slime coating for freshwater tank?

I find I've developed a slight one. Wavy, green slime (almost grass-like but much finer) on the front of my tank. Is this beneficial for freshwater fish? Or should I clean it off?
I tested the water, and it's fine.
Thanks!
~J*

 

Sounds like algae Algae uses any extra nutrients and/or light available in the tank.
Extra water changes should help. Let us know how you are doing
also check here and see if you can ID your algae.
Carol

 

yea, i'd clean it off and think about reducing the amount of sunlight that it gets (if possible).

 

Thank you very much, guys! I cleaned the entire tank, including that, and now the fish are back in (I put them in a mini-tank while I cleaned). I hope that works!
My room is very shaded, with the curtains always drawn, so I'm not sure how it got in. Perhaps the recent horribly hot weather did it.
~J*

 

How did you clean the tank?
Carol

 

I take out the water and replace it, rinse the rocks a bit, and I wiped down the algae. I allowed it to cycle for a bit before putting the fish back in.
Is that ok?
~J*

 

Hopefully you cleaned the rocks with treated tap water.. untreated tap water kills off the good bacteria. you might want to check you tank parameters in a day or 2 to check on it's status.

 

I put in prime just after I put the water back in. I hope that helped. I should have thought to clean the rocks with prime-y water, perhaps.
~J*

 

Do you have fish in your tank? How long has it been set up?
The term cycle as in your tank cycling refers to beneficial bacteria building up in your tank. This usually takes about 6-8 weeks to complete.
Here are some articles I would recommend you read before you go any farther.

especially the one on th nitrogen cycle.
https://www.fishlore.com/Articles/TheNitrogenCycle.htm
Hope that helps Hang in there.
Carol

 

I put in prime just after I put the water back in. I hope that helped. I should have thought to clean the rocks with prime-y water, perhaps.
~J*

Yea.. I didn't know and would use untreated tap water for a while after we started to clean.. most or all of the bacteria in the rocks might have died, but you've still got the bacteria in the sponge and it should help bring or keep the tank at cycled status.. if it was already cycled.

 

Thanks, Carol!
~J*

 

Welcome as always
Carol

 

So, even if the rocks are rather dirty, I should leave them be?
Thanks!
~J*

 

So, even if the rocks are rather dirty, I should leave them be?
Thanks!
~J*

no, it's ok to clean them.. usually people use a vacuum or turkey baster to clean the substrata. you just don't want chlorine to kill good bacteria, that's why it's best to use treated water in a bowl to clean stuff in, like the filter sponge, etc.

 

So, squirt the rocks with clean water but don't remove them? And just try to suck out the dirty water that comes up from them?
Thanks,
~J*

 

usually just swishing/cleaning them(rocks, decor) in used tank water will do the trick, thus preserving the beneficial bacteria growing on them. If the tank is truly cycled(readings of ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and Nitrates about 20) scrubbing and totally cleaning the tank can put it through a minI cycle which will stress your fish. Removing the fish from the tank is not necessary when cleaning your tank, that too is stressful.
Carol

 

Ok, thank you. So I will just take out a third of the water every couple of weeks or so; that would probably work better, and they could stay in there.
This will probably be regarded as a silly question, but how do I tell the difference between the nitrates and the nitrates? Since they have the same name.
Thanks,
~J*

 

Yea, usually regular cleaning will suffice for the substrata but if you do feel like taking it out to clean it, just keep it in a big bowl of treated tap water and you'll be fine. We clean our tanks once a week and do about a 25% water change each week.

fish waste and leftover food produces ammonia... ammonia leads to good bacteria that eat it and produce nitrites, then nitrites lead to good bacteria that eat it and produce nitrates.. all forms of nitrogen-based chemicals. (that's why 'the nitrogen cycle') https://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm describes it nicely.

 

This will probably be regarded as a silly question, but how do I tell the difference between the nitrates and the nitrates? Since they have the same name.
Thanks,
~J*

There are no silly questions. They are NitrItes and NitrAtes Your water test kit should have tests for both.
Carol
Carol