Dirty aquarium...

[Japola44]

My 55gal, having the least amount of fish. Never looks clean. I understand a large part of this could be due to the fact i have white sand. Any way, I am constantly struggling with brown algea on the glass of my tank. I wipe it off and over night it comes back. I also have been having a slime algea problem. It is on the side of the tank on the sand that gets direct sunlight for only an hour or 2 at the most. Also the water looks a little tea colored. I have added Extra carbon to my filter but it hasn't helped. I'm at a loss. It wasn't, but a month ago my water was crystal clear. All water parameters are at 0ppms except Nitrates which haven't gone over .25ppms. My ph is 7.5. I do 25% water changes weekly.

My 20gal gets more sunlight has same water parameters and pH. Has no algea at all.

Should i get a pleco? i heard the poop alot and the last thing i want to look at is more fish poop.

 

[TCTFish]

What are the list of fish in each tank?
Are both tanks glass?
How new is the 55 compared to the 20? Were they bought new or used?
What type of substrate do you have in each?
How recent are the readings of the test results?

There are smaller species of plecos that will actually eat that brown slime algae. Bushy noses and wide mouth plecos are the two most common. They get about 4". That's manageable even in waste.

Take some of that brown slime stuff and rub it between your fingers. If it feels gritty and seems to fall apart easily, then most likely it is diatoms. If it is nasty, slimy and doesn't break apart easily, then you could be having a cyanobacteria problem. Diatoms are harmless. The cyanobacteria can be a sign of poor water quality. The water parameters you have posted are fine. So I would guess it's diatoms. Is it?

Diatoms become numerous in the system generally in a new glass tank or soon after a water change. A spike in silicates in the water is what triggers a boom in diatom population to the point of becoming sightly. Those two particular species of plecos will eat the stuff. With or without the plecos they will disappear on their own...given the chance.

Try changing out less water per week.

FW cyanobacteria is a result of poor water quality. The test results you posted look good. If the slime stuff feels like it could be cyanobacteria, retest the nitrates. Those plecos I believe will eat this stuff too if I recall corrrectly.

 

[Japola44]

hey i'm sorry for such a delayed post, my internet has been down for awhile and school has been keeping me busy.

I just set up my new fulva 304 canister filter. I did a 20% waterchange, and the water tested out all 0's with 20ppms of nitrates. I covered the tank to hopefully get rid of the slime algea. I am almost positive its slime algea, because it bright green and doesn't appear to be hair like. They brown stuff from how u described it is diatoms. I only have 3 fish in the tank. I have a bichir senegal that is about 6", a platinum gourami about 3" and an african butterfly fish that is 3" also. The tank has been running for about 2 months maybe 3. I got it brand new. My 20 gal has been up and running for 5 months. It has 3 zebra danios, 1 dwarf gourami, and a bichir senegal that is only 3" long.

My only concern about getting a pleco is i heard they suck on other fish's slime coats, and could hurt my other fish, specifically my bichirs. Again i am sorry for the delayed post.

 

[TCTFish]

Watch out for that bicher. He may snack on a fish every now and then. They are predatory. And I'd be more worried about the pleco than the bicher...LOL. It's actually chinese algae eaters that have the rep for preying on fish. I've also seen synodontis cat fish do the same to knife fish. Plecos only prey on healthy animals if they are starving. Otherwise they just go after sick, dying, and dead things. The bushynoses and the wide mouths only get about 4" so they wouldn't be a threat anyway to the fish you have. Because of the bicher I'd recommend the bushynoses. They are armed with clubs of spikes on the side of their faces, so anything that tries to take a bite (at least at their face) is in for an unpleasant sensation.

Green algae is just algae. Slime algae is a reference to brown algae (cyanobacteria or the diatoms). Light, nitrate, and phosphate are the three main triggers for algae growth. Try putting in some live plants. They'll utilize the nitrate that's in there and give algae competition and generally drive a lot of algae away. The bushynoses are safe with live plants. They are not known to destroy them like the big plecos do. The wide mouths are also plant safe.

Don't worry about delayed posts. We all have lives other than tanks...do we...???...LOL. Just kidding. It's all good

 

[Guest]

It has 3 zebra danios, 1 dwarf gourami, and a bichir senegal that is only 3" long.

Are you serious? Those 3 zebra danios are as good as dead, and within a year the gourami too.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

The Bichir will only get them if they are sleeping, Danios are very fast fish, and if it is hungry.

Yeah, My Plec. is huge (13.5") and he just munches away on the glass. He'll also eat a fish if it dies overnight, some ghost shrimp that may have tried to take shelter in his mouth... but never going after another fish. They are extremely peaceful fish.

 

[Guest]

The Bichir will only get them if they are sleeping, Danios are very fast fish, and if it is hungry.

You mean at night, when the birchir hunts?

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Well, I think it's safe to say it hasn't gotten them yet.. Also I think the goal is to grow it a little larger then move it to the 55Gal to be with the other larger one.

 

[Japola44]

yah i am waiting for bichir in the 20gal to grow out before i put him with the larger one in the 55gal. I did have 4 zebra danios, but one disaperead during the day. My guess is it died and my bichir took advantage of the free meal. Considering the fact its been about a week and no other fish have gone missing.

Any way back on the subject. I have a lot of hornwort in the 55gal, i heard those really suck up the nitrates. I also have anacharis in there and a few java ferns. I had the tank covered and it killed all the algea on the sand, i suppose the rest i will have to work on scrubbing off, and i will look for a bushy nose pleco. Is that the same as a bristle nose? Also do you guts think its possible the pleco will eat baby snails? When i added some new anacharis to my tank i got a large population of what i think are baby ramshorns. Thanks for the help!