Tropical Fish Forum

Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => General Fishkeeping advice => Topic started by: barneyadi on April 16, 2018, 07:09:14 PM

Title: Green slime on plastic plants/ Cleaning sponges
Post by: barneyadi on April 16, 2018, 07:09:14 PM
Hi all

Having a problem with my plastic plants. They seem to be covered in a slimy substance and then strings of green seem to come out of it. And no matter what I do it keeps coming back. Any ideas?

Also had my filter sponges for a while now and wondering how best to change them or give them a good clean without loosing the bacteria. They are also slightly slimy.

any help much appreciated.
Title: Re: Green slime on plastic plants/ Cleaning sponges
Post by: fcmf on April 16, 2018, 09:11:38 PM
Are you able to take a pic of your plastic plants and the slime which is coming off them - is it possible that it's algae coating them?

Filter sponges should just be given a gentle squeeze in being-discarded tank water during the water change; that way, you'll not lose too much of the beneficial bacteria.

Only if they're disintegrating, which oughtn't to happen, should they be replaced - and, in that case, only replace 1/3 at a time to avoid losing too much beneficial bacteria at a time, then wait a few weeks before changing another 1/3, etc. The best way to only replace 1/3 is to cut any new filter sponge to the same size as the piece being removed.

Hope that helps.
Title: Re: Green slime on plastic plants/ Cleaning sponges
Post by: barneyadi on April 17, 2018, 02:11:57 PM
Hi I think it is an algae issue. One of the plants was covered in the slime green stuff, not sure where it is all coming from as other tank hardly has any. Could it be an overfeeding issue?
Tried posting pics but not working for some reason.
Title: Re: Green slime on plastic plants/ Cleaning sponges
Post by: Helen on April 17, 2018, 04:18:35 PM
Does this help identify the green slime?
http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm
Title: Re: Green slime on plastic plants/ Cleaning sponges
Post by: Dalto00 on November 11, 2022, 05:00:19 PM
Cleaning plastic aquarium plants is not that complicated. However, you must be careful in cleaning them by simply following the steps on how to clean aquarium plants. Boiling water alone sometimes won’t remove the algae. The vinegar mixture is great for removing the calcium residue build-up. Instead of spending hours scrubbing the plastic aquarium plants, soaking them in a vinegar mixture will save you hours.
Title: Re: Green slime on plastic plants/ Cleaning sponges
Post by: Matt on November 12, 2022, 01:52:51 AM
Sounds like a filamentous algae. You could try a black out for a few days to try and kill it off. 3 days of the tank completely covered with no light getting in at all.