Weird Filter Gunk And Coloration

[blaxicanlatino]

I noticed for the past week, theres been these green spots on my whisper power filter. I dont have a pic, but its a whisper power filter ( the one that creates the small waterfall like motion). The best way i can discribe it is; imagine you have a whisper power filter and its all white (instead of its normal black color) then where the water comes out into the tank, get a green marker and put dots in that area and thats how mine looks. What the heck is up with the green spots? I also noticed that the tank is getting a weird smell.
is it something i should be worried about?

 

[martyn413]

HI,

How often to you perform water changes? Also what is your water stats (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?

Martyn

 

[waterdrop]

Well, it would seem to be an important thing to figure out. If it turns out to be a cyanobacteria (aka blue-green algae, aka blue-green bacteria, aka cyanophyta) it could be bad and possibly difficult to deal with for a while. On the other hand, its very hard to understand what you describe. You would know if it seemed like just an algae, right?

I agree that, as always, we need to start by hearing all your test results along with which test kit performed them and also any other tank circumstances that could remotely be related.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[blaxicanlatino]

I change about 20% of the water every friday. The green stuff is easily wiped off and i thiml the smell could be possibly from a new amazon sword athat i just recently put in the tank that as dying but is now recovering. I also notcied the gravel turning brown.

 

[losing nemo]

You need to give your water stats and what test kit you are using for people to get a better understanding of what may be happening .like waterdrop said

 

[blaxicanlatino]

well i think the browning is due to a dying new amazon sword and its brown algae. The temp of the tank ranges from 82-84 degrees F. The pH is about 6.3-6.5.

 

[waterdrop]

How about the lighting? How many bulbs of how many watts? Any sun hitting the tank at any point in the day?

 

[blaxicanlatino]

I forgot to add that im using test strips. Its only 18 watts in total for a a 10 gallon tank. Possibly indirect sunlight

 

[waterdrop]

And how many hours to you run the light?

I'm about ready to say I don't know the answer (Internet Algae Diagnosis can be hard )

One comment I'll make is that in any case, as an aquarist, you should try to be using one of the liquid-reagent based master kits if you can afford it. Knowing your test numbers from those were pretty reliable, you could give better baseline stats here it help with this diagnosis and other problems that might happen in the future.

What about your own intuition? Do the green spots feel "fuzzy" when you touch them with your finger? Most common algaes will feel somewhat like that I would say. cyanobacterias would be more slimy would be my description.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[blaxicanlatino]

the green spots are slimy but theres not that much of it. Theres ALOT of the brown algae, growing everyday, how do i get rid of that? The lights are on about 13 hours a day.

Its 2 compact flurescent light bulbs, 9 watts each

Ive also noticed some white powdery stuff on the filter but i think thats just mineral build-up

 

[waterdrop]

Not sure how many hours to recommend but 13 hours is way too many.

When you hear the secret of eliminating brown algae let me know, I've got it too. (Of course I'm dumping tons of ammonia in, which it loves!)

And what fish have you got in there again?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[blaxicanlatino]

A single betta and a single platy but the platy is inside of a container i made thats looks something like a hamster ball (those round things that you put a hamster in so he can run around the house safe inside the container) because she keeps biting the bettas tail. I wanted to get a snail but I just found out that the ferts i just bought contains .0005% copper. the container said safe for fish and other aquatic creatures too

 

[Dave Spencer]

Those copper levels in trace elements are a necessary nutrient for your plants and will be fine for your inverts.

The brown algae are diatoms which use silica to build themselves a shell. I have heard this type being attributed to new set ups with fresh sources of silica from the new glass, silicon sealant and sand. This is certainly my experience, but some have refuted this idea. The brown algae you can see is actually dead, if I remember correctly. I have let it just go through its cycle and it eventually disappears. Failing that, Otos will make short work of it.

The green spots (GSA) are a bit more difficult to cure. People with heavily planted tanks dosing PPS or EI attribute GSA to low phosphates. Increasing phosphate dosing gets rid of it in no time in most cases. Your best bet would be to constantly hassle it by cleaning it off as it appears.

Make sure your plants are happy, otherwise decaying plant matter will release ammonia which will make algae matters worse.

Keep the photoperiod to ten hours max.

Dave.

 

[blaxicanlatino]

what kind of algae eater do you recommend? I was thinking mystery snail but the water is far too acidic pH= 6.3-6.5
or maybe a ghost shrimp?
2 in pleco?
are ottos comaptible for a betta and small enough for a 10 gallon?

 

[waterdrop]

otos are small and won't bother other fish - I don't know if the betta would bother them, seems unlikely