My tubes are infected

[amagad]

I started to notice a growth in my entrance/exit tubes to my canister filter. If I pinch the tubes hard enough, the growth will let lose and into the can. Any ideas what it is and is it a good idea to clean them out? I do have some aquatic plants also so I dont know if that is a contributing factor. Theres some growth on these sword like plants that have brown crust on the leaves, I tried to wipe them off but the crust wont barge.




I just finished the tank cycle so my ammonia/nitrites are 0 and nitrate at 5.














Heres the growth on these plants im talking about.

[kcrunch]

I have the same but there is no problem with the tank that is healthy bacteria production there. I am looking for a good algae eater to solve the growth on the plants, I was thinking of Siamese algae eaters but I dont know how they would bear with my Cichlids. Plus I have my lights on for a good number of hours as well. I am sure I could cut back on the growth if I cut my light time back but I dont really want to screw with the plant growth.

[graceful.04]

Oto Catfish are a great solution to both of your problems. They generally aren't bothered by anyone, they're tiny so the won't produce a huge bioload, and they're just completely adorable!

[lohachata]

well.....no otos with the africans...completely different needs and the africans will eat them in a heartbeat...
siamese should do ok as they are much faster swimmers than the africans and don't mind the higher PH too much..

[kcrunch]

I am still working on the house doing so many things but as soon as I can I am going to make a trip to LFS and see if they have any Siamese Algae Eaters. I have been thinking about them for some time now I might get 2 or 3 not too many.

[mousey]

SAE's eat hair algae but i never found them too good with brown diatoms.
Also as they age they get big and lazy and steal the flake food-- sometimes they hog so much the other fish starve. Think carefully before buying them. Make sure as they get too big that you can return them to the store or other wise rehouse them.