FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Hi there, about 2 or 3 months back I started another tank, just a little 20 gallon that I have placed some of the nicer offspring from my 29 into, through being picky I have 3 guppies breeding in there My water parameters are good on the tank (Ammonia=0.0, Nitrite=0.0, Nitrates=5.0, pH=6.8), I run a UGF on the tank, and it like my other tanks gets light for about 16-18 hrs a day...

To plant the tank I pulled some Anarcharis from either the 29 or the 125; I don't remember:%) And all is going really well, expecting my first batch of fry from the tank any day...but what is bothering me, is this "green stuff"

I don't know how else to describe it, it almost looks like java moss, but I haven't put any of it into the tank, and don't think it could have hitched a ride in there without me knowing...I know I've developed duck weed, that I clear out every so often and dump into the 55 gallon with the cichlids (it disappears before it can even hit the water) This green stuff sticks in with the Anarcharis, it is almost a forest green it is so dark...It is really fine in structure, and resembles java moss in a way...

it doesn't seem to be causing a problem, but I still want to know what it is...and if it could cause a problem in the near future...so in all, what the heck is this stuff?

The picture is a pretty good close up though the color is a tad off, it is more green than this pic shows...I'd be willing to say it is only 1/3-1/2 of the size of the picture...So should I pull it and flush it, or leave it be? What is it? thanks, heiid



micheIIe attached this image:


"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Hi,
It looks like it might be the Stag Horn variety of algae.
The pieces look a little too thick to be Hair Algae.
Check out this site:

http://www.otocinclus.com/articles/algae.html
for descriptions, and how to remove it, and how to keep it
gone.

Turn your lights down. 16-18 hours is about 6-8 hours too
much. You want to emulate a tropical day, about 10 to
14(max) hours of light per day.

If those tiny leaves are part of the actual plant, then
forget the algae part, its the root system for the leaves.
Not sure what plant it could be from the picture.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 24-Apr-2005 14:20

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

looks like what i got from my pond, are those little leaves duck weed? thats what i got, and when them become mature, they will disconnect from the mother plant, and start a new life on the surface of the water, but thats just what i have observed

HTH

OK the little leaves in the picture are duckweed, they stick to everything, but since i've read and heard that they are oxygenators, I'm all for keeping them, that and pulling a handful a week out I toss it into the 55 for the cichlids to enjoy

Frank, the green stuff doesn't look like what you thought, or feel slimy like described in that article...

Is it possible or have I miss readthat the "mossy" stuff is the mother plant that the duckweed is coming from? If so I don't mind keeping it around, unless it is going to cause problems to the fishthen by all means it must go...

I guess I'm gonna have to invest in a timer for my tank lights, as I usually leave the house at 7 am, and sometimes don't get home till 10-11 pm when I feed everyone and kill the lights...so I guess it is only 15-16 hrs...yet I don't want my other plants to die either

Any other thoughts? Think it's a bad thing in the tank?

Of to clarify, it is as thin as a piece of fine hair (tried for the picture it just wasn't working, I'm a blonde), it feels rough to the touch, more like the feel of quilting thread...it looks like someone took a spool of fine quilters thread and unrolled it, and let the cat play with it, so it is tangled among itself...but is easy to break into "chunks"...

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle