Green Spots on Artificial Plants in an Aquarium

• Green spots should not suddenly appear on artificial plants. Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

  Artificial plants provide many advantages over live plants and as attractive as live plants. They do not need special lighting or nutrients. Plant-eating species like goldfish cannot consume artificial plants. But artificial plants are not maintenance free. They do need to be regularly removed from the tank and scrubbed. Look at them once a day as they sit inside of the tank for any discolorations like green spots; these are not normal and should be removed immediately to prevent contaminating the fish's environment.

Algae

• Algae can come in several colors, including various shades of green, and begin growing on artificial plants or other tank decorations in small spots or stripes. Eventually algae will spread and cover the tank in a thick, fuzzy slime. Algae is not preventable and it is present in all aquariums, but it is manageable. Scrape algae off of any tank walls. Brush off any on equipment inside of the tank. Then do a partial water change to best remove the loosened algae, according to "Freshwater Aquarium Problem Solver." Remove the artificial plants and clean them with a brush that is used only for cleaning aquarium decorations. Wash this brush by soaking it in very hot water. Adding detergents to the brush could introduce these potentially deadly chemicals into the tank water and kill the fish.

Bleach

• New artificial plants need to be sterilized before being placed into a tank. Commercial artificial plant cleaners often contain sodium hypoclorite or bleach. Very rarely, this may cause spots of a color lighter to appear on an artificial plant. If the plant is dark green, then light green spots could be due to bleach.

Snails

• Snails can accidentally be introduced into an aquarium, especially if a live plant is added. Sometimes young snails may appear as spots of various colors, including green. One species that is olive or green is Melanoides tuberculata, or the Malaysian burrowing snail. Other species that can appear with green shells include the Pomacea bridgesi and members of the Neritidae family, usually called nerites. Snails may need to be removed if they are completely covering decorations and tank walls.