hello, im new

[BetaBrene]

Hy everyone! My name is sabrene, I live in California near Sacramento. I have 3 tanks, a 2, 5, and 10 gallon. I have 1 beta, 4 tetras, 1 suckerfish, and a red bellied toad. I'm having some problems with my beta tank, I've had it for about a year now and it's now growing some sort of black stuff in the bottom left corner, I have no idea what it is or where it came from, or if it'll hurt my fish. So that's how I found this site. If anyone happens to know what this stuff is or knows what I can do to stop it or fix it I would appreciate any advise. Thanks. I hope I will enjoy this site as much as everyone else. And learn some new stuff along the way. I love having fish and hope what I can learn will make it even more fun.

[Esoteric Backbone]

Some kind of algae?

[BetaBrene]

I don't know, it looks like mold almost. And there are some dark brown spots on the walls of the tank. I've never seen it before and I've had the fish for a year now.

[Esoteric Backbone]

Have you tried scrubbing it off then using a gravel vac to syphon it out?

[Esoteric Backbone]

Do you happen to have snails in with the betta?

[BetaBrene]

Not yet. Would it be ok to empty all of the water? Ive heard that you are only supposed to do some. It's kind of coating all of the rocks in the left corner

[BetaBrene]

No snails. Would that help?

[Esoteric Backbone]

Could you take a piture?

I asked about the snails because sometimes they leave a mess on the walls, but they might be able to clean it.

[BetaBrene]

Here's a pic it's kind of hard to see

[BetaBrene]

Here's a side view

[Fishkeeper26]

IMO it looks like algae

[BetaBrene]

It looks darker in person than it does in the pic, it's more blackish. If it's algae is it bad for my beta?

[Fishkeeper26]

It's not necessarily bad it can be if it builds up enough. You should be able to just scrub it off with a toothbrush

[BetaBrene]

I was going to take him out then scrub everything then put new water in.

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

[BetaBrene]

Thank you. It's already been very helpful. I've had my tanks for a while but still feel like I don't know anything about it. : ) so having people to talk to really helps. I'm looking forward to meeting more fellow fish lovers!