Tropical Fish

[Jimmi]

Bit of a random one! I’ve just been gifted a tropical fish tank. Are there any gurus on here? There is some brown furry stuff in the leaves and I want to know how to get rid of it! I’ve looked on the net (obviously) but would rather double check with someone.

 

[Dave A]

Bit of a random one! I’ve just been gifted a tropical fish tank. Are there any gurus on here? There is some brown furry stuff in the leaves and I want to know how to get rid of it! I’ve looked on the net (obviously) but would rather double check with someone.

It's difficult to say without seeing the leaves but as a rule of thumb if the leaves look like they're rotting or growing a fungus I would get rid of them. With any aquarium you are creating a river or lake in miniature so it is important to keep the balance healthy. There is no room for toxins to be washed away as in the wild so you must control the environment in the tank. If you can identify the plant you should be able to see what a healthy specimen looks like. A google or E Bay search of tropical aquarium plants should bring up photos of the most popular varieties to aid identification.

 

[a_monkey_hint]

Difficult to say without pictures or more details about the tank (real plant vs plastic, livestock, how long the tank has been established, water parameters etc)

It sounds like just brown hair algae. Harmless but an eye sore. Algae could be an indication of an issue with water quality, parameters in the tank, lack of oxygen, too much light, not enough water surface movement, too much feeding etc

Have you set it up from scratch? If so, how long has it been running for and have you got any livestock in it yet or done anything to kick start the cycle? If so its normal to see brown hair algae particularly if its going through a nitrogen cycle (buy a testing kit and read up on the nitrogen cycle - most important part of keeping fish)

Just getting rid of the algae or whatever it is attached to is unlikely to resolve the issue. You need to fix the source of the problem.

If its a new tank being setup and going through its first cycle, just keep cleaning it and it should go away on its own as long as you encourage the nitrogen cycle to finish properly (again read up on the cycle).

 

[Jimmi]

I’ve checked the water with the paper things and it all looks good. I’ve removed some of the light as I’ve read too much light can cause problems. Hopefully this will solve the issue.it had an LED light bar and 2 flouro tubes so I turned off the flouros

 

[Fluff34567]

Oh.. you have angels and tetras together! angels will eat anything that fit in their mouth.. the tetras are live bait.

What other fish do you have in the same tank ?

 

[Mud Digger]

Tank needs cleaning the bottom gravel has what is sitting on the leaves .. get a air operated tube Vac and vacuum the gravel the under gravel filter is sucking the crud down into the gravel pick off the damaged leaves but they might clean up when vacced

put all you lights on till you want to watch the fish then set the mood lighting less you running grow LED lights the flouro tubes probably are the plants need light check your not over feeding set a timer on lighting for about 14 - 16 hrs a day theres some great filters on the market now

 

[Merryman]

Hi Jimmi, Tropical Fish are like yachts, Mohos and yes camper vans. Can never leave a shop without buying something. Shame the libraries are shut, as some light bed time reading, etc. Different fish like different water alkali / acid and then temperature. Most starters tend to go for what is loosely called a Community Tank. i.e. fish that are fairly tolerant and to each other. Prolific breeding Guppies, Mollies and Swordtails are great live food for Angels and Cichlids and the like. In a community tank say 36' long X 18" wide. Maybe and all personal choice for colour and price. But for a real novice / learner. 2 Pr Fancy long tailed Guppies, 1Pr Red tailed Swordfish, 1pr, Green Swords, a couple of pairs of Mollies, the sail fin are very attractive. A Bronze Catfish, a sucking Loach and perhaps a red tailed shark. Loads of colour and not over expensive. The Angels you have, look good and a good size, in the shop about £25-£30 a pair. Angels and Clown Loaches were my favourite.
Spend as much on filtration as on anything else, without it, its money in the cat or down the toilet. Hope that is of any help. TF Keeper 40 years.