this is my friends tank. her water tests perfectly, we’ve done it at home and taken it to the store, they said it was great!
we’ve completely taken the tank apart and scrubbed it all off and used vinegar and peroxide solutions twice. they’ve used de-algae chemicals ! they’ve gotten a pleco. nothing is getting rid of it. we’ve taken apart the filter and cleaned it too ! so confused at this demon fuzz.
Posted by Friendly_Buddy_
6 Comments
Decrease lighting and decrease feeding
What is it?
Plecos, while known to eat algae, are kinda picky in my experience. Mine doesnt touch black beard algae, which is what that looks like to me. Nerite snails should eat it.
The anti-algae stuff only slows it. Doesn’t kill it in my experience.
Also in general I would advise against cleaning aquarium filters and, to a lesser extent, decor with vinegar and peroxide. The bacteria in your filter is what manages your nitrogen cycle in your tank. Cleaning the filter like that kills them all and can crash your cycle. Could kill your fish. But its definitely going to leave a lot of nitrogen to grow algae like this.
Are those real plants? Its hard to tell. If not get some real plants. I personally like java ferns. Floating plants are great too, I’ve had good luck with salvinia.
Looks like diatoms which resolve as a tank ages.
“deep cleaning’ in a closed system is counter intuitive.
You need beneficial bacteria to colonize on those surfaces to keep things in balance.
A new toothbrush from the dollar store to gently scrub during water change.
There is no need to have water tested at store if she has a reliable test kit like the api freshwater. Ammonia nitrite and nitrate are the concern.
This could be anecdotal, but my blackbeard algae disappeared when bladder snails were accidentally intoduced through some plants purchased at my local fish store.
Too much light, by a long shot if it’s growing so rapidly. Does she have it on 24/7? I personally do 12/12 n it seems perfect for keeping plants healthy n not giving any alge the chance to grow.
Also decrease feeding! Every second day is good enough in an established tank