# WHAT is happening to my tank? ALGAE EXPLOSION!



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

Hi everyone! I know I've been AWOL a lot (stupid graduate school and working full time!) But I am having an issue with my 5g recently and I wanted to get your input!

So my betta died a while ago, and I couldn't decide what to stock my tank with so it sat around with only a few snails as residents for a long time, but I kept up with basic tank maintenance so that when I did decide who to put in the tank, it would be ready. 

Recently I was getting a betta for my new desktop tank at work, and I saw 2 that were just gorgeous and couldn't decide between them so I decided to get them both and put one in my work tank and one in the 5g. I scraped off some algae that had grown on the front of the tank, drip-acclimated the betta and put him in the tank. 

He was fine for a few days, seemed very happy, and then he died. I was very sad, but I had checked water parameters, even seeded the tank with some filter media from my 30g just to make sure there was enough beneficial bacteria, so I don't think that was the problem. He was probably either old or sick when I got him. 

But I digress, shortly after he died, there was an algae explosion in my tank. And now it looks disgusting. I don't know what happened! Any thoughts? My crypts and subwassertang are very healthy, those balls of algae (pics below) aren't really growing on the plants as much as sitting on the leaves. Would love to hear any thoughts! 

Before I get anything else for this tank, it's going to need to be dealt with! 

Thanks!


----------



## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Algae Control*

Hello Kar...

There's no mystery to algae control. There's three things: water change, water change and my favorite, the water change. Remove the food source and algae has nothing to subsist on. So, it can't get out of control.

The 5G needs a 50 percent water change every 2 to 3 days. The 30G can get by with 50 to 60 percent removed and replaced weekly. Water that stays in the tank too long, becomes sterile due to constant filtration and not much will live in it.

You can toss in some fast growing floaters if you like, they'll use up the nutrients if for whatever reasons you tend to join the "Water Change Slackers' Club".

A clear tank isn't brain surgery. It's all about the water.

Have fun!

B


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

Hi B, 

Thanks for the input, I am ok with some algae in my tank, and it's not the water that's cloudy, I'm more concerned about the fact that this major issue appeared quite suddenly. I have had this tank up and running for about 6 years, and mostly I only need to clean off the algae that grows on the underside of the glass canopy, and occasionally some little bit on the front glass. 

But then i put in a betta, he dies, and all of a sudden, EXPLOSION of algae, so I'm thinking it's not my regular maintenance routine that is to blame. I am wondering more about whether it is coincidental timing? Has this tank just run it's life out and it's time for a total tear down? Or perhaps was there something that came in with the betta? Something else to do with the betta? 

Also, while I appreciated your input, I don't really appreciate the snarky tone. Incidentally, my tank has a blanket of fast growing floaters on it currently, despite my best efforts to rid it of them in the past, I have been letting it grow out to see if it helped. It hasn't.


----------



## littlefish_ (Aug 4, 2014)

I've never seen anything like that before. Is it possible that it could be some kind of fungus? It could be diatoms, but it really doesn't look like algae IMO.


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Yeah, that definitely doesnt look like brown algae/diatoms I am used to seeing.

When the betta died, was it left in the tank rotting?

Have you been adding anything (to keep it cycled) to the tank while it was unoccupied (besides the snail)?

Bump: Yeah, that definitely doesnt look like brown algae/diatoms I am used to seeing.

When the betta died, was it left in the tank rotting?

Have you been adding anything (to keep it cycled) to the tank while it was unoccupied (besides the snail)?

Do the snail eat the "algae" in question?


----------



## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

I'm a bit curious about that water level. People often keep their water level hidden
behind that top rim or if not it's usually within 1/2" of the bottom of it.
But my real curiosity is related to that algae on the glass over the water line.
At the same rate of evaporation as my 2.5g tank that looks like close to a month of
not doing a water change or adding for the evaporation.
People vacuum "fish" tank more than planted tanks get vacuumed because the plant roots would be disturbed. But organic build up still happens in both.
So in the "fish" tank which get a vacuum that keeps down the organic build up.
Then in planted tanks (sticking my neck out here) most skim the top of the sub with
the siphon when doing a water change to remove mulm/detrius etc which keeps down on the organic build up. I don't. Mulm/detrius break down eventually most of it becoming disolved in the water with some trickling down into the sub. The water changes carry out that which has disolved into the water but only IF you do water changes regularly.
Since there are no fish in it, I might do a 75% water change during which I'd skim that sub to rid the tank of anything on top of it. Then I think that if you maintained a 50% water change per week in there that algae would go away as I believe it to be because of organic build up. But then that a guestimate based on why my tank wouldn't have that same algae were it not for the regular water changes as it has an obvious mulm
layer on the top of it's sub. My tank "style" isn't liked by that many, but is by me so...
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/images/pGallery/pg_12001e.jpg


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

littlefish - I agree that it looks very weird! 

WaterLife - no the betta wasn't rotting, I saw him swimming around the day before I found him dead. I was not adding anything to keep it cycled, but I did help seed the tank with filter media from my well established 30g when I added the betta. I haven't noticed if the snails are eating the algae, that's a good question to try and check out. I'll have to take a look

Raymond S - I had started doing a water change when I noticed that I couldn't find the betta, then I found him dead and never finished the water change. I'll be honest, I don't often do water changes, I'm more of a top-it-off kind of person with an occasional water change thrown in. A lot of what you're seeing above the water line is duckweed that stuck to the glass, but some of it is algae. I know my tank style isn't everyone's favorite either, but it's worked for me for the 9+ years I've been into the hobby, so I don't think the water changing was the issue. It's probably not a bad way to deal with the problem now, but I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to just break down the whole tank and set it back up like new.


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Hmm, is the "algae" forming along the water surface, not just of the side of tank? Kind of makes me think of stagnant water that forms thick algae globs on the water surface. How is the surface agitation? How strong is the lighting?


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

WaterLife - no it's not forming on the surface, filtration and surface agitation are the same as they have been for 6 years - a Red Sea Nano HOB filter (I think this tiny HOB is made by a different company now, Azoo maybe?) and an air stone. Also have the same desk lamp with a CFL over the tank that I always have since moving to this house. Until this odd algae explosion, my biggest algae issue was the stuff that would grow on the underside of the glass canopy.


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Hmm, very strange. No idea what it is really, just trying to help figure what it might be from.

You say there is nothing done different and no problems until the Betta came along. Maybe something new in the tap water? This the only tank you got running (just to figure if the tap water is the problem or not, if it was all tanks might have this)

From the pics, it doesn't seem the stuff is actually growing on the plants, sort of looks like it's just the tank walls (and hood/canopy) and is falling on the leaves. Is it growing on the substrate?

What are you doing in terms of keeping the plants fed?
Lighting hours?
Water temp?

Ultimately, I am fairly sure since there has been no problem until now, I think this algae stuff will wear out soon and no longer be a problem.


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

WaterLife - I know you're trying to help and I appreciate it because I am trying to figure it out too. I'm so baffled, it's been happily chugging along for 6 years, then BAM, this mess. I am starting to think it may have come from something in the betta's water or something. Your ideas are all good ones, but yes I have 2 other tanks and no neither of those tanks is having this problem. 

You are right though, the algae is not growing on the plants themselves, it seems confined to the tank glass and is like sloughing off in large pieces. It's truly bizarre.

Plants are fed with root tabs, lights are on I think for 8 hours a day, temp is around 70 I think (I'll have to check the timer and thermometer, will update if it's vastly different than what I said).


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

No worries. Haven't seen this kind of algae in colder water tanks.
Do you LFS (you mentioned their store water) have this algae problem?

Might not figure out what exactly is causing it, but you might be able to get rid of it by manually removing the majority of it and then spray/spot treating the rest with either Hydrogen Peroxide (h2o2) or Seachem Excel.
Or simply remove the plants for a while, just lightly scrub and rinse, and just plant them in another tank or a new container to temporarily keep them in, while you blackout the problem tank (no lighting at all, cover the tank in complete darkness) for some time (not sure how long it would take). I kind of doubt the filter really still has much beneficial bacteria as it needs ammonia/nitrites for food as they are nitrifying bacteria.


----------



## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Seem's to me to be result of no maint for some time as mentioned by OP .No fish ,so no food,= little in the way of nutrient's which result's in slowly dying plant mass which contributed even more to poor water condition's for plant's.
Meanwhile,plant's are still receiving lighting encouraging growth, but little for them to use as food so Algae ,which need's much less of same thing's plant's need, thrives.
Fish tank's, and or planted tank's, all need regular maint to perform relatively problem free as Member Bradbury suggest's.
This problem appear's to be self inflicted.
Given small tank size,, I would be tempted to re-do the tank. With regular maint,and food for plant's, a repeat or re-occurrence of present condition's is unlikely.
Water changes for small tank's should not be an issue.
Won't find much love for letting tank's go, and then express wonderment over issues that arise suddenly,or otherwise.*IMHO


----------



## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I don’t know what this stuff is exactly. I tend to think you started introducing fish and fish food to the stable plant tank and the algae took advantage of the change. I’ve seen this brown clumpy stuff but I’ve never figured out what it is. It seems to only happen in mature tanks for some reason. I thought for a long time it was some weird diatom colony. It would mass itself on the leaves of the plants but never really adhere to them. I cleaned it out over and over again but it just kept coming back. It would clog up the filter in a week and I would have to take the whole thing apart and clean it. I’ve worked my way through it in a few tanks where I had fish and it went away eventually. The fastest solution is to just take the whole tank apart, clean everything and put it all back together. 

I suspect what happens in these cases is an o2 problem where the algae bloom depletes the o2 rapidly like what happens in lakes in summer.


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

BruceF said:


> I suspect what happens in these cases is an o2 problem where the algae bloom depletes the o2 rapidly like what happens in lakes in summer.


 That's very interesting. I've seen documentaries of wild habitats becoming uninhabitable for fish for one reason or another (usually just dry seasons), I think I have seen a documentary of waters becoming oxygen depleted and you would see corydoras constantly going up for air and other fish trying to jump out in attempts to get to better water, but never paid attention to what caused the oxygen depletion. Might of been the algae you mentioned, but I don't recall.

Do algae photosynthesize like plants do? Using mainly co2 and giving off o2 during light/photo hours? Or are they just a different organism that uses light and nutrients, but doesn't give off o2? Never really knew.


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

*roadmaster* - as I mentioned, I was keeping up with regular tank maintenance on this tank all along so it would be ready for a new resident, and I also wanted the plants to stay healthy, they were not slowly dying, on the contrary, they were flourishing. There are root tabs under the gravel to feed the plants, and like I said, I did not have this problem until after the betta died. So while I appreciate your thoughts, I did not, as you suggest, "let the tank go". I have been keeping fish tanks for over 20 years, planted aquariums for about 9, and I have never seen a bloom quite like this, neither the way it looked nor how quickly it happened which is why I came to the forums. So I appreciate your input, and can understand where you're coming from, unfortunately, you seem to have misinterpreted something I wrote to suggest I had let the tank go. 

*BruceF* - thanks for the input, glad to know you've seen this before! What you describe sounds exactly like what I'm seeing here, and you are confirming what i suspected that it might be a mature tank problem, I don't think I have ever had any tanks set up for quite as long as this one. I'm also beginning to think as you suggested that it's such a small tank I might have thrown off the balance by adding a fish and fish food and it gave the algae a chance to flourish, but the response was slightly delayed which is why it seems to have been related to the death of the fish. This did not start til _after_ he died so I don't think lack of o2 is what killed him. 

*WaterLife *- again thanks for your input! I like your suggestion, but due to lack of space and somewhere else to put the plants, I think I am just going to plop this tank in the sink and wash the heck out of it!  True algae photosynthesizes like regular plants, which most people don't realize use O2 when there is no light. They use CO2 to photosynthesize, but then in dark conditions they respirate and use O2. Additionally, the growth explosion uses up the available nutrients quickly so the algae begin to die off quickly, which increase decomposition, and those bacteria further use up oxygen. In lakes / ponds / oceans it's called eutrophication, and as I write this, I suspect that's exactly what I caused by tossing a fish (and therefore his poop and food = nutrients) into the mix, even though I didn't see the algae explosion until after he had died.


----------



## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Well I apologize for I can only respond to what has been written and what photo's indicate.
I do not believe everything I read sometimes when photo's and some measure of understanding indicates otherwise.


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

roadmaster said:


> Well I apologize for I can only respond to what has been written and what photo's indicate.
> I do not believe everything I read sometimes when photo's and some measure of understanding indicates otherwise.


No worries, I just get frustrated when people make assumptions, I thought I stated pretty clearly I was keeping up with tank maintenance and that the tank had been up and running 6 years without this problem, so it's frustrating when people give answers like "it's obviously neglect". I apologize too though for being snippy and if I wasn't clear on those points roud:

The more I think about this, the more I think the addition of the added nutrients from the fish just threw the whole tank out of balance, I've still never seen an algae explosion that looked quite like this one though! :confused1:


----------



## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

> but I kept up with basic tank maintenance so that when I did decide who to put in the tank, it would be ready.



A lot of folks would consider water changes and testing basic maintenance. I know you've been going this way for years with no *perceptible* issues but you may have reached a tipping point.
I wouldn't think it's the cause but have you considered how high some of your mineral levels can be? With no water changes anything that was in the water that has been added over the years, that hasn't been used by the plants, is still there. 

Have you done any testing? Do you know what's in your water?


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

*Kubla* - I didn't say I've never done a water change on the tank, I have definitely done water changes, but in my super low tech, slow growing tanks, I have found I don't need to do them as often. That said, I agree it's possible I finally just hit some tipping point in this tank, possibly (probably) accelerated and brought on by the influx of nutrients from the fish waste and food I added to the tank by adding the betta. 

I have not tested the GH or KH recently if that's the testing you are referring to, that's something I will probably check out as compared to my other tanks and tap water out of curiosity now that you bring it up, but I think I am still going to completely redo this tank. It's so small that a total tear down and rebuild is a lot easier than it would be in a larger tank.

If those aren't the tests you're referring to, could you please elaborate?


----------



## g4search (Aug 10, 2014)

Karackle,

it seems that littlefish_ had the right idea. What you are dealing with here is clearly a fungus! 

When things come together (like the right type of nutrient and the right type of fungal spores) EXPLOSIVE growth of the fungus will occur. 
Typically, you find fungi in the aquarium growing on driftwood or dead leaves where they mainly feed on the cellulose that is contained in this plant material.

I have once seen a fungus (_neuraspora crassa)_ growing overnight inside and half way outside all around a fish tank that happened to have sugar-impregnated blotting paper on its cover and the sides of the tank. The fungus certainly liked this humid environment and the nutrients provided, which led to this explosive growth. Unfortunately, we could never figure out how the fungus got there.

Looking at your pictures leaves little doubt that somehow an aquatic fungus got into your tank and found the absolute perfect growth conditions. The patchy growth and the deposits on surfaces and the "non-green" color point directly towards fungal growth. Unless you examine the organism for the type of filaments, it is hard to tell from pictures what species of fungus you are dealing with. 
Contamination with fungi is not a problem in most cases, since the fungus just disappears after the nutrient source is exhausted. In rare cases however, you are stuck with pathogenic fungal infection that would have to be treated, but that is unlikely here.

In your case I would recommend to just get rid of the bulk of the fungal mass because it is so unsightly. Then do a large water change (to get rid of any remaining fungal nutrients) and after that you should be able to carry on as usual.

Good luck.


----------



## RomansFiveEight (Jun 21, 2012)

So after the fish died ammonia and nitrite were 0 as tested by a fresh liquid test kit?

This, coupled with the betta death, tells me there's something going on with the cycle. The beneficial bacteria need to eat too and the snails are not going to provide enough bio-load. If I have unoccupied tanks, I dose liquid ammonia every other day. Algae seems to use ammonia and nitrite more readily than plants and so it thrives in conditions where that's allowed to build up. Anything above 0 is unacceptable. That's means 0.05 is too much ammonia/nitrite!

In my newly established 29g I had a similar algae explosion while I was cycling the tank and dosing ammonia. Every day I'd physically remove as much algae as I could (scraping it off of leaves / grass / etc.) Now that it's cycled and there is no longer ammonia or nitrite present, the algae is receding as it can't compete with the plants.


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

*g4search* - you and littlefish could definitely be onto something with the fungus. Whatever this has does seem to have killed itself off by outgrowing the nutrient source, so some of the non-green portion could just be dead algae, or it could be fungus growing over it. Either way, even though I do want to rescape this tank and move some of the large crypts to the 30g and bring some of the small crypts from the 30g to it, I think I am going to take your suggestion for manual removal through large water changes and keep an eye on it first. Then once I am satisfied the infection is gone and I won't move infect the 30g I will worry about the plant swap and rescape. Thanks for the advice on dealing with the outbreak  

*RomansFiveEight* - Thanks, but yes I am fully aware of the beneficial bacteria nitrogen cycle and the fact that ammonia and nitrIte should not go over 0 even by a little bit roud: 
But I am not clear on why you think that my cycle is "broken" if the bacteria are doing their job of removing ammonia and nitrIte?


----------



## RomansFiveEight (Jun 21, 2012)

Just double checking! Often it's helpful to post numbers instead of qualifiers. Often someone will post that their water is "fine" but their definition of "fine" and, perhaps, someone elses, is different.

In one instance a young man on another forum kept having his fish die and was lamenting his fish store. The usual questions were asked and he said it was fine. Well, then someone got him to post the number. I don't recall exactly, something like 1ppm ammonia and 0.5ppm nitrite, no nitrate. That, to me, says a brand new uncycled tank. Anyway, his test kit was a cheap strip type and it had a 'chart' that listed those levels as 'stress' but below 'toxic'. Something I would disagree with the manufacturer of that kit on. Some fish can tolerate some ammonia for a very short period of time, but any length of exposure to any measurable level of ammonia will damage gills, and with some species, kill very very quickly. Betta's actually are more tolerant than most species which is why people have been successful throwing them into a fresh tank or unfiltered bowl; but even their lifespan is drastically cut short by excess ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. I know you know that, but it's something worth asking if actual numbers aren't given.

Quality of test kit matters too. I had about a year old test kit that was reading 0/0/0 when dosing ammonia, which I knew was wrong. I bought a new one and suddenly saw very high levels of all three! (Thankfully, an unstocked tank going through the fishless cycle). 

The fungus theory is compelling. I sure hope it gets figured out. It's wild, nonetheless! I hope you have better luck with the next betta. They are hardy but also hopelessly line bred and generally poor stock overall.


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

*RomansFiveEight* - hahaha no, you are absolutely right about using real numbers, when I was very active on the forums a few years ago, I would tell people the same thing, now here I am doing it myself! How easily we forget and slip into bad habits :hihi: anyway, yes my ammonia and nitrIte were both 0 using new liquid test kits (not the strips). And you're right to call me out on it since I didn't give actual numbers! 

As for the fungus theory, I agree it's compelling, we may never know for sure, but I have a friend that is interested in what kinds of algaes / cyano (and other) bacterias / fungi infect our tanks so I sent her some samples to take a look at under her microscope so she MIGHT be able to tell us. Will definitely update if she does get an answer on that. 

As for the tank, most of the stuff has sloughed off the glass, I think it's dying off so I have decided to go with the manual removal method for now and see whether it comes back. (I know most people would have cleaned this tank by now, but I haven't been in much of a rush to clean it since the tank has no residents (except a few snails) and I have to admit I have been curious what would happen if I let it sit for a while :tongue 

Thanks for all the input and advice everyone!


----------



## voyetra8 (Sep 24, 2010)

That growth pattern along the top looks like a slime mold to me... although, I've never seen it in a fish tank before.


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

*voyetra8* - I can totally see how it looks that way in the pic, but it definitely has more of an algae / cyano mat look and texture in real life. If anything other than cyano / algae I am thinking fungus over slime mold, but hey, you never know! Hopefully my friend will get some answers with her microscope


----------



## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

I have seen such tank's where wood that is more than a couple year's old begin's to finally rot away at faster rate than when first placed in the tank and all manner of fungus begins to appear often associated with BBA.
Have also seen similar with the use of some wood's not suitable for aquariums such as sappy wood like cedar,pine,or grapewood.
Also seen nearly indentical result's once upon a time when I decided to attack a spectacular algae bloom with Flocculant which work's to clump up the algae and or any organic's present so that the filter can more easily trap it.
Sudden change in light intensity, and or timer malfunction where light's remain on too long for extended period.
Sudden and aggressive cleaning of substrate, releasing organic matter which then gives rise to ammonia spike for brief period before water change or testing is performed can also trigger similar result's.
I could go on for a spell ,and speak about all the contaminates that sometimes find their way into the tank from new fish /plant's to aerosol's,cleaning products,etc.
I do not believe a single betta dying and removed next day could be contributer unless a large snail die off also took place for unknown or self induced reason's.
More food for thought ,often followed by denial of any or all of the above possibilities.
Just sayin.


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

Hey Roadmaster - thanks for the food for thought! Very interesting, and nice to know you've seen similar things. There is no wood of any kind in this tank, so unfortunately, there goes that theory  (but it does remind me that happened to me one with fungus on DW and make me think it might be time to take some older wood out of my 30g before this happens in there too, so thank you for that reminder! roud 
I've never heard of flocculant, though what it does to algae does sound like what happened in here, I haven't put anything new in the tank intentionally, but as you say, all manner of things could accidentally find their way into our tanks, perhaps some chemical that has a similar effect accidentally got in the tank? :confused1:
No aggressive substrate cleaning, but I definitely could have stirred up a bit of root tab during a water change. 
As for the lights, there was one day that the lights were on for a few extra hours, I accidentally switched the timer from "timer" to "on" and noticed the lights were still on when I went to bed so I fixed it, that was closer to when I first got the betta than when the algae exploded. Could a few hours of extra light been enough to cause the bloom a couple weeks later? Perhaps the additional light in addition to other factors such as extra nutrients added to the tank from the betta and gravel disturbance could have set off a chain reaction, especially if there was some other kind of algae that came in with the betta's water.


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

Well I did about 5 100% water changes in the tank to clean everything out, wasn't too worried about killing the cycle because I have plenty of seeded filter media to pilfer from my 30g to seed the tank. Also plan to do a few more partial water changes to make sure everything is still in good shape, and will keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrIte levels with regular checks (once I can catch the darn zebrafish!) I also cleaned the canopy and filter really well. 

WELL much to my dismay I went to check on the tank today aaannnnd it was leaking from the filter. Luckily my "tank towel" that I keep around to dry things off while I'm playing with my tanks was on the desk and absorbed much of the water, but there was still a little puddle on the floor. So instead of just pilfering filter media from the 30g, I pilfered my entire little internal secondary filter. It's a bit strong for a 5g with a betta in it, but I think the zebra danio will be fine with the additional flow. If i see him hiding in the cave a lot, I'll find something else. I've been trying all day to catch him with no luck though. GRRRR 

Anyway, 5 water changes with vacuuming and a filter change later, here's what the 5g looks like now:


----------



## al4n (Nov 18, 2008)

Good work, now to stay ontop of it 

Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk


----------



## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Karackle said:


> Well I did about 5 100% water changes in the tank to clean everything out, wasn't too worried about killing the cycle because I have plenty of seeded filter media to pilfer from my 30g to seed the tank. Also plan to do a few more partial water changes to make sure everything is still in good shape, and will keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrIte levels with regular checks (once I can catch the darn zebrafish!) I also cleaned the canopy and filter really well.
> 
> WELL much to my dismay I went to check on the tank today aaannnnd it was leaking from the filter. Luckily my "tank towel" that I keep around to dry things off while I'm playing with my tanks was on the desk and absorbed much of the water, but there was still a little puddle on the floor. So instead of just pilfering filter media from the 30g, I pilfered my entire little internal secondary filter. It's a bit strong for a 5g with a betta in it, but I think the zebra danio will be fine with the additional flow. If i see him hiding in the cave a lot, I'll find something else. I've been trying all day to catch him with no luck though. GRRRR
> 
> Anyway, 5 water changes with vacuuming and a filter change later, here's what the 5g looks like now:



The fish will be easier to catch if you try during one of your water changes when water level has dropped significantly.
Is what I do when I wish to catch fish from my 80,75,55 gallon tanks.
I can take the level down to five or six inches of water left in the tank.


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

al4n - thanks! 

roadmaster - good idea! I have also used clear bottles before and herded the fish into them, which I remembered as I was getting in bed last night, so I might try that first because I just did a big water change in this tank so I won't be do for another one for a while, but if I can't get him, I might just do the water change ahead of schedule. Thanks for the idea!


----------



## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

WaterLife said:


> Do algae photosynthesize like plants do? Using mainly co2 and giving off o2 during light/photo hours? Or are they just a different organism that uses light and nutrients, but doesn't give off o2? Never really knew.


Algae are plants.


----------



## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

For our purposes, algae are plants. Technically they're in a separate group, since they're single-celled organisms, but they function like tiny plants.


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Thanks for clarifying that for me! Is that the same with Diatoms as well? I hear they are not really a algae.


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

*Steve001* and *Betta132* thanks for catching that I never responded to that question! *WaterLife* sorry I missed your question about algae, yes they are photosynthetic so they use CO2 and light and produce oxygen, just like a regular plants. 

Diatoms are also technically a form of algae, but what sets them apart and into their own group, is that they are encased in clear "shells" made of silica. But they are also photosynthetic, yes. Hope that helps!


----------

