of is to nuke the BGA with Erythromyacin. You want to do this as little as possible for obvious reasons, but also because you might end up with a erythromyacin resistant strain of cyanobacteria.

 

[skiweeangel]

My guess is two things too much light and low nitrates. As for flow, it's in the highest flow area of the tank.