Does algae grow on sand?

[AdamsAquarium]

It started out faintly, but it has grown into this massive spot of green all over my sand. I'm not sure what it is, because when I look up close at it, it doesn't appear to he growing at the surface but more of just colored sand.

Algae is the only thing that came to my mind, but wouldn't I be able to see some algae growth at the surface?

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[AdamsAquarium]

Literally looks like colored sand

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[AdamsAquarium]

Could it have been the dissolving of an algae pellet that my algae eaters didn't eat?

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[lectraplayer]

That looks eerily like blue-green algae, a bacteria. Keep an eye on it for awhile, and use an antibiotic if it starts to spread. If you vacuum it now, though, you may remove it.

 

[trennamw]

That looks eerily like blue-green algae, a bacteria. Keep an eye on it for awhile, and use an antibiotic if it starts to spread. If you vacuum it now, though, you may remove it.

I agree. I fought this a lot in my little betta tank, until I added plants.

You may need to up the water changes. Do read up on it. It can harm fish.


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[lectraplayer]

It will quickly take over if you don't get it out now. The whole inside of tle tank will be that slime green.

 

[trennamw]

You might be able to start removing it with light suction (a pipette, airline tubing). It looks powdery but is actually a fairly strong film. Removing it (not releasing it into the water with a stir or scrub) is important.


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[Fresh2o]

When I do water changes I try to siphon out any cyano. It comes off pretty easily. Now that I think about it, it would be a good idea to give the water change bucket a good rinsing before refilling it with replacement water.


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[AdamsAquarium]

Thanks guys! Really helped diagnosing it and with small tips like cleaning the bucket.

I looked it up online and it's really important to remove from the tank asap. I siphoned it out and it was on my rocks, so I pulled those out and sprayed them with hydrogen peroxide. It's important to note that it's not 100% algae, and to remove it completely, it said to blackout for the 72 hours. So I am going ahead and doing that.

I know I didn't get it out 100%, so hopefully this will remove it all. So far, non of the fish were harmed

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[Fresh2o]

I battled it for several months in 2013 (no idea what it was). When it became too much I did a 6 day regimen of API Erythromycin. Was mostly gone after 5 days and completely gone at 10 days.


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[lectraplayer]

I've never gotten it with a blackout like they say. I've had to use antibiotics. It may qo away with a blackout, but the spores remain and it comes back in the light.

It also won't grow under actinic light (it can't draw energy from blue, plants and algae can). ...but again, when normal light returns, so does BGA.

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[AdamsAquarium]

Oh yikes! Thanks for the heads up guys, you saved me 72 hours

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[trennamw]

Huh. I know of a few people who got it with a blackout, followed by keeping the tank cleaner.

I eliminated it by redoing the tank. I replaced the substrate, bleached a decoration and the tank, but kept the filter media and added plants and increased water changes.

While I did that the fish went into another tank.

So I presume I ended up with spores in two tanks, but it didn't recur.

To the OP ... What's your tank maintenance routine? How old is the tank?


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[AdamsAquarium]

6 month old tank, 25% w/c twice weekly. 50% twice a month. It was a planted tank, but I took all the plants out because it says the blue green algae clings to the plants often.

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[lectraplayer]

Looks like a good maint. schedule to me. ...though removing the plants was unnecesary. BGA grows on EVERYTHING, and would grow on the fish if they held still long enough. I'd leave the plants alone and use actinic lights as mentioned before, with an antibiotic.

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