My First Ever Algae Problem

[-cAtFiSh-]

I have recently noticed that i have been getting a fair bit of really slimey, dark green algae in my tank accumulating mostly on the plants where they are on the surface of the water. There is also some on the lower leaves of the plants too.

I have never had this algae in the tank, only maybe a little bit on the filter, but thats it.
I have also never had an algae problem...so i'm not quite sure what to do!

Any suggestions?

Tank stats are nitrite and ammonia 0ppm and nitrate about 5ppm.

I'm unsure of light wattage though.

 

[soritan]

Could it be blue-green algae? Can it be removed by hand, and if so, when you pull at it, does it come off in a sheet... sort of like seaweed?

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

Could it be blue-green algae? Can it be removed by hand, and if so, when you pull at it, does it come off in a sheet... sort of like seaweed?

Yep that sounds about right!

 

[soritan]

Then it's BGA, it's not a true algae, it's actually cyanobacteria. I only remember the name, because it reminds me of Cyrano, and then Roxanne, and then noses.

There are a bunch of ways to get rid of it, and all of them work for everyone under different circumstances. I think there are a few threads on this forum that cover a lot of options. Search for 'cyanobacteria', not 'bga', because of the character limit, 'bga' will turn a forum error.

I'd try the milder black-out style attacks, before the more aggressive chemical attacks, first. Not only is it 'gentle'... it's cheap.

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

Ok thanks heaps for that