Blue Flecks in Tank

Question
Hi!  I my tank has been running great for several years.  I have community fish and live plants.  I bought a couple fish a couple months ago and have had nothing but problems since.  I am down to 4 tetras and a bottom feeder. It looks like my bottomfeeder is sick now. I want to add fish but want the tankt to settle first.  I have some algea on the plant leaves - dark green and heavy in spots but not much overall.  When I look closely I see tiny irredescent bright blue flecks on the plants and gravel.  Could this be some disease or algea afflicting the tank?  Thanks, Karen

Answer
Good afternoon Karen, thank you for your question.

The blue flecks you describe sound to me like they could be one of two things. First, it could be cyanobacteria. Not exactly algae, it is blue-green. It looks like the picture:
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/algae_erythromycin.html

If that is indeed the problem, the article outlines treatment options. You could also look here and here:
http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/detail.aspx?aid=9481&cid=3787&search=
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/maintenance1/p/algaebluegreen.htm

Another less likely possibility is that you have a painted decoration in your aquarium. Even decorations found in pet stores will eventually succumb to the ultimate eroder, water. The better quality decorations should last a year or more, but all will eventually lose some color. That should not result in visible flecks, but if you do have a painted decoration, make sure it is not breaking down in the aquarium and causing the blue flecks you describe. Also, as a general rule, never put anything in the aquarium that you did not purchase from the pet store - ceramic cups and clay pots are some of the exceptions.

I suspect your problem is the former. The root of the problem could be excess nutrients/organics in your aquarium, excess light, overfeeding, or any combination of the above. The best way to determine this would be to perform a water test. Make sure that your levels are 0 ppm for ammonia and nitrite and that nitrates are 20 ppm or less. I suspect your nitrates may be on the high side. These are stubborn to bring down, unfortunately. You will not usually see a lasting change until a month later, after you have changed out >100% of the water - I usually recommend 40-50% weekly for 1 month, to reduce nitrates.

I am missing a few key pieces of information to try and give you a better idea of what is happening. First off, how large is your tank, and what kind of bottomfeeder is it? Bottomfeeder is just a descriptive term for the fish, just as surface-dweller is. For exampple, you could have catfish such as those in the Synodontis family, or corydoras, or you may have a type of plecostomus. If you have a common plecostomus, all but the largest tank will be able to permanently house this variety of pleco, which grows to over 1' and produces a terrfic amount of waste!

What is your maintenance schedule? Weekly water changes, weekly servicing of the filter via rinsing or replacing media, and a light gravel vac at least once a month - these are all recommended to keep your tank looking its prime.

Since you have a planted tank, you have a special situation. What are you using for substrate? Are you fertilizing regularly? Overfertilization is just as much of a problem as a lack thereof. Do not fertilize more than your plants need. How much do they need? It depends on factors such as lighting (how many watts per gallon in your fish tank?) and whether you are using CO2 fertilization.

Here's a bit about keeping a live plant balanced:
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/balance-randall.html

A simple keyword search in Google such as...
live plants aquarium
..can give you an idea of where to begin reading. You could also try a book such as The Simple Guide to Planted Aquariums, by Terry Ann Barber and Rhonda Wilson. Her website (RW) is below: http://naturalaquariums.com/

Another possibility is that with the addition of new fish, you introduced a pathogen into your tank such as ich, a protozoan parasite. However, you don't make mention of your fish becoming sick (except for the bottomfeeder being sick - maybe) or of medicating. This could be your problem in and of itself, since medications applied to the main tank cause ammonia spikes and harm to the biological filter. Avoid adding chemicals to your tank, such as pH up or down solutions. These generally do more harm than good.

I hope I have given you some things to think about. Nearly all of the websites I referred to discuss algae to some extent, because it is so common a nuisance, manifesting itself in so many forms. Lots of algae is just unsightly, but others, such as cyanobacteria, are a red flag that something is amiss in the tank. Please write back with the answers to the questions I asked throughout, if you would like me to examine your situation more in depth.

Thanks for writing, feel free to write again.
Nicole