Didymo Rock Snot, About To Give Up

well fluttermoth, im glad i went with my instinct because its just like u told me, i decided to keep them each in they're own tanks, i keep the bubbler going back and forth only because it seems like they cant breath and lose color, go to the surface to skim air. I'm glad when I set up the second tank that i used half the water from the other tank, lately in the last year of battling, i've been doing complete water changes thinking im fighting contamination when really that water was benifical with the bacteria i need.

I thought i understood full-cycling but after rereading, i realized i didnt. i ordered more supplies online, some tetra easy balance conditioner and some aqua salt, those i usually get, they were out of nitraban so i'll have to go get that along with my filters, i ordered a thermometer to replace my broken one, they were out of hydrometers and i guess i dont really need one unless i get an octopus in the very very distant future, i want one but i know im not ready. I ordered a master salt water testing kit that tells me the ammonia and nitrate lvls, ph, and the other things you guys wanted me to report on. And I also ordered some tetra water clarifier conditioner, i dont know if that different than easy balance conditioner, never had that yet but i want clear water. I read in the beginner resource guide you linked that said not always do i need to change my filter, i can just rinse it. Well when i was a pinch lower on cash and still being not close to a good size town, i did rinse and hand rub clean the filter instead of replacing it every 30 days and would let it go for longer instead, but other times after it getting gunked up so many times, I'm like no...I must change it, sometimes it would be like 40-50 days instead, perhaps 2 mos increments before a new cartridge was put in. It says though that i should keep the gravel in for the benifical bacteria to grow but that algae issue would always grow over the rocks and looks icky too, the decor i;e the plastic log with flake plants and the self standing fake plants, the clothy leaves get the algae growing all over it because the waxy coating thats there when the plants are new is gone, probably from bleach and constant hand scruffing while cleaning. Sorry if i talk too much with alot of needless detail, i just feel it will help more and im so tired of the battle but i love my fish.

Well the one tank with the babies is cloudy but the algae aint really growing that i can see. The other tank though, the water is clear but the filter is starting to grow that algae back, i will include a picture, remind that this is not even a taste of how crazy it would grow and take over. So I know the cloudy tank is alright, that definately bacterial bloom from being a fresh tank, after googling the topic. The picture included is a top view of the filter and part of the heater on the right side, you can see all that icky brown algae coming back

But i definately am not needing to work as hard at the moment, it is a sigh of relief that its let up some, REALLY, like you guys have no idea how happy i am that i've gotten more insight, i should've went to a forum faster, i would research with my laptop always ready at my fingertips, but im not used to forums, but i guess its not so scary, lol. Trying to just look at websites and listen to a few friends and they're limited experience in tropical fish like cichlids, they usually stuck to plecos and goldfish and guppies. Plus my smart college friend, he's an ecology and evolutional biology major, he keeps less common fish and he's been trying to help.

Hang on - why are you getting salt and salt water testing kits? None of these tanks need salt at all! Warm, declorinated tap water is all they need - no other chemicals.

And your filter media (foam pads or whatever) is getting gunked up because you have huge fish that poop lots in a very small tank. Until you can get a bigger tank and bigger, better filters you're just going to have to rinse the media frequently - but ONLY if it's affecting the flow rate of the filters. If your filters are working as normal there is no reason to remove the 'gunk' at all.

Brown algae often appears in brand new tanks, and disappears as the filters become properly cycled. This might be why it keeps appearing for you, and changing your filters and bleaching everything just takes you back to the start of the cycle. Get your filters cycled properly and you might well see it disappear of its own accord.

Do not buy any more chemicals. Do Not use salt! You have freshwater fish. They need fresh water. You need a freshwater master test kit, not a salt water test kit. You will not get the right results if you use a saltwater test kit on a freshwater tank. Your fish are hanging at the top because there is probably ammonia or nitrite in their water. Do 90% daily warm water changes. Add NOTHING except water dechlorinator until you get a proper test kit. Adding all that stuff is just messing everything up.

I think we have all said and repeated several times what is required but for one last time:

• Only tap water with water conditioner (dechlorinator)
• No salt
• No nitrate remover
• No algae cleaner
• No other chemicals
• Rinse filter when gunked in tank water
• Water change at least weekly but daily if filters not cycled
• API test kit for checking Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels
• Do not replace filter sponges unless they fall apart in your hands (save you money)

ok, thank you everyone for the help, things seem to be runnning smoothly now, the babies tank even had its cloudiness clear up from that fresh bacterial bloom and i rinsed the filter cartridge in the adult tank but thats it, left the rest of filter, unfortunately because i online ordered the tester, im probably gonna be stuck with it. I'm told I have brackish water in my tank, its not fresh, but not salt, its half and half, but see the only reason i had been adding salt from the beginning is because the person i got the convict cichlids from told me to buy aquarium salt, and so i assumed that the tester i needed was a saltwater tester, not freshwater like a golfish or betta tank. But yes, thank you everyone again for your help. I will continue obviously to monitor my tanks and this forum, well the whole website has some good and interesting stuff, looking around. Got some gravel today, its from a friend, says its clean and his fish never had ick but I'm skeptical, just got stuff under control...probably should clean it myself just to make sure. Don't want parasites or something. I have my own gravel from before but it just seems like the tanks have stayed cleaner longer without it. But sites say gravel is good for cycling and filtering, looks more attractive too. I'll post if I need more help

The gravel will make no difference to cycling or filtering, and you should always clean new substrate regardless of where it's come from.

You will not have brackish water if you stop adding salt. Nothing in your tanks needs salt.

The algae killer and pH boosters and everything else will just complicate matters, you only need temperature matched dechlorinated water. It's cheaper too

What water changes are you doing at this point?

coldcazzie said:

The gravel will make no difference to cycling or filtering, and you should always clean new substrate regardless of where it's come from.

You will not have brackish water if you stop adding salt. Nothing in your tanks needs salt.

The algae killer and pH boosters and everything else will just complicate matters, you only need temperature matched dechlorinated water. It's cheaper too

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+1 to all of this. Just go back to basics. Stop fiddling with things and adding things to the water. All they need is water changes (well, and a bigger tank )

swiss584 said:

ok, thank you everyone for the help, things seem to be runnning smoothly now, the babies tank even had its cloudiness clear up from that fresh bacterial bloom and i rinsed the filter cartridge in the adult tank but thats it, left the rest of filter, unfortunately because i online ordered the tester, im probably gonna be stuck with it. I'm told I have brackish water in my tank, its not fresh, but not salt, its half and half, but see the only reason i had been adding salt from the beginning is because the person i got the convict cichlids from told me to buy aquarium salt, and so i assumed that the tester i needed was a saltwater tester, not freshwater like a golfish or betta tank. But yes, thank you everyone again for your help. I will continue obviously to monitor my tanks and this forum, well the whole website has some good and interesting stuff, looking around. Got some gravel today, its from a friend, says its clean and his fish never had ick but I'm skeptical, just got stuff under control...probably should clean it myself just to make sure. Don't want parasites or something. I have my own gravel from before but it just seems like the tanks have stayed cleaner longer without it. But sites say gravel is good for cycling and filtering, looks more attractive too. I'll post if I need more help

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Just wanted to mention ... don't bleach the gravel. If you are going to use it and want to clean it, this is where salt is good. Soak the gravel in salt water for awhile and rinse it very well before you try to put it in the tank. I've never bleached anything that goes in my tanks. I know people who have, with no ill effects, but bleach anywhere near an aquarium scares me. That's just my hang up. But with all of the problems you are having, I'd steer clear of bleaching things. Also, convicts don't need salt in their tanks. I've had convicts for years and never put salt in their water and mine are happy and healthy and breed like crazy. Good luck to you.

Sound like salt is the problem here, especially if you've been adding it all the time. Out of interest (just in the science of what a fish can handle and still live!) how long, and how much salt have you added?

EDIT: Only got page one again lol

well its a pity i bought that tester kit online, thats almost $40 in the hole that this poor girl couldnt afford, brings an ironic thought to mind that if you can't afford the pet, dont get it. But yeah, waiting for my order to show up, all my fish are sitting in the bottom of their tanks with their black stripes faded, filters brown and gunked up so i rinsed it earlier, thats when they all start diminshing in health, when water cannot properly flow through that filter because its clogged, and algae tendrils have grown out of the filter and reaching down into the water, the algae is growing back all over everything. Bubbler definately is a necessity but now the fish only get half the oxygenated water they did before because the bubbler is in the other tank for half the day, i switch it back and forth like every 6 hrs. Buying filters on monday...doing a 50% water change later, its PRETTY early in the morning right now. So thats where I'm at right now, doing the water changes, rinsing only the filter cartridge when it gets too bad, not the eco sponge. Stupid algae finally grew a "nice" mushy slimy mat of itself on the plastic log and plants and outside of filter that i can take a pic of before i scrub it off. Because we're only allowed to upload only so big of files, i will be attaching more from the same tank, a 10 gal with onlt 8 babies that are all an inch or smaller, so even now, im not over crowded and im still having an issue.

Mowbz said:

Sound like salt is the problem here, especially if you've been adding it all the time. Out of interest (just in the science of what a fish can handle and still live!) how long, and how much salt have you added?

EDIT: Only got page one again lol

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i've been adding 2 tablespoons of aquarium salt for every 100% water change that i did and that was for over a year. The frequentness went from every two months, to once a month, to once every two weeks, to almost every 3 days. So you can see over the course of a year i had to speed up the cleanings and after saltings. Now im not going to use salt, save for what was left over from when i split the two tanks. im so tired of this battle, im doing 50% water changes every 3 days, but perhaps i should do more, such a fricken pain, water all over my chinsey tongue and groove floating floor.

i've got a couple more to add, this is the third of a series of 5 from my babies tank in its current condition, from being re-set up i would say oh....a little over a week ago, if that...and it has less fish to gallon ratio, all an inch or smaller, no chemicals except aquabalance water conditioner.

heres a front view of the nasty filter system, slimy as all get out!

heres some of my nasty cloth/plastic plants that have the algae penetrates and colonizes, yay *rolls eyes hard core*

hmmm "heres the algea that fell from the filter oh no its going to grow there" we heres a novel idea why not remove it rarther than watching it grow, take the plants out was them in old water

if it fell from the filter sounds like you have a very dirty filter and some mega maintenance is needed

Could you be over feeding? There is no way that tank should "gunk" up so quickly. Are you doing regular water changes as we suggested? I clean my hob filter once a month and it is NEVER that dirty.

I was just about to post the same thing, colleen! It does look a lot more like left over food than algae to me too.