fish tank and something like grime?
by Aquaboy on Sunday, May 16th, 2010 | 4 Comments
so ive had these fish( 2 mickey mouse Platy 2 glass fish) for a while now maybe a little over a month or so?
i have a filter that ive recently changed the cartridge on i put that cycle chemical stuff in to make the ammonia stuff go away you know?
and this brown grime looking stuff keeps covering the tank within a few days (like 2-3) every time i wipe it away with a toothbrush.
does anyone know what this stuff is and how do i get rid of it?
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This is Diatom Algae, it’s normal in new fish tanks.
don’t worry about it, and don’t bother trying to get rid of it. All you need to do is leave it alone and it will clear in a few weeks – the longer you leave your lights on, the faster it will clear as well (keeping the lights off will make it stay longer).
you’ll wake up one morning and it will look like it was never there in the first place.
It’s a type of algae, It’s really annoying, but you can get magnets, so you can clean it off easily without getting your hands wet. They will probably cost about $15-$20. This happens to all aquariums so you just need to take care of it.
This sounds like Brown slime algae or Diatoms. It usually starts just after the tank has finished cycling. Too much light or the wrong type of lighting can cause this, as can high levels of nutrients such as phosphate.
I would review the tank’s photoperiod, make sure that the tank isn’t exposed to natural sunlight and connect the aquarium lights to a timer. Also if you have a test kit test the tap and aquarium water for nitrate and phosphate.
Sounds like Diatoms like others have said which is normal to happen after a cycle. They occur from too much nutrients and phosphates in the tank so make sure to clean the gravel well after feeding. Trying to clean it out is just going to make it come back. It doesn’t harm the fish so just leave it be and it will eventually go away. One thing to NOT use is any products from the pet store as this can probably cause more harm than good.
However, I’m more worried about your maintenance routines especially with your filter cartridges. You should never take it out just so and throw it away, as you are throwing out good bacteria that are needed to keep the cycle going. The product you use to ‘make the ammonia stuff go away’ isn’t going to help you especially when there is an easier and less expensive way to go about this.
Main thing to not do anymore is throw away the filter cartridge. You can keep that one in there until it literally falls apart and only rinse it with tank water. Another way you can do this is to add a new cartridge in with the old for 1 month so good bacteria can be transferred.