Green patches on SUBSTRATE/Soil

[JATIN]

Hello All!

I have a Walstad style low-tech freshwater planted tank (40G). Tank gets some indirect sunlight through window for about 3-4 hours a day.
I also have 27W CFL white which I keep switched on for about 10 hours/day. This is home for about 18 Neon Tetra and lot of plants like cobomba, baby tears, amazon, and some others which I havent identified yet. All flora & fauna are doing very well.

Here is the problem:
On the "sunny-side" of the aquarium, I noticed green moss-like or algae-like patches on the SUBSTRATE (garden soil) (looking through glass from the side). This problem does NOT exist on the other sides which do not get DIRECT sunlight.

To solve the problem, this morning, I have placed a 4 inch wide and 20 inch long strip of wood outside the tank to act as light-barrier for the substrate.

Questions:
1. What is this substance? Is it self-grown moss? or algae?
2. Is direct sunlight the cause of this or something else?
3. Is this substance harmful v/s helpful to the substrate or the tank in general?

Thanks & Regards,
Jatin

 

[Tug]

Cyanobacteria

Sounds as if you have Blue-Green Algae. It will start to smell of rotting eggs at some point. Dusko Bojic's has an informative article on differing forms of algea were he also talks about BGA - scroll down to the end. Introduction to algae issues; by Dusko Bojic. You can also find more then a few discussions here on the Barr Report.

 

[Biollante]

Visualize Whirled Peas—Act Globally, Think Locally!


Hi Jatin,

Tug is probably correct, if it feels slimy and especially if it is stinky, it is cyanobacteria…

As far as his buddy Che Guebuddha and the hackneyed oft repeated drivel,

• I say, can we not find another path,
• a third way as it were,
• a path to true enlightenment and happiness
  • where we all live in peace and harmony.

When we find oneness, we find that the stinky-slimy stuff growing in your tank is part of the whole.:sentimental:

The sunlight provided more energy, the cyanobacteria seeking employment in these tough economic times sets about the honorable task of providing balance, while asking nothing of you, but a little tolerance.:tears_of_joy:

The garden soil, you provided, is not “mineralized” and is therefore providing nutrients to the water column. The sunlight is doing for your tank what sunlight does for the hunk of space debris we visualize as our home, provides energy.

When you installed the strip of wood, you “balanced” the tank

• causing the unemployment of gazillions of bacteria;
• with no employment,
  • they have no way to feed themselves or their burgeoning families.

Their society collapses, so unless you ruthlessly rip their colonies from the tank all those nutrients plus the energy sequestered will now cause a greater imbalance.:cower:

Biollante

 

[JATIN]

Thanks Tug. Thanks Biollante for very interesting perspective, I loved it, and also realized what I may be doing. Even I will prefer non-invasive ways of achieving balance. I am just trying to be extra protective of the tank (probably like any newbie) especially since the all plants are showing luxuriant growth. Even my anubias (which I read are slow-grow) are developing one new leaf almost every week. I guess I will have to get my hands dirty with a test-kit to get a measure of the imbalance.

 

[Biollante]

The Trash Man Cometh

Hi Jatin,

Truthfully, I wouldn’t bother with test kits, the imbalance will take care of itself. :gw

Tug brings out my, shall we say, my creative side… I cannot help myself.:cower:

You probably corrected the problem by installing the wood to block the light.

Now it is just a matter of cleaning out the crud. :encouragement:

One of the points I was trying to make was that the BGA is actually helpful in sequestering the organic material, but is of course itself, organic material and the ultimate export job is yours.

The only advice I would have given was rather than using something like a board which blocks the light entirely, I would have encouraged you to filter the light with a cloth or something to allow the light in that area of the tank to have the same “brightness” or PAR value the rest of the tank has.

Biollante