Planted 40g Aquarium Journal

[connorlindeman]

Blue-green algae.

 

[Rocky998]

Blue-green algae.

It should go away on its own eventually, right?

 

[Byron]

It should go away on its own eventually, right?

Depends what it is. If it is actually cyanobacteria, it is going to remain so long as organics feed it and light encourages it. I cannot tell from the photo. If it is just greenish algae as often occurson whitish sand, this can clear up when the tank's biological system becomes established.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Looks like cyanobacteria to me

 

[Rocky998]

Depends what it is. If it is actually cyanobacteria, it is going to remain so long as organics feed it and light encourages it. I cannot tell from the photo. If it is just greenish algae as often occurson whitish sand, this can clear up when the tank's biological system becomes established.

Hopefully that's the case...

Looks like cyanobacteria to me

Ughhh, nooo... If it is cyanobacteria, I'll just feel defeated... I don't THINK it is as its not going on the rocks or anything, but yah... Maybe that's just me trying to convince myself otherwise

 

[betta4ever!]

To be honest, it looks like cyanobacteria to me as well... I REALLY hope I'm wrong though...

 

[Rocky998]

To be honest, it looks like cyanobacteria to me as well... I REALLY hope I'm wrong though...

Man... I thought I was free from cyano... I knew I would probably have a bit of algae, but the last thing I wanted was this

 

[Rocky998]

Is there anything at all that I can do to get rid of it while its a small amount?

 

[betta4ever!]

Man... I thought I was free from cyano... I knew I would probably have a bit of algae, but the last thing I wanted was this

It might just be algae... I really hope it's just that

 

[connorlindeman]

It should go away on its own eventually, right?

If it is blue-green algae, it will be a pain. Its cyanobacteria.

 

[Wills]

I'd vacuum out the top layer of your sand even if there is no obvious algae also take a credit card (or similar, store card, gift card etc) and scrape all along the tank between the glass and the substrate with a syphon near it to suck up the rubbish. Blue Green Algae often starts growing between the substrate and the glass. Once you've removed as much as possible in this way I'd do a full tank black out for at least 5 days - this means lights off and ideally put towels or curtains over the top to block any natural light. BGA is a photosynthetic bacteria so if you take away the lights it should kill it off, your plants might take a hit but some time back at regular light and fertilisers will help them recover.

Wills

 

[Rocky998]

I'd vacuum out the top layer of your sand even if there is no obvious algae also take a credit card (or similar, store card, gift card etc) and scrape all along the tank between the glass and the substrate with a syphon near it to suck up the rubbish. Blue Green Algae often starts growing between the substrate and the glass. Once you've removed as much as possible in this way I'd do a full tank black out for at least 5 days - this means lights off and ideally put towels or curtains over the top to block any natural light. BGA is a photosynthetic bacteria so if you take away the lights it should kill it off, your plants might take a hit but some time back at regular light and fertilisers will help them recover.

Wills

I might try that... But is it really worth harming my plants in a new-ish setup for that?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I might try that... But is it really worth harming my plants in a new-ish setup for that?

Yes! stop being a lazy bum I know it's a pain in the backside but if you don't get on top of it now while there's a minimal amount, it will soon spread and become unmanageable.

You may have to decrease your light intensity and shortening the period of time it's on as well, play around with the flow and get a little bit more water movement and see if that helps

 

[Rocky998]

Yes! stop being a lazy bum I know it's a pain in the backside but if you don't get on top of it now while there's a minimal amount, it will soon spread and become unmanageable.

It's not about being lazy lol... I just really am not sure if I want to harm my plants for something that may or may not be that harmful and could resolve itself....

You may have to decrease your light intensity and shortening the period of time it's on as well, play around with the flow and get a little bit more water movement and see if that helps

I did decrease the time yesterday, not the intensity though...
You think more flow is ok with the plants and the fish I want? And then the sand at the bottom could be disrupted heavily...

 

[connorlindeman]

Yeah it will end up like this: