Hi, new here. Looking for answers to a strange thing in my new tropical aquarium.

[bluebird42]

My tank is 2 months old and these popped up today over night. Pictures don't do them jsutice, they're black and shiny in clusters - almost looks like some kinda tiny pearls. I think they may be a type of algae or frog eggs. My tank is young and has diatoms buy the way. Would really help if anyone knows what these are. My tank is 78 degrees, I keep a beta, 2 nerite snails, 1 mystery snail, 5 tetras and a african dwarf frog.

 

[bluebird42]

Hopefully the picture works this time. I have a bad camera.

 

[Colin_T]

are we talking about the yellowy crap with the 3 big balls on the blue thing? if so it looks like blue green algae (Cyanobacter bacteria). But a better picture would help confirm this.

take a number of pictures and put them on your pc. Then find a good one and put on here for us

 

[bluebird42]

Hopefully these images are a little better. My siphon to clean the tank is still coming in the mail. Also I have multiple live plants growing in my tank if that makes a difference. Should I be worried? My fish seem active and healthy, and the water is crystal clear. Only this fake plant has this weird stuff growing on it. I'm being really careful to make sure I don't overfeed, too.

 

[Colin_T]

It looks like blue green algae, which can be blue, green, brown, black, pink or purple. If it wipes off easily then it is. Blue green algae also smells musty and lifts off in sheets or a film. If it doesn't wipe off easily then it is probably brown diatom algae and should go away by itself when the tank settles down.

Blue green algae is caused by organic matter in water (fish food and fish waste) and sometimes occurs in new tanks. However, it is more common in older tanks.

Just try syphoning it out when you get your gravel cleaner and make sure no food settles on the bottom of the tank or the plants. Syphon any uneaten food out after feeding the fish, and it should clear up in a few weeks.

The bubbles in it are oxygen bubbles produced by the diatoms or bacteria when they get light. They are nothing to worry about and simply shows the stuff is photosynthesising.

 

[bluebird42]

Okay, so in the meantime it's okay to just let things be? It's gonna take a while for that siphon to get here....
This stuff won't harm my fish, right?
Thank you so much for the help and guidance by the way.

 

[Colin_T]

yes it's fine to leave it as is for a while. If the entire tank becomes covered in it then any fish in direct contact with it for a while can get skin irritations, it is usually catfish that have problems when the stuff spreads across the substrate. But it will not hurt fish swimming around the tank.

 

[bluebird42]

Okay, thank you so much for the help!