Habitat - Indoor :: Is this algae?

[sparkleyflowers]

Hi,

I'm new around here. We have a 5" RES (I think he's a boy) who lives with three sicklets. This is his second batch of three sicklets. These ones seem to be a little bit too crafty and quick for him. They give us endless entertainment though. Sometimes he tries SO HARD to get them. It's fun to watch.

His name is Hi because well... It's easier to show you:



We've had Hi since just before Thanksgiving. Everything is going quite well. He's been active and eating since day one. He's not afraid of any of us. He'll take food from my hand (provided it is long enough that he doesn't have to get too close). AND, he LOVES romaine lettuce. He's such a good boy! ♥

Lately we've been having an issue with what I think is algae, but I'm not absolutely sure since I'm not an expert on the subject.

It starts off with bright green patches, but turns dark brown if left to its own devices.

Here are a couple pictures to show you what I mean. Hopefully someone will know what it is.





This is three weeks worth of "growth". It actually looks much darker in these pictures than in reality. I'm going to take it all apart tonight and scrub it up again.

Sometimes the bright green stuff grows on Hi's shell. I usually make some saline solution (1 cup cooled, boiled water + 1 tsp sea salt) and clean it off with a soft nail scrubber/brush.

Also- before I get bawled out about the rocks, I read the threads about small rocks being a no-no. The rocks will come out tonight, and I'll but bigger rocks for him tomorrow.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

[sparkleyflowers]

Oh... I should probably mention:

I use a large Whisper filter in a 20 gallon tank about ¾ of the way full. We change the water and suction the rocks weekly. He gets 10 hours of light a day, and sometimes basks for hours.

He eats protein type foods every other day and veggies once daily. Once a week or so, I will give him fruit. He's particularly fond of mango and banana.

The sicklets eat his left-overs. (Their names are Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner ... of course! )

[d0eb0y]

well i dont see what your talking about in the 1st pic. but the second one of the basking dock is very similiar to what my dock looks like. its only on the part that sits under water. but wether its algae or not is beyond me. maybe someone else has an idea.

[sparkleyflowers]

Thanks for the respons.

In the first pic, the area in question is the top of the structure. It's supposed to be a light beige-ish color.

[grey goose]

Yup, it's algae....sometimes it's bright green, like the edges of your dock, and sometimes it's brown, like on the ramp. I think Spotsmama did a thread on what the difference between green and brown algae is but I can't find it....at any rate it's not harmful just a little unsightly. I usually leave it alone (except for the glass, that I clean at water changes). The algae you have is probably caused by the UVB light, direct sunlight will also help it to grow.

[SpotsMama]

Too funny about his name! Hi's definitely one-of-a-kind!

And you're right - he's a boy. "Very manly tail" as someone said on another thread.

Yes, that's algae. There have been lots of posts on here lately about algae and what (if anything) to do about it. Why don't you do a search on algae and see what pops up?

Our tank has some algae like yours but we don't do anything about it. Some minnows have been living in Spot's tank (they're survivers of a live dinner) and they eat the algae.

[SpotsMama]

Wasn't me that talked about brown and green algae, but I remember a thread on the subject too.

[grey goose]

No wonder I couldn't find it!

[sparkleyflowers]

Thanks for your responses!

My main concern was that it wasn't algae at all but some kind of bacteria or fungi that could make him sick.

Great news! Thanks so much.

[d0eb0y]

Yea i just leave it alone also and before i upgraded Normans tank i had some rosies swimming around that used to eat it when they were foraging. Since his upgrade i decided to start off with just Norman in the tank. But now a few weeks later its about time i get my little guy some live bait so im sure he will have a nice dinner someday soon and also a few friends after that. I dont mind the stragglers as they do tend to keep the tank a bit cleaner. Same with the ghost shrimp. Sorry for falling a bit off topic, but anyway Sparklyflowers i think it would be ok to just leave it be.

[Pizza]

*Cichlid is the proper spelling.

Cool turtle by the way, it's a male for sure, and the marking behind is leg is one in a million,