What causes algae on the substratre

[anewbie]

@Seattle_Aquarist I seem to have develop a new algae issue. Unlike the algae on the surface which i removed with a bit of current (that aquarium has no algae on the substrate); this aquarium is getting algae on the substrate:

 

 

It started happening when i was softening the water (using ro water on water changes) but I'm not sure if the two are related. I lowered the intensity of the light 15% but that seemed to make things worse so i increase it back up this weekend. Unfortunately these things work in months so i have to be patient to see if the change helps or hurt. I also added more root tabs. Three theories - the light is too strong; there is too much nutrient in the water (the ec is fairly low relative to well behaved aquarium; i think it is around 130 (tds 65); the plants are starving giving the algae a chance to grow. At first i thought it might be cyano and i just needed more current but now i'm thinking it is real algae. This past weekend i added more root tabs (only fertilizer i'm using given the aquarium size) and as noted above increase the light back up to 15%. However a bit of a hint on direction would help. The only thing unique about this aquarium is it got conntaminated with duck weed (next water change will move the power head used to kill algae on the 550) to this aquarium to see if that kills the duck weed.

 

The aquarium dimension is 4feetx4feetx16 (height). The lights are on approx 55% so i could make it a lot brighter if i need to move in that direction.

You can see the algae/cyano growing on the crypts but the red flame is doing really well. Most of the plants have been in there for 3 months. Just not sure what is going on. So the two pictured sword plants are doing fine (front right corner a collection of 3) and the red flame in the middle (ignore the outer leaves which are submersed form and dying); but the crypts of various species are all developing algae/cyano on them. 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by anewbie

[Monkeypoint]

I have some questions:

1. How long has your tank been running? Is it fully cycled?

2. What are your nitrate levels? GH? pH?

3. Why are you adding RO water?

4. How many hours are your lights on?

Depending on how long the tank's been running and how new the plants are, I would suggest increasing the amount of light gradually. Also, I would add more plants like slow-growing anubias and some Java fern - plants that take their nutrients from the water column that will compete with the algae. Prune away anything dead or dying. Avoid changing too many variables (start by adding more plants), increase the light gradually (wait a few weeks before making any changes).

Hope this helps!

 

 

[anewbie]

On 12/29/2023 at 10:58 AM, Monkeypoint said:

I have some questions:

1. How long has your tank been running? Is it fully cycled?

2. What are your nitrate levels? GH? pH?

3. Why are you adding RO water?

4. How many hours are your lights on?

Depending on how long the tank's been running and how new the plants are, I would suggest increasing the amount of light gradually. Also, I would add more plants like slow-growing anubias and some Java fern - plants that take their nutrients from the water column that will compete with the algae. Prune away anything dead or dying. Avoid changing too many variables (start by adding more plants), increase the light gradually (wait a few weeks before making any changes).

Hope this helps!

 

 

a) Around 4 1/2 months; better be fully cycled or my cupido and hastatus cory will die very fast (both are fairly fragile and wc)

b) nitrate level around 0; gh around 2 1/2; ph who knows nothing measures ph reliable these days.

c) around 50% ro water maybe 75% every week I do a 40 gallon water change (180 gallon aquarium) with ro water.

d) 8 hours for the light.

e) There is a mass (giant mass about 1/2 aquarium area) of hornworth floating.

 

[Monkeypoint]

Your gh is very low because of the RO. Is there a specific reason you're using RO, like your tap water is very hard?

180 - that's a lot of water! Cool. You could probably scale your water changes way back. I test fairly regularly for nitrates. As long as they're around 40ppm, I just top off. I'm only doing water changes like once a month now and mostly so I don't get a buildup of minerals but I also have wall to wall plants. In my shrimp tanks, I try to keep nitrates at around 20 ppm. Cory posted a great wc change video. I'll see if I can find it.

I know Amazons like a lot of light. I wonder if you could adjust the light by moving it so the swords get more of it. Honestly though, it doesn't look like you have a huge algae problem. And you could always get a pleco. I have a couple of Bristlenose plecos and they're always busy munching away at the algae.

 

[anewbie]

On 12/29/2023 at 3:01 PM, Monkeypoint said:

Your gh is very low because of the RO. Is there a specific reason you're using RO, like your tap water is very hard?

180 - that's a lot of water! Cool. You could probably scale your water changes way back. I test fairly regularly for nitrates. As long as they're around 40ppm, I just top off. I'm only doing water changes like once a month now and mostly so I don't get a buildup of minerals but I also have wall to wall plants. In my shrimp tanks, I try to keep nitrates at around 20 ppm. Cory posted a great wc change video. I'll see if I can find it.

I know Amazons like a lot of light. I wonder if you could adjust the light by moving it so the swords get more of it. Honestly though, it doesn't look like you have a huge algae problem. And you could always get a pleco. I have a couple of Bristlenose plecos and they're always busy munching away at the algae.

 

I just told you the aquarium has wc c. hastatus and b. cupido; both prefer the soft water with the b. cupido pretty much requiring it. The nitrates are below 5 - probably around 2.

 

[Monkeypoint]

On 12/29/2023 at 3:03 PM, anewbie said:

I just told you the aquarium has wc c. hastatus and b. cupido

Had no idea what those were but if you had said "both prefer the soft water with the b. cupido pretty much requiring it" in the first place, then I wouldn't have had to ask twice.

[JoeQ]

4 1/2 months isn't long enough to grow a large colony of beneficial bacteria. It's most likely a bacterial bloom which will disappear as a stable eco system grows.

[JoeQ]

My above answer was only referring to your brown substrate algae, as for your cyno and other algae covered plants thats another subject. But generally speaking healthy plant growth is a planted tanks best defense against algae.

[nabokovfan87]

Expanding on your conversation @anewbie I have a similar issue and experience.

The two things I would recommend is a month of seriously good siphoning to remove a lot of the debris in the sand.  It could be compaction, causing stagnation on that part of the tank.  Getting in there with a chopstick or a net handle might dislodge a lot of debris, but doing that stuff once a month might help long term to alleviate the issues.  If you don't have a lasagna setup on the substrate I would mess with it as much as you can after you get the siphon side of things situated. 

The plan in my setup is to remove the heavy / compacted top layer and replace it with something slightly more course as the base layer (the base then becomes the top, it'll be a fun hassle!

I'm sure in the end it'll all mix up, but I'm guessing that debris and organics sitting in the sand might be causing some dead pockets on you.  Mine, I think is just due to the composition of that particular substrate and being heavy in iron/metals and encouraging BBA in spots.

[anewbie]

On 1/1/2024 at 4:49 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Expanding on your conversation @anewbie I have a similar issue and experience.

The two things I would recommend is a month of seriously good siphoning to remove a lot of the debris in the sand.  It could be compaction, causing stagnation on that part of the tank.  Getting in there with a chopstick or a net handle might dislodge a lot of debris, but doing that stuff once a month might help long term to alleviate the issues.  If you don't have a lasagna setup on the substrate I would mess with it as much as you can after you get the siphon side of things situated. 

The plan in my setup is to remove the heavy / compacted top layer and replace it with something slightly more course as the base layer (the base then becomes the top, it'll be a fun hassle!

I'm sure in the end it'll all mix up, but I'm guessing that debris and organics sitting in the sand might be causing some dead pockets on you.  Mine, I think is just due to the composition of that particular substrate and being heavy in iron/metals and encouraging BBA in spots.

My stuff isn't brown (diatom?) or bba; definitely deep green. Also the tank is fairly new (3 1/2 months) with extremely light stocking. I did get the python into the open areas where there were no plants and other than fine dust from the substrate itself there wasn't much. I know what you are talking about because i've had simlar issue on several year old eco complete substrate in an aquarium with medium to heavy stocking. This is definitely something else but i'm not sure what - yet.

 

[anewbie]

On 1/1/2024 at 4:49 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Expanding on your conversation @anewbie I have a similar issue and experience.

The two things I would recommend is a month of seriously good siphoning to remove a lot of the debris in the sand.  It could be compaction, causing stagnation on that part of the tank.  Getting in there with a chopstick or a net handle might dislodge a lot of debris, but doing that stuff once a month might help long term to alleviate the issues.  If you don't have a lasagna setup on the substrate I would mess with it as much as you can after you get the siphon side of things situated. 

The plan in my setup is to remove the heavy / compacted top layer and replace it with something slightly more course as the base layer (the base then becomes the top, it'll be a fun hassle!

I'm sure in the end it'll all mix up, but I'm guessing that debris and organics sitting in the sand might be causing some dead pockets on you.  Mine, I think is just due to the composition of that particular substrate and being heavy in iron/metals and encouraging BBA in spots.

I've been doing some searching and my current thought is too much green in the light spectrum so my next experiment is for the next 30 days to turn off the green channel in my light; tank doesn't look as nice but we will see if that helps.

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/2/2024 at 6:38 AM, anewbie said:

My stuff isn't brown (diatom?) or bba; definitely deep green. Also the tank is fairly new (3 1/2 months) with extremely light stocking. I did get the python into the open areas where there were no plants and other than fine dust from the substrate itself there wasn't much. I know what you are talking about because i've had simlar issue on several year old eco complete substrate in an aquarium with medium to heavy stocking. This is definitely something else but i'm not sure what - yet.

As an example of bba before it goes a bit crazy and it forms like a diatom I have two older photos.  The first is just this discoloration on the pleco cave and the second is discoloration (grey-black) on the red lava rock.  You can see one rock looks fine, the other has shaded out over time as the algae takes hold.



That was taken down and set in tubs, then in the new tank it went nuts and thrived on me.  I had a mix of staghorn / BBA develop.

Some of your photos show the cyano, which you are aware and looking at, the other stuff you're showing reminds me of the above.  I was looking at the tank this morning and I have a dead corner in the front left just because the intake is pretty weak.  I am planning to swap it out, but it looks like circulation is playing a role in my particular case. 

Do you happen to have SAE in any tanks you can move to this one for a month or two?

 

On 12/27/2023 at 6:50 AM, anewbie said:

The above is what looks like BBA to me.

This is what looks like cyano pretty clearly.

 

 

On 12/27/2023 at 6:50 AM, anewbie said:

 

 

On 1/2/2024 at 12:55 PM, anewbie said:

I've been doing some searching and my current thought is too much green in the light spectrum so my next experiment is for the next 30 days to turn off the green channel in my light; tank doesn't look as nice but we will see if that helps.

I dig the plan!  keep us posted.

[anewbie]

On 1/2/2024 at 2:57 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

As an example of bba before it goes a bit crazy and it forms like a diatom I have two older photos.  The first is just this discoloration on the pleco cave and the second is discoloration (grey-black) on the red lava rock.  You can see one rock looks fine, the other has shaded out over time as the algae takes hold.



That was taken down and set in tubs, then in the new tank it went nuts and thrived on me.  I had a mix of staghorn / BBA develop.

Some of your photos show the cyano, which you are aware and looking at, the other stuff you're showing reminds me of the above.  I was looking at the tank this morning and I have a dead corner in the front left just because the intake is pretty weak.  I am planning to swap it out, but it looks like circulation is playing a role in my particular case. 

Do you happen to have SAE in any tanks you can move to this one for a month or two?

 

The above is what looks like BBA to me.

This is what looks like cyano pretty clearly.

 

 

 

 

I dig the plan!  keep us posted.

I do not have any sae; they were on my stocking list but didn't happen. panda gara is another fish that can eat bba but this tank isn't suitable for them - i mean it technically is in terms of water condition but they would be impossible to fish out afterwards. For that matter so would sae. I'm really not sure what to do here as something is lacking - here are updated pictures - also i measured the par this morning it was 15 so i incresae it to 50 but that might be too high - i'm thinking 30 might be better:

 

[nabokovfan87]

Removed as much as I could of the substrate yesterday @anewbie we'll see how it goes.

 

On 1/4/2024 at 9:31 AM, anewbie said:

also i measured the par this morning it was 15 so i incresae it to 50 but that might be too high - i'm thinking 30 might be better:

Makes sense. Have to get the plants growing.

A technique I had passed to me that worked wonders was to limit light to low, 4 hours max. That way the plants could grow and algae died off. After 2 months the plants were doing ok, recovering, and the algae was dying back. Slow adjustments after that.

You could also try a peroxide dose 1-3x a week. See if that helps.

[nabokovfan87]

 

[anewbie]

On 1/2/2024 at 2:57 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

As an example of bba before it goes a bit crazy and it forms like a diatom I have two older photos.  The first is just this discoloration on the pleco cave and the second is discoloration (grey-black) on the red lava rock.  You can see one rock looks fine, the other has shaded out over time as the algae takes hold.

You know I think you were right and the stuff on the substrate is bba.

 

[nabokovfan87]

I redid mine... Compare to the photo above.  Based on what we were discussing and the "aeration" of the substrate as it were.

Left side of the tank is pretty course, right side is pretty fine, but there's a good mix and hopefully things improve.

On 1/6/2024 at 1:13 PM, anewbie said:

You know I think you were right and the stuff on the substrate is bba.

I would try peroxide doses.  In his journal @A3M0N just dosed his tank for BBA and it worked really well so far.

[anewbie]

On 1/6/2024 at 9:20 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I redid mine... Compare to the photo above.  Based on what we were discussing and the "aeration" of the substrate as it were.

Left side of the tank is pretty course, right side is pretty fine, but there's a good mix and hopefully things improve.

I would try peroxide doses.  In his journal @A3M0N just dosed his tank for BBA and it worked really well so far.

I've used peroxide religiously in the past with only modest result; that was when i got the panda gara who solved the issue.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

On 12/27/2023 at 6:50 AM, anewbie said:

@Seattle_Aquarist I seem to have develop a new algae issue. Unlike the algae on the surface which i removed with a bit of current (that aquarium has no algae on the substrate); this aquarium is getting algae on the substrate:

 

 

It started happening when i was softening the water (using ro water on water changes) but I'm not sure if the two are related. I lowered the intensity of the light 15% but that seemed to make things worse so i increase it back up this weekend. Unfortunately these things work in months so i have to be patient to see if the change helps or hurt. I also added more root tabs. Three theories - the light is too strong; there is too much nutrient in the water (the ec is fairly low relative to well behaved aquarium; i think it is around 130 (tds 65); the plants are starving giving the algae a chance to grow. At first i thought it might be cyano and i just needed more current but now i'm thinking it is real algae. This past weekend i added more root tabs (only fertilizer i'm using given the aquarium size) and as noted above increase the light back up to 15%. However a bit of a hint on direction would help. The only thing unique about this aquarium is it got conntaminated with duck weed (next water change will move the power head used to kill algae on the 550) to this aquarium to see if that kills the duck weed.

 

The aquarium dimension is 4feetx4feetx16 (height). The lights are on approx 55% so i could make it a lot brighter if i need to move in that direction.

You can see the algae/cyano growing on the crypts but the red flame is doing really well. Most of the plants have been in there for 3 months. Just not sure what is going on. So the two pictured sword plants are doing fine (front right corner a collection of 3) and the red flame in the middle (ignore the outer leaves which are submersed form and dying); but the crypts of various species are all developing algae/cyano on them. 

 

 

Hi @anewbie

Sorry for the delayed response, I was on vacation with my family over the holidays.

What I see in your photos is blue-green algae, aka cyanobacteria, which is a unique type of 'algae' in that it is part plant and part animal (bacteria).  I occasionally get it in my tanks like I suspect many hobbyists do, usually when I am 1) delinquent in doing my weekly water changes, 2) not changing sufficient water and allowing a build up of nitrogenous waste, 3) not cleaning my filter as often as I should.  I have also found it to occur when I have high light, insufficient plants, and/or poor water circulation.

Typically my first step is to physically remove as much of it manually.  I gently remove it from the leaves putting a finger on each side of the leaf and lightly squeezing from the stem to the tip.  Blue-Green Algae (BGA) comes off very easily, feels a little slimy, and has a pungent aroma.  For the substrate I siphon off the areas that have BGA removing the BGA and some of the substrate.  Then I add more substrate if needed.

After removing as much manually as I can I check to see if I have been lazy doing some of my maintenance, do a 50% water change, and clean my filter.

If the BGA consistently returns, and my maintenance and water circulation are good and the light isn't excessive, then I look at add additional remedies.  Some folks have had success killing BGA using a antibiotic (erythromycin) however I try to avoid using antibiotics in my tanks because diseases can become resistant to them if used too frequently and their is already too much in our environmental wastewater.  Also, if you use any sort of chemical remedy and too much of the BGA dies, then the dying BGA will deplete the tank of oxygen, the water will cloud, and the loss of fish may result.

About two months ago I had a bad outbreak of BGA in my 75 gallon discus tank.  I had gotten lazy and not cleaned the three (3) Fluval 307 filters for about seven (7) months and I usually clean them about every two (2) months.....my bad.  So I did what I suggested above, spent several hours manually removing the BGA from the leaves and hardscape and siphoned the BGA from the white pool filter sand substrate.  I got out as much as I could but I knew I didn't get it all so I looked for an alternative to antibiotics.  What I found was interesting.....combating one bacteria with another.  I read about Dr. Tim's Cyanobacteria Treatment for BGA (link to PDF) and decided to try it.  I had met Dr. Tim (Yes he has several science degrees) about 20 years ago at a aquatic expo in Seattle.   He had just started his own company after 17 years as the Chief Science Officer of Aquaria Inc., the parent company of Marineland Aquarium Products, Aquarium Systems (Instant Ocean).  His views on cyanobacteria were interesting but since his initial products were for saltwater applications I did not think too much of it.

I did my first experiment with Dr. Tim's in August with bad results.  I used both products (Refresh and Waste Away) on a 45 gallon as lost about a dozen Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia praecoxis)  - when they suggest starting with 1/2 dose on both products they mean it.  The dying BGA / bacteria clouded the water and caused oxygen starvation.

In early November I decided to try again on my 75 gallon starting dosing at 1/4 dose and increasing slowly over a couple of weeks.  The result was by Christmas almost all the BGA was gone and when I returned from vacation it had not returned.  I will continue to use the product once or twice a month as 'maintenance' but I was very happy with the results.  I found the best prices of both products on Amazon.  Hope this helps! -Roy

[anewbie]

On 1/8/2024 at 11:42 AM, Seattle_Aquarist said:

Hi @anewbie

Sorry for the delayed response, I was on vacation with my family over the holidays.

What I see in your photos is blue-green algae, aka cyanobacteria, which is a unique type of 'algae' in that it is part plant and part animal (bacteria).  I occasionally get it in my tanks like I suspect many hobbyists do, usually when I am 1) delinquent in doing my weekly water changes, 2) not changing sufficient water and allowing a build up of nitrogenous waste, 3) not cleaning my filter as often as I should.  I have also found it to occur when I have high light, insufficient plants, and/or poor water circulation.

Typically my first step is to physically remove as much of it manually.  I gently remove it from the leaves putting a finger on each side of the leaf and lightly squeezing from the stem to the tip.  Blue-Green Algae (BGA) comes off very easily, feels a little slimy, and has a pungent aroma.  For the substrate I siphon off the areas that have BGA removing the BGA and some of the substrate.  Then I add more substrate if needed.

After removing as much manually as I can I check to see if I have been lazy doing some of my maintenance, do a 50% water change, and clean my filter.

If the BGA consistently returns, and my maintenance and water circulation are good and the light isn't excessive, then I look at add additional remedies.  Some folks have had success killing BGA using a antibiotic (erythromycin) however I try to avoid using antibiotics in my tanks because diseases can become resistant to them if used too frequently and their is already too much in our environmental wastewater.  Also, if you use any sort of chemical remedy and too much of the BGA dies, then the dying BGA will deplete the tank of oxygen, the water will cloud, and the loss of fish may result.

About two months ago I had a bad outbreak of BGA in my 75 gallon discus tank.  I had gotten lazy and not cleaned the three (3) Fluval 307 filters for about seven (7) months and I usually clean them about every two (2) months.....my bad.  So I did what I suggested above, spent several hours manually removing the BGA from the leaves and hardscape and siphoned the BGA from the white pool filter sand substrate.  I got out as much as I could but I knew I didn't get it all so I looked for an alternative to antibiotics.  What I found was interesting.....combating one bacteria with another.  I read about Dr. Tim's Cyanobacteria Treatment for BGA (link to PDF) and decided to try it.  I had met Dr. Tim (Yes he has several science degrees) about 20 years ago at a aquatic expo in Seattle.   He had just started his own company after 17 years as the Chief Science Officer of Aquaria Inc., the parent company of Marineland Aquarium Products, Aquarium Systems (Instant Ocean).  His views on cyanobacteria were interesting but since his initial products were for saltwater applications I did not think too much of it.

I did my first experiment with Dr. Tim's in August with bad results.  I used both products (Refresh and Waste Away) on a 45 gallon as lost about a dozen Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia praecoxis)  - when they suggest starting with 1/2 dose on both products they mean it.  The dying BGA / bacteria clouded the water and caused oxygen starvation.

In early November I decided to try again on my 75 gallon starting dosing at 1/4 dose and increasing slowly over a couple of weeks.  The result was by Christmas almost all the BGA was gone and when I returned from vacation it had not returned.  I will continue to use the product once or twice a month as 'maintenance' but I was very happy with the results.  I found the best prices of both products on Amazon.  Hope this helps! -Roy

I have used chemclean before with success on a 29; but before i go that far I want to make sure it is in-fact cyanobacteria. On another forum someone said the stuff stinks and you should smell a distinct odor but that does not seem to be the case here. The tank has virtually no nitrate and decent circulation. The light par was around 15 at the substrate but recently I raised it to 50 (this is after the start of this thread). I added some powerheads that were very strong (mostly to attack some surface duckweed) but that only seemed to make this stuff grow faster. 

It returns in 24 hours after removal. The tank is nomally 180 gallons (4feetx4feetx18inches) and i do a religious 40 gallon water change weekly with ro water. The stocking is 8 b. cupido; 40 cory hastatus and 10ish apistogrammade (there is only one species). 

Does this help with diagnostic ?

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi @anewbie

I am 95% positive that what you have is cyanobacteria (BGA).  Clean off some of those leaves in your pictures and take a good sniff.  Since cyanobacteria is part algae it will certainly grow more quickly with more light.

The only other thing I can think of that would cause that kind of discoloration of the substrate would be the substrate is becoming anaerobic which is typically caused by excess waste buildup in the substrate.  If you do some poking in the area of discoloration and gas bubbles rise from the area take a sniff.  If they smell like sulfur dioxide that would be confirmation of anaerobic conditions.  But I still think it is BGA.  -Roy

On 1/8/2024 at 10:02 AM, anewbie said:

I have used chemclean before with success on a 29; but before i go that far I want to make sure it is in-fact cyanobacteria. On another forum someone said the stuff stinks and you should smell a distinct odor but that does not seem to be the case here. The tank has virtually no nitrate and decent circulation. The light par was around 15 at the substrate but recently I raised it to 50 (this is after the start of this thread). I added some powerheads that were very strong (mostly to attack some surface duckweed) but that only seemed to make this stuff grow faster. 

It returns in 24 hours after removal. The tank is nomally 180 gallons (4feetx4feetx18inches) and i do a religious 40 gallon water change weekly with ro water. The stocking is 8 b. cupido; 40 cory hastatus and 10ish apistogrammade (there is only one species). 

Does this help with diagnostic ?

 

On 12/27/2023 at 6:50 AM, anewbie said:

@Seattle_Aquarist

 

 

[anewbie]

On 1/8/2024 at 3:43 PM, Seattle_Aquarist said:

Hi @anewbie

I am 95% positive that what you have is cyanobacteria (BGA).  Clean off some of those leaves in your pictures and take a good sniff.  Since cyanobacteria is part algae it will certainly grow more quickly with more light.

The only other thing I can think of that would cause that kind of discoloration of the substrate would be the substrate is becoming anaerobic which is typically caused by excess waste buildup in the substrate.  If you do some poking in the area of discoloration and gas bubbles rise from the area take a sniff.  If they smell like sulfur dioxide that would be confirmation of anaerobic conditions.  But I still think it is BGA.  -Roy

 

I did take a good smell and it has a very light smell - my sense of smell is fairly strong. It could be cyano but i'm not sure. As for the substrate i did stir it up down to the glass bottom in the areas where there were not plants. No bubbles also the fish load is fairly light. This doesn't mean it isn't cyano but i've had cyano before and the colouring is similar but the texture feels different. I wish there was a good way to identify for sure - the reason the fish load is low is because the b. cupido (wc) are fairly sensitive so i've been making sure to keep the ntirate level below detection (with api liquid - so basically below 5). In the past i've had aquariums with nitrate as high as 50 but i've been doing things different recently as i moved into larger aquariums and more sensitive fish.

 

I'm not saying it isn't cyano bacteria but i dont' understand why it is forming. The last time i had it - i had clear anerobic pockets with a hard compacting substrate. The only negative to this substrate is depth as it ended up a little deeper than i planned. Also ti seems to grow stronger where i put root tabs (thrive) but maybe that is to be expected.

Is there some sort of blue-green algae that is not cyano ?

[JoeQ]

It is on the substrate because of the silicates leaching from your (new) substrate. After 4 months, even though your tank is cycled, your substrate is still in its infancy. Silicates are bga crack

Edited January 8 by JoeQ

[anewbie]

On 1/8/2024 at 3:56 PM, JoeQ said:

It is on the substrate because of the silicates leaching from your (new) substrate. After 4 months, even though your tank is cycled, your substrate is still in its infancy. Silicates are bga crack

So should i treat it with chemclean or just ignore it and it will eventually go away ?

[JoeQ]

Clean what you can by hand, focus on water changes, keeping your filter clean, removing dead organics and that you have good flow & well oxygenated water. A bubbler will help you immensely! Some critters that disturb the substrate is also a plus. Focus on growing healthy plants, not fighting algae. You need time to develop  healthy substrate. For that you are looking at a year plus IMO. Right now you are struggling with the awkward teenage years. If you concentrate on some of the recommendation(s) it'll make the process much easier to get thru and maybe a bit quicker.