Eeeek! White fuzz attacking filter!

[bobynn]

Please help. What is it?! Why is it?! How do I make it go away?!

Photos here:

https://www.icloud.com/journal/#1;CAEQARoQJJAzXOWajK7dQH8S05wcDw;021CF45C-CF8D-4E34-B19C-DFA51D90304B


10-gallon tank, about a year old with standard, back-of-tank filter
2 guppies, 1 golden algae eater, 1 mystery snail - all seem healthy and happy
2 lumps of anubias nana, 1 leafy something with green/red leaves

 

[librarygirl]

That looks like a mold or fungus of some sort. Your media looks black too. Have you ever washed the media out in old tank water? What type of filter and what media is in it?

I'd take the media out and swish it/squeeze it good in old tank water. Then clean the filter housing itself with something.....maybe vinegar and water?

Also how much and how often do you feed? Overfeeding can cause food to get into the filter and rot.

 

[bobynn]

Yeeaaah, I'm thinking some sort of fungus too. I'm not sure what the media consists of - something meshy. It's whatever comes standard with a basic Aqua-Tech 5-15 power filter. I think the media only looks black due to the way the room/photo is lit...and the case is black...the media doesn't look black at all in person, though. I haven't ever rinsed the media, so that could very well be my problem. Occasionally I'll sort of "pump" it up and down, but in general I've been going with the newbie advice to leave it alone. I change the carbon cartridge (the blue thing in the first photo) regularly.


I generally feed approx. 2-3 flakes, crumbled, once a day. I think it's more likely that plant debris is a problem. I had a huge wisteria in tank for quite a while and keeping up with stray/decaying leaves was a constant battle. (All my fish loved it, but my algae eater was way too rough.) I finally pulled it, along with another plant that never really took off in my tank.


I'll try what you've suggested here, and see how that goes. Thanks!