Cyanobacteria?

[Sinuhe]

Some background info first: I set up my 33 gallon/ 128 liter tank almost 4 weeks ago. It's got 2 Zebra Danios, and lots of live plants. At no point has there been a noticeable amount of ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates. The pH has been steadily 7,8-8,0 (the tap water around here is quite basic, but also soft), the general hardness 4-5 dH and the carbonate hardness 4 dH. I don't think my tank has even started cycling yet, since the 2 small fish combined with lots of live plants will probably never get to produce enough ammonia. (I'm going to slowly add more fish, currently have 3 Platies in my QT tank waiting, and am also getting more Danios to form a proper school of them).

After a couple of weeks I got some brown algae on the plants, gravel and glass, that I assume to be a sign of a new aquarium. It shouldn't be a sign of too little light, because I have 36 Watts of light, and Green Hygro that grows like crazy. Plus the brown stuff is in places that get plenty of light. I also have some regular green algae on some plants (which I don't really mind).

What I'm worried about is the green slimy stuff that I noticed on my Java Moss a couple of days ago. It rubs off easily, and doesn't seem like regular green algae. I suspect it might be cyanobacteria. The fish and plants are doing fine (the fish have already spawned more than once, but I haven't been able to keep any of the fry alive for more than a few days, since the parents eat them in the big tank, and different fry separators didn't really work out, either). Should be worried about this new stuff, and what should I do about it?

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

You might want to take a look at the article on algae (up in the "articles" section...I believe its in the saltwaterc section, but it's still relevant).

If it is indeed cyanobacteria, you might be in for a fight. If it's limited to the one plant, you might just want to take it out (a bleach dip would probably work).

 

[Sinuhe]

Thanks . I'm going to do a partial water change today or tomorrow, and try to get most of that stuff out, whatever it is. I'm not sure if it's just brown algae that's been covered with some green stuff in places, or genuinely green stuff

 

[Neurotic_Fish]

Cyanobacteria!I hate them!

I hope that u don't have a big problem.If its development is restricted,clean daily the infected areas.
In general,as far as i know,there are 2 ways of confronting them:
1.Traditional: Partial water changes,less feeding,regular manual cleaning,keeping an eye on nitrates and phosphates.Increase water circulation,too.That kind of bacteria use photosynthesis to grow up and develop (something that happens really fast) so be careful about light conditions.And lots of prayers!This way of fighting cyanobacteria,didn't work with my tank.But sometimes it helps a lot.


2.Treat with Erythromycin (maracyn) for 4-5 days and then do a good (50-60%) water change.

I don't know any algae eaters that eat that sticky thing.

I really hope it's not cyanobacteria.
If it's not the "traditional" solution is a fine way of acting
But u have to count your nitrates!In general,agae grwing = excess of nutrients.

 

[Sinuhe]

Thanks! According to my tests, I have 0 zero nitrates, tho.

 

[AJ]

Brown algae isn't algae at all, it's a bacteria. So if you have cyanobacteria, it's just more of the same. I have been struggling with both for awhile but they do eventually go away without adding chemicals. Water changes don't really do much, as quick as you wipe it off, it grows back. It took about 2 months before I noticed it starting to decline and it got worse before it got better. It's ugly, a pain in the neck, but not the end of the world. Sometimes patience will win the battle.

Another note - in my research, I found high silicates in the water can cause these problems anytime. I found a professor somewhere that sells a remedy for that too, on the net somewhere.

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

actually brown algae (esp. in a new tank) is usually diatomic, high silicate levels obviously contribute to this.

In a new tank, usually it goes away on it's own, or if not, usually increasing the light (yes increasing!) will usually clear it up.

In Sinuhe's case, she said her tank is getting plenty of light, so it's probably not the diatoms.

 

[AJ]

You can still have brown algae GALORE in tanks with light. I had it and I got all sorts of light on that tank. Don't assume it can't be because of that. That is false.
And it was diatoms, which is classified a bacteria. High silicate levels do cause this sometimes, but I never said always. Most often it is a new tank thing, which I also said. Which usually goes away on its own, which I also said.

 

[Sinuhe]

Yeah, I'm aware it's not actually algae, but I just used the name since it's seems to be common to call it that. I understood that you can have the brown "algae" in new tanks typically even if there is enough light, and then it goes away over time? My tanks are fairly new still.

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

easy there!

this is a forum for offering advice, not who's "right" and "wrong". Part of why it works so well is because there are so often more than one way to go about solving a problem, and we all kinda pitch in our experiences to help out.

I never insinated that your advice was in error, but rather offered some pretty well known info...that in new tanks, brown algae is *usually* diatomic, and *usually* goes away on its own, or with inc. light. If you've had different experiences, feel free to share them. But please don't be so quick to jump on the defensive, we're all just trying to help out here!

There are sooo many varieties of algae out there...some are photosynthetic bacteria, some are genuine plant life, and some are diatomic...we're here to help sinuhe figure out the best way to take care of whatever it is she's got!