Help identify and destroy weird algae

[mcrudd]

Hi all, I have a friend and she battles with this weird algae, I have never seen it before. I went over to her house armed with my testing kit hoping we can find something wrong but all her parameters were perfect. Her fish are all alive and thriving including two little bristlenose babies I gave her

However she has this weird algae problem. She did an almost 60% water change cleaning her gravel and stones in her tank carefully but a week later it was all covered in a blanket of algae again. The algae is a very bright greenblueish colour. It does not have a fishy or even bad smell to it, infact it smells like good quality soil (sand in the garden) would after a days rain. It looks silky while covering rocks and so on, but once you touch it to lift it out it becomes stringy and breaks to pieces.

She does have an outside pond with goldfish and occasionally she would catch some and keep them in their until their owners come to fetch them, so its possible this could be a pond algae issue as well. Just thought I would add that info there for you guys as well.

I tried to take a pic, but could not take a clear pic so took a video clip instead which I am hosting on photobucket. If you need any more information just ask and I can ask her, or might be able to answer it now if its something I might know. I attach the video and also a still pic I took of the video for you guys to check out and advice us of what to do

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii23 ... salgae.flv

(video link above)

[Jennifer]

Wow. That is some impressive cyanobacteria!!

Try doing a search for blue-green algae or cyanobacteria on this forum or on Google. Most algae is caused by an imbalance in nutrients. Cyanobacteria is partly prevented with good water flow. That is a pretty serious case which may require antibiotics to get rid of it. Erythromycin is a common antibiotic that is used for this. It is best to remove as much as you can before treatment though.

Keep us updated!

[BikBok]

sorry I can't help , but when I viewed your link.. I got logged in under my facebook profile.. i didn't know these two sites were connected (photobucket and facebook) I just did all my privacy settings a few days ago but will have to check them again.

[phoenix44]

damn... that sucks.

Erythromycin or furan II. any easily available broad spectrum antibiotic will do the trick really.

[Zev]

Spooky!

I can get to the link ok to see the vid - but there again, I don't have Facebook!

They should be able to carefully peel a lot of it off in sheets - have a bin/piece of newspaper handy to put it on close to the tank so that it doesn't drop everywhere, then treat as the others say.

[mcrudd]

Oh wow guys this sounds nasty

Will she be better off to put all her fish in quaranteen and completely scrubbing that tank and then treat it with the antibiotics without the fish, will I be able to house her fish in my tank? They are compatable, but the last thing I want is that bacteria in my tank, gosh I just got my two little chocolate zebra's today, can't let that happen. I might borrow her my quaranteen tank if she does not have one herself. What should se then wash it with? Shame she tought it was just an algae, this is quite serious :-?

Damn I better check my facebook privacy again as well, I also recently updated it :evil: They keep on changing the privacy

[Jennifer]

I wouldn't panic too much. It is smelly and impressive looking but it isn't really too harmful. It is most harmful when it dies since it can release toxins into the water. You can treat the entire tank, including the fish but I personally don't like treating an animal with antibiotics unless you really have to. The fish will be fine in a large bucket/chilly bin/quarantine tank for 2 or three days while the tank is treated. Just make sure you have a heater in there too (not touching the walls of the container if it is plastic) and you do a water change every day so that toxins don't build up. The fish don't need to be fed during that time which will reduce the production of waste.

Either way, they should be fine.

[Caryl]

Don't put anything from that tank into yours!

She doesn't need to scrub it all out, just get rid of the algae/bacteria and find the cause. She need to remove as much as possible, physically, and siphone the gravel well. Clean off all ornaments and plants then try blacking out the tank for 3 - 5 days. No feeding the fish during this time. They will be fine without food and in the dark.

If this doesn't work, try the Furan 2. Erythromycin is a prescription only medicine whereas Furan 2 can be bought from the pet shop.

[mcrudd]

Don't put anything from that tank into yours!

She doesn't need to scrub it all out, just get rid of the algae/bacteria and find the cause. She need to remove as much as possible, physically, and siphone the gravel well. Clean off all ornaments and plants then try blacking out the tank for 3 - 5 days. No feeding the fish during this time. They will be fine without food and in the dark.

If this doesn't work, try the Furan 2. Erythromycin is a prescription only medicine whereas Furan 2 can be bought from the pet shop.

I am to weary since my tank is algae free and crystal clear. I have a 20 litre glass tank she may borrow for her fish, I will wash and dry it in the sun for days when she returns it. I will pass all of this information onto her tomorrow at school. Thanks for all your help. Shame she just cleaned it all out, but some must have survived somewhere cause what you see in the pic grew in only one week

[Jennifer]

Remember, anything can be a carrier for the bacteria, including your test tubes and your hands so you will need to disinfect these things so you don't carry them to your tank. However, cyanobacteria is an opportunist so it is not guaranteed to cause an outbreak if the conditions are unfavorable for it. Still, better safe than sorry.

[mcrudd]

Remember, anything can be a carrier for the bacteria, including your test tubes and your hands so you will need to disinfect these things so you don't carry them to your tank. However, cyanobacteria is an opportunist so it is not guaranteed to cause an outbreak if the conditions are unfavorable for it. Still, better safe than sorry.

Oh No With what will you suggest I wash my test tubes, thanks so much for that comment else I would not have thought of it, I just rinsed them under water as I usually do. :-?

[Jennifer]

Boiling water will be fine if they are glass. Alternatively you can use a tiny splash of bleach in a bowl of water and soak them for a few minutes (rinse well and soak in clean water for 15 minutes, then let dry).

[mcrudd]

Boiling water will be fine if they are glass. Alternatively you can use a tiny splash of bleach in a bowl of water and soak them for a few minutes (rinse well and soak in clean water for 15 minutes, then let dry).

The tubes are glass, but the little lid is plastic. I will boil the tubes and bleach the lids and tubes and then soak them all in freshwater twice. Thank goodness I did my check with yesterday's waterchange, so I have a week left to wash and scrub them before I use them again :lol:

[mcrudd]

I might have gone a bit over the top, but what I did was the following. I had a spare sachet of furan 2. So I mixed it in water in a bucket and soaked my test tubes with their lids in there. I also did quick dips with the actual laminated cards into the water before drying them with papertowels. I also washed my container with my testbottles and everything I basically touched. My tank is in good running order and I was scared that I would get the bluegreen algae so I might have gone OTT but atleast I know I will deffinetly not get it in my tank.

[Sunbird73]

sorry I can't help , but when I viewed your link.. I got logged in under my facebook profile.. i didn't know these two sites were connected (photobucket and facebook) I just did all my privacy settings a few days ago but will have to check them again.

Weird - me too! I just changed all fb settings yesterday and disabled the "share with other websites feature".... Grrr facebook privacy....

[John Rimbauer]

I once had a cyanobacteria outbreak in a planted tank that had no nitrate due to the plants using it. I've seen some people recommend keeping the nitrates in the water at about 10ppm.

The test for this theory was to try dosing potassium nitrate in the tank, to maintain 5-10ppm. When I did this the cyano slowly died and never returned.

[mcrudd]

I once had a cyanobacteria outbreak in a planted tank that had no nitrate due to the plants using it. I've seen some people recommend keeping the nitrates in the water at about 10ppm.

The test for this theory was to try dosing potassium nitrate in the tank, to maintain 5-10ppm. When I did this the cyano slowly died and never returned.

thanks John, I will let her know this tomorrow

[John Rimbauer]

thanks John, I will let her know this tomorrow

Here's a link that purplecatfish put up with a lot of good algae info in it:

http://www.guitarfish.org/algae

I'd also suggest that your friend keep a very close eye on things. I've seen a few comments on various cyanobacteria species being toxic. I suspect that if it starts to break down the water might need to be changed and the gravel vacuumed a lot more frequently.

[Jennifer]

Take care with handling Furan as it is carcinogenic. Gloves are a must.

[alanmin4304]

As stated above, a lot of algae problems are caused by an imbalance of phosphate to nitrate and many plant sites suggest adding nitrate to correct this. Plants need very little phosphate compared to nitrate and the excess phosphate usually comes from the type of fish food or overfeeding. Water changes will remove a lot of phoshate and nitrate unless there is a lot in the replacing water.

[mcrudd]

Here's a link that purplecatfish put up with a lot of good algae info in it:

http://www.guitarfish.org/algae

I'd also suggest that your friend keep a very close eye on things. I've seen a few comments on various cyanobacteria species being toxic. I suspect that if it starts to break down the water might need to be changed and the gravel vacuumed a lot more frequently.

Wow that is very informative, I love that site thans John and Purplecatfish for putting it up. I saved it as a favourite. I will deffinetly warn her about it being toxic, since she said she wanted to try the blackout method first, she did say she will try and remove of much of it as she can, and even thow out her plastic plants and certain rocks that have rough surfaces, but I will suggest she do the blackout without her fish, I can always give her some of my tankwater to house her fish in while she does it.

Take care with handling Furan as it is carcinogenic. Gloves are a must.

Oops, I did not use gloves and I even washed my hands in it to make double sure I don't have anything on my hands, since I touched the cynobacteria :oops:

As stated above, a lot of algae problems are caused by an imbalance of phosphate to nitrate and many plant sites suggest adding nitrate to correct this. Plants need very little phosphate compared to nitrate and the excess phosphate usually comes from the type of fish food or overfeeding. Water changes will remove a lot of phosphate and nitrate unless there is a lot in the replacing water.

Thanks for this alanmin, I will pass that info over to her this morning. She said I must say thanks to all you guys for the help.

[alanmin4304]

I have altered the bit about water changes---they will of cause remove phoshate and nitrate and what you end up with will be partly controlled by how much of each there is in your water supply.