General Care Discussion :: Orange colored surface on plants and rocks

[karbay]

I have an orange colored slimy surface that forms on the rocks and plants. Cleaned the tank a few days ago and it appeare 3 days later. Cleaned it again and it came back 2 days later. Thought it was the basking area loosing its color, so i change to a different one an that didnt help. Have 2 filters that are rated twice the size of the tank, so i know the water is clean. What could it be?

[DaddySkittles]

gold algae possibly

[karbay]

But where is this coming from help someone its driving me crazy

[BullDog]

What sort of food do you feed? The Nutrafin Gammerus (sp?) pellets are pretty orange, and I found it made Ralph's poop orange, and as a result, an orangy scum could build up on stuff in the tank...

[karbay]

I read on some posts that the uvb and uva lights can help algae grow. I have been keeping his uvb light on 24/7. Is it okay to turn them both off at night? We live in an area that is warm, 82 degrees today, so I know he wont be getting cold.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

The basking lights are only supposed to be on for 12 hours max, it is OK if you turn them off at night. He needs to sleep too you know.

[aeo]

I think that's moss grown. The light should be on less than 10 hours a day.

[marisa]

Twelve hours on average is OK to have the lights on.

[kikicool]

so it's probably the light, then. Perhaps the type of algae that is growing (orange) has to do with the UVB rays at night--no other light source. So a microorganism that has more of another substance than chlorophyll can grow? Just a thought. Try cleaning agan and then turning off lights at night. AFter a week, let us know what happens! I love learning about different growths. Weird, yeah, but I know I'm a dork.

[SpotsMama]

Some bacteria colonies that grow on wet surfaces are orange.