What algae is this?

[Yoshi]

So this afternoon as I was making some adjustment to my aquarium I noticed this growth on the airline tubing connected to the sponge filter.  I'm assuming it's some kind of algae?

As some background, the setup is very new.  Only been running for 10 days or so.  I don't have any livestock in it yet.  It's moderately planted with some buce, anubias, maybe five stem plants, and a handful of red root floaters and water spangles that haven't really started propagating themselves yet.

I have an ACO LED light set at 50 to come on 7hrs a day.  I would like to set it lower, but the piece of driftwood I have in there is leeching tannins like it's going out of style, so I turned it up higher to try and get sufficient light to the plants at the bottom of the tank.

When I checked parameters last night my nitrites and nitrates were pretty high but I'm still working on the cycle so I wasn't planning on doing another water change until mid-week.

Any thoughts?

[Kunersbettas]

Almost looks like hydra and hair algae tried to eat each other. Not sure. I've never seen that kind before.

Looks a little too thick to be white hair...

[EricksonAquatics]

I have that too. I don’t think it’s an algae but rather some sort of biofilm. I’ve seen tons of people have the exact same thing and it’s always on the airline tubing! 

Mine comes right off in big chunks if you rub the airline between your fingers. Does yours come off easily too @Yoshi?

[doktor zhivago]

It's just biofilm. Snails will clear it up

[JoeQ]

Bio film/bacteria bloom, your tank is uncycled and only 10 days old. You are witnessing your eco system starting to grow.

Edited May 26 by JoeQ

[CoryWithAKatana]

If you dont want your tank to be so dark with tannins then I would suggest a water change but if you like it then keep it. The algae im pretty sure is natural to a new starting tank

[Yoshi]

On 5/26/2024 at 1:10 AM, EricksonAquatics said:

Mine comes right off in big chunks if you rub the airline between your fingers. Does yours come off easily too @Yoshi?

It does.  Rubs right off!

 

On 5/26/2024 at 2:11 AM, doktor zhivago said:

It's just biofilm. Snails will clear it up

I don't have any snails in there yet, but I'm planning on having about a dozen once the tank is fully cycled.  A mix of nerites and trapdoor snails 🙂 

On 5/26/2024 at 7:59 AM, CoryWithAKatana said:

If you dont want your tank to be so dark with tannins then I would suggest a water change but if you like it then keep it.

Yeah, the tank is SUPER dark right now.  I didn't realize that one piece of driftwood would leech so much tannins.  Since I don't have any livestock in it yet I'm not too worried about it, but I am doing some water changes.  It'll stop being so dark. . . eventually. . . 😄 

[doktor zhivago]

snails tend to defy our attempts to control their numbers 

just leave the driftwood be it will clear up over time and the tannins don't hurt anything. there's no point doing water changes if you don't have any livestock 

[Yoshi]

On 5/26/2024 at 10:19 AM, doktor zhivago said:

just leave the driftwood be it will clear up over time and the tannins don't hurt anything. there's no point doing water changes if you don't have any livestock 

This is my first time dealing tannins like this.  Does the water ever get saturated with tannins?  Like, the water can't absorb anymore even though the woods has more to leech out?  That's why I've been doing some water changes, to sort of keep things moving.  That and I have about a dozen plants in there, and I'm afraid with the tea so dark they're not getting enough light.

[DBrown918]

Tannins are actually great for fish so it's more of a cosmetic preference for you.  They have antibacterial properties and a lot of the tropical fish we keep comes from waters with lots of tannins.  

I would say change water to achieve the look you're comfortable with and that will provide the plants with enough light.

[Yoshi]

On 5/26/2024 at 7:41 PM, DBrown918 said:

Tannins are actually great for fish so it's more of a cosmetic preference for you.  They have antibacterial properties and a lot of the tropical fish we keep comes from waters with lots of tannins.  

I would say change water to achieve the look you're comfortable with and that will provide the plants with enough light.

I don't mind some tannins, but I think this is a little extreme.  The camera makes it lighter than it actually is.  In person you can't even see the back of the tank and you can't see anything looking down from the top.

[DBrown918]

Yea that's too much unless you're going for blackwater.  Just keep changing water until you reach the level you're ok with.

[johnnyxxl]

On 5/26/2024 at 11:10 AM, Yoshi said:

It does.  Rubs right off!

 

I don't have any snails in there yet, but I'm planning on having about a dozen once the tank is fully cycled.  A mix of nerites and trapdoor snails 🙂 

Yeah, the tank is SUPER dark right now.  I didn't realize that one piece of driftwood would leech so much tannins.  Since I don't have any livestock in it yet I'm not too worried about it, but I am doing some water changes.  It'll stop being so dark. . . eventually. . . 😄 

Depending on the fish you pick the tannins will make the colors pop.  Because they come from that environment.  My Barb's love the tannins and the colors are so good on them.