What is this growing on my tank

[Michele brown]

Hope the pic uploads. Anyway. This tank has been cycling for 2 months (it’s done cycling) there’s live plants and ornaments, I plan to add snails to clean up the algae growth before adding a betta, but I performed a water change and noticed some rod shaped algae??? It’s not moving so I’m assuming it’s plant. Idk. I’m grossed out by it and need to know how to resolve it. Any thoughts 🙂 

[Fish Folk]

Not sure exactly. It's some sort of algae bloom.

I take an old credit card and scrape it off while using  mini siphon down to a bucket. You can clear a lot of it if you're patient. Now, the _cause of it_ is a combination of: (1) Lighting - photoperiod & intensity + (2) Nutrients - overfeeding, overstocking,  over-fertilizing, and lack of competing plants to consume those nutrients + (3) Flow - sometimes stagnant places tend to attract certain types algae +/- (4) New Tank Syndrome - not sure if this is your situation, but most new tanks go through a period of algae growth before things find balance . . . you get the picture.

Algae is normal in every aquarium. If you want to minimize it, you need to make sure that you've got plants that will use up the nutrients available, and you need to ensure that there aren't extra energy sources (e.g. lighting, fertilizers, etc) that algae can appropriate faster than or more easily than plants.

And you've got to stay atop your aquarium maintenance. Everyone has their own rhythm.

Having said all that . . . most all of my tanks are loaded with algae, because I'm a breeder. I like some algae. Baby fish thrive with it!

[Torrey]

On 4/13/2022 at 7:51 PM, Michele brown said:

This tank has been cycling for 2 months (it’s done cycling)

Fish Folk addressed most of it. I think this video from Cory explains the difference between a seasoned tank and a cycled tank, and why seasoned is more beneficial. I do recommend testing for ammonia for the majority of fishkeepers. Cory doesn't test for ammonia because he has dozens of tanks and ponds in his fish room, plus the store, and he knows what any ammonia showing up in the tank is going to look like.

 

I have to say this explanation has helped more people whom I have introduced to the hobby, more than any other explanation I have found out there.

I've been keeping tanks for decades, and I noticed a trend:

First couple of weeks, heavy white biofilm growth, especially if I am using bacterial supplements (FritzZyme, etc)

Next, diatom algae 

Green dust algae

Eventually some hair algae followed by satghorn or blackbeard

How noticeable the algae is, seems to be determined by which nutrients are not balanced to the plants in the tanks. I call it the "awkward teenage stage" in seasoning tanks. Once the algae is balanced out by the plant growth, and no more tweaks are needed, CONGRATULATIONS!!! Your seasoned tank will et much easier to maintain (and it's easier to add a few fish at a time).

[Michele brown]

Thank you. I welcome the algae because it’ll give my snails something to eat but the rod looking ones are unappealing because they look wormy and gives me the shivers. Anyway as long as it’s safe for my snails and fish 🙂 

[Widgets]

If you look closely, you will notice that each rod has an surrounding area where the algae has been cleared. I would think that there is something eating the algae and the rods left behind are waste. Here is an article about gnat larvae forming tubes. It even has a video.

https://besgroup.org/2018/01/18/gnat-larvae-forming-tubes/

Edited April 14, 2022 by Widgets
Stupid typos

[Guppysnail]

I get these when I start my ugly tanks to raise fry. The most I ever found out is it is a form of detritus worm. What you see is only the house it built. It is a natural part of a tank settle in. They go away on their own. They also feed on the diatom algae. They are 100% completely harmless.  I Hatch eggs and raise fry as tiny as CPD eggs and fry with them. I believe the go away on their own is fish enjoying a live snack. Here is the last ugly hatching tank I set up. Ugly is usually very healthy. If you blow the picture up you can see them on the rocks. 

Edited April 14, 2022 by Guppysnail

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/13/2022 at 9:45 PM, Widgets said:

If you look closely, you will notice that each rod has an surrounding area where the algae has been cleared. I would think that there is something eating the algae and the rods left behind are waste. Here is an article about gnat larvae forming tubes. It even has a video.

This was what I saw. It reminded me of detritus worms or something.

What is the filtration on this tank?

[Torrey]

On 4/13/2022 at 8:36 PM, Michele brown said:

Thank you. I welcome the algae because it’ll give my snails something to eat but the rod looking ones are unappealing because they look wormy and gives me the shivers. Anyway as long as it’s safe for my snails and fish 🙂 

You are welcome. My Patient Spouse™ can't stand holes or worms (there's a name for it, that I can't think of) and is slowly accepting that they are necessary components of fishkeeping that they simply won't focus any attention on. I hide my sponge filters very well behind plants😅 and only feed the frozen variety when spouse isn't home. The live ones are seeded intentionally into the dirt, long before any fish go into the tank, so aren't really ever seen, but provide an ever present food source in addition to the amphipods and microflora and microfauna.

[ndfi78]

On 4/15/2022 at 2:46 AM, Torrey said:

You are welcome. My Patient Spouse™ can't stand holes or worms (there's a name for it, that I can't think of) and is slowly accepting that they are necessary components of fishkeeping that they simply won't focus any attention on. I hide my sponge filters very well behind plants😅 and only feed the frozen variety when spouse isn't home. The live ones are seeded intentionally into the dirt, long before any fish go into the tank, so aren't really ever seen, but provide an ever present food source in addition to the amphipods and microflora and microfauna.

Trypophobia is the fear of holes.