fungusonmytoe

So i bought a fish tank second hand a couple of months ago and at the back bottom of the tank there were about 2 or 3'' of what i thought looked like paint, i figured it was some kind of paint or something that she had added to the outside of the glass so i just left it.

It turns out its on the inside of the glass and its spreading! now its almost half way up the glass! its hard to scratch off too,i have to do it really hard with my finger nails to even get the surface of it off.

Here is a pic of a few patches that have started to form on the front of the tank, does anyone know what this is? or how i can get it off without emptying the tank and scratching it off (which i don't want to do because i'm afraid i'll scratch the glass)

Thanks!
Rachel

Attached Images

red mystery coating.jpg (212.5 KB, 13 views)

capekate

hmmmm at first when I saw your post, I thought it may be diatoms. But Diatoms are very easy to wipe off. It must be some kind of algae.

~ kate

fungusonmytoe

how can i get rid of it?

capekate

If it is a true algae in your tank a algae eater is a good idea. Or those stiff algae brushes they sell in the LFS would work too. If it was diatoms and easy to come off like mine are, I use a soft sponge to wipe everything off when I do water changes.

~ kate