brown, green, and white spots all over tank

[GeneralTso]

yesterday, i noticed lots of white and brown spots all over the gravel and rocks on one side of my tank. today there are white, brown, and green spots all over the whole tank, and some on the glass. any idea what this is, and is it harmfull?

 

[The-Wolf]

is the tank a new setup?
it sounds like you have just cycled or are still in the cycle process.

brown spots denotes diatoms
green spots denotes algea
and the white could be planeria or another form of algea

 

[GeneralTso]

yeah its new. started the tank about a month ago. so this is a good thing, not a bad thing? I put Bio-Spira in the tank when i started it. does that have anything to do with anything?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Algae is uncommon in new tanks and the tank is still probably cycling, just cut down on the amount of hours the tank light is on per day, say down to 6hrs; adding some/more live plants to the tank also helps apparently as the plants will out-compete the algae for nutrients and light and they are also good for water quality.
How much do you feed your fish on average and how often?

 

[GeneralTso]

i just have the one Arowana. i feed him about 1 square inch of frozen bloodworms a day. I've had the tank running for exactly 1 month. I cut the bloodworms into small chunks, but he still makes a mess with them, and i have nothing to clean up his mess. is there anything i can put in the tank to clean up after him, that he wont eat?

 

[GeneralTso]

is the algae bad for the fish?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Im not certain on how much you should feed arowana's, but the main rule with the majority of fish to determine if you are over-feeding them is that any food left in the tank uneaten after 30mins means your overfeeding the fish- reduce the fish's food bit by bit until this is not so. Do you just feed him the one meal a day or soread his food out into lots of small meals?
You can buy a gravel vac to clean the gravel and suck up any uneaten food/waste from the bottom of the tank if you have gravel, or place a small filter at the bottom of the tank to help clean it out.

 

[GeneralTso]

i feed him once a day and he eats it all, but the chunks of bloodworm fall apart as he eats them and bloodworms go everywhere. i think im going to swich to feeding him crickets and pellets. i do plan to buy a gravel vac soon. does the algae harm the fish, or does it just make the tank look ugly?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

May lower oxygen levels a bit i suppose, just use a sponge to wipe it off and lower the amount of time the tank lights are on a bit and buy some live plants and you should be fine

 

[GeneralTso]

ok. thanks for all the help =Þ

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

ok. thanks for all the help =Þ

Glad to help

 

[The-Wolf]

is it just me, or should you not have a 7" arrowana in a 30 gal?

 

[GeneralTso]

no. he needs a way bigger tank. my friend was going to give me a really good deal on his 70 gal eclips tank ($75). so i went and got the arowana and put it in my 30 gal that i already had set up cuz i got a deal on the arowana as well($25). few days later my friend tells me his girlfriend sold it to her brother for $125. so now im in a rush to get my hands on a bigger tank. i plan to get a 180 gal. if the fish is still alive by the time it needs an upgrade from that, then i will get a 250 gal.

 

[The-Wolf]

ok, thanks for clearing that up

 

[Flashfire]

Good luck on affording the arrowana, their a fortune here in SA