Problem with brown slime :(

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Amanda444

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jan 19, 2013
Messages
2
Hi everyone. I've had my tank with two comet goldfish for over two years, and I've never had a problem with algae until now. I recently moved towns so my water supply has changed, and I've started having a real issue with a brown slime that mainly coats the tank glass and filter. I used to have small amounts of green spot algae, which I know is healthy in small amounts, but the brown slime algae seems to have out competed this. I have tried scraping the algae off the glass and cleaning the filter when I change some of the water, but the slime begins to return within a day and is at dangerously high levels (ie. coating nearly all the glass) within 3-4 days. The only way I seem to be able to control it is by changing all the water in the tank, which I know isn't good for the fish, and even so the slime still only took about 10 days with partial water changes to return. I try not to overfeed my fish with only a small pinch of goldfish flakes once a day, and I've tested water quality, ammonia levels, etc. and these are all good and practically identical to the water I used to use. This makes me think its possibly an issue with the new location of the tank. The house I live in now retains the sun's heat a lot more than my old house, however I do have the tank away from direct sunlight, and I live in a cool climate area anyway so it rarely gets too hot. Any suggestions on how I can better control the slime? :fish2:
 
How long do you leave your lights? Or are you leaving them off to help stop the growth?
 
No lights, but they get about 15 hours of natural light at this time of year, and unfortunately I don't really have anywhere to move their tank that doesn't receive as much light. Do you think it would help the algal growth to try and reduce the natural light by covering them for part of the day?
 
No lights, but they get about 15 hours of natural light at this time of year, and unfortunately I don't really have anywhere to move their tank that doesn't receive as much light. Do you think it would help the algal growth to try and reduce the natural light by covering them for part of the day?

I think it would help, especially if your water changes and everything are regular.
 
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