Bad Algae

Crowned_Sock

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I cleaned off the glass yesterday and there was nothing on it, now a lot is covered, bubbles are stuck to the glass, and my Xenia closed up, do I need to worry? I'm doing a water change later. The tank is 29 gallons and I change 5-10 gallons per week

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sixty_reefer

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How old is this aquarium? It look new, is there any reason in particular on why you want to do a water change?
 

Fish Fan

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Are the 'Bubbles' maybe Copepods, which are very small Crustaceans, and very beneficial to the aquarium; a good sign of a healthy, maturing tank. Try staring at a small patch of the 'bubbles' o the glass, and see if one or two don't suddenly dart around the glass while you're staring at them 🙂
 

Dan_P

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I cleaned off the glass yesterday and there was nothing on it, now a lot is covered, bubbles are stuck to the glass, and my Xenia closed up, do I need to worry? I'm doing a water change later. The tank is 29 gallons and I change 5-10 gallons per week
The bubbles could be oxygen bubbles produced by the golden organism growing on the glass, possibly a diatom. The Xenia may be closed for another reason. These two events wouldn’t necessarily indicate that extra water changes are required.

Just a heads up, the R2R members will be asking for more information about your aquarium in response to your possible next questions: how do I get rid of the golden algae and how do I respond to a closed up Xenia.
 

Submerge

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What are you running for filtraton? Any idea what any of the water parameters are? This is looking like an ugly stage to me - everyone gets them to some level.
 
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Crowned_Sock

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What are you running for filtraton? Any idea what any of the water parameters are? This is looking like an ugly stage to me - everyone gets them to some level.
I have the HOB filter that came with the tank, I have not checked the parameters yet.
 

Submerge

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I have the HOB filter that came with the tank, I have not checked the parameters yet.
I'll make a guess that you have climbing nitrates and phosphates feeding algae you do want to feed. But without more detail really hard to help you. If this is like a petsmart or petco 29G kit, the filter is probably not up to the level you want it to be. Something like this maybe?

Screenshot 2026-05-25 at 2.36.19 PM.png
 
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Crowned_Sock

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I'll make a guess that you have climbing nitrates and phosphates feeding algae you do want to feed. But without more detail really hard to help you. If this is like a petsmart or petco 29G kit, the filter is probably not up to the level you want it to be. Something like this maybe?

Screenshot 2026-05-25 at 2.36.19 PM.png
I bought the 29 gallon Tetra kit from Amazon, and my parameters are as follows:
Ammonia ~0.1ppm
Calcium ~420ppm
KH ~220ppm
Phosphate ~0.25ppm
Nitrate ~15ppm
Nitrite ~0.3ppm
pH ~7.7
 

Mr. Mojo Rising

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I'm not sure, but it looks like there is a window beside the tank? If yes, that might be part of the problem, sunlight hitting the tank can make algae grow and it makes the film algae on the glass grow faster.
 

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