"Dust Bunnies" on my substrate

[Antler]

Hey folks. I've got a 20L that's been cycled for a while now with a rainbow shark and a blue Florida crayfish.
Saturday afternoon I added 6 black neon tetras and 6 CPD's. They are doing great and started to brighten up almost immediately. I attempted to feed them Saturday night and I may have fed a little much, combined with the fact they didn't eat too much I had some food left laying around the substrate. I figured the cray would take care of it and didnt think anything of it. Sunday morning there was little "dust bunny" looking things on the bottom.

Is it harmful?

Besides waiting for the wife to go to work and sucking it out with the turkey baster, how can I get rid of it?

Would some sort of Pleco take care of the excess food should this happen again?

 

[Fresh2o]

I think the dust bunnies are actually the excess food particles with a growth of fungus. I would do a water change and siphon out the excess food. Otherwise it will negatively impact the water quality.
IMO I would not add anything to cleanup a preventable incident. Matter of fact, the fish would do fine feeding less than more.

 

[Antler]

I think the dust bunnies are actually the excess food particles with a growth of fungus. I would do a water change and siphon out the excess food. Otherwise it will negatively impact the water quality.
IMO I would not add anything to cleanup a preventable incident. Matter of fact, the fish would do fine feeding less than more.

Ok thanks. I have done a 50% water change and tried to get most of it out but there's a fair amount that has gotten between some rocks that I can't get. I was more lookin to find out if there was a common fish or invert to clean up what I can't get.

 

[josh7]

If it's a 20l a rainbow shark has no business being in there at all. Neither does any neon tetra IMO. I would either do micro fish a single blue crayfish or a single Betta. I agree these "dust bunnies" are just rotten food.

 

[Antler]

If it's a 20l a rainbow shark has no business being in there at all. Neither does any neon tetra IMO. I would either do micro fish a single blue crayfish or a single Betta. I agree these "dust bunnies" are just rotten food.

Im not sure if you misunderstood? By 20L i meant 20 Gallon Long, not 20 Liter. The rainbow shark Is an inch long and will be moved to a 55 gallon in a month or two. Is a 20 Long really too small for neon tetras?

 

[josh7]

Oh my bad I thought you meant 20 liters. Sorry about that I was like wow that's way to many fish for a 20 liter.

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

I've had these show up in my tanks as well, they're just rotten food. Are they little white balls with a darker dot in the middle? That is what mine looked like, I just did a bunch of water changes and vacuumed regularly and they all disappeared. Also, feeding less helps.

 

[Antler]

I've had these show up in my tanks as well, they're just rotten food. Are they little white balls with a darker dot in the middle? That is what mine looked like, I just did a bunch of water changes and vacuumed regularly and they all disappeared. Also, feeding less helps.

Thanks. When this happened I had fed them new "color enhancing" flake food, and they don't seem to want it. If I go back to the normal flaked food there's never any left on the bottom. I'm gonna have to move some rocks and try to vacuum it up.

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

Thanks. When this happened I had fed them new "color enhancing" flake food, and they don't seem to want it. If I go back to the normal flaked food there's never any left on the bottom. I'm gonna have to move some rocks and try to vacuum it up.

Yeah I found most of mine under my rocks/decorations. My angelfish ate one once...I was kinda worried lol
He was fine though.

 

[Antler]

Yeah I found most of mine under my rocks/decorations. My angelfish ate one once...I was kinda worried lol
He was fine though.

Sounds good thanks everyone for all the help!

 

[Delapool]

Thanks. When this happened I had fed them new "color enhancing" flake food, and they don't seem to want it. If I go back to the normal flaked food there's never any left on the bottom. I'm gonna have to move some rocks and try to vacuum it up.

I get this as well. I get a good flake food with colour enhancing, doesn't dirty the water and more vitamins then you can poke a stick at and they are not keen. The normal cheaper stuff wins any day. Ungrateful lot.

 

[Antler]

**** I think I may have killed my rainbow shark. While sucking up the detritus using a 3/8" Homebrewing siphon to get into the tight spots I sucked up the shark. Quickly got him back into the tank but he's limping around.

 

[Sillyfishies]

**** I think I may have killed my rainbow shark. While sucking up the detritus using a 3/8" Homebrewing siphon to get into the tight spots I sucked up the shark. Quickly got him back into the tank but he's limping around.

He should recover. A lot of people have sucked up their fish.

CPDs have no place with that stocking list. They don't belong with any fish that arent nano fish.

 

[Delapool]

Did that 2 weeks back with a rosy barb. Put api stress coat in just in case and looks back to normal. Hope it is ok.

 

[Antler]

Did that 2 weeks back with a rosy barb. Put api stress coat in just in case and looks back to normal. Hope it is ok.

Well he's now gone. Sucks but it's my own fault I guess. The water I was sucking up was pretty dirty with a lot of sand in it, which is probably the cause of death.
Strangely while he was limping around the bottom my crayfish (who shared a cave with the shark) walked over top of him and stayed there for a good 10 minutes. I was certain it was snack time at that point but the cray walked on again and would not eat him, even after he died. Maybe they really were buddies.

 

[Delapool]

Yes, sad news. Couldn't agree more.

 

[Baddog671]

My fish huddle in the opposite side of the tank when the vacuum tube is in action, except for my 2 mollies. They like to see what's going on, so I have to be careful.

I always vacuum when doing a waterchange and let it siphon into a 5 gallon bucket. Get's way more stuff out than just dipping out water, and my pleco is messy anyways so that makes vacuuming even more important...