Strange Web-like things on my plants and substrate...?

[Adamjlx]

Hello everybody!

I just started to grow my Dwarf Hair Grass (DHG) with the dry start method.

Day 1 - I planted them in (No issues).

Day 2 - Growth overnight already (No issues).

Day 3 - I start to see these spidery web things growing. They even grow on the substrate (Using ADA Amazonia)

What on earth are these things? been searching all over the internet, but there isn't much information on these or how to get rid of them.

I cover my tank with the tank cover, and maybe it's due to not enough oxygen getting into the tank?

I just opened the top to let oxygen go in, and i noticed the threads on the DHG started to vanish...but not sure. Going to keep a eye on it.

Insight and help would be appreciated!

I used to try to plant HC, and these webs just dominated them overnight...

Thanks everyone!!

 

[Fishfur]

It is fungus. Might be mildew, a type of fungus, very common in soils unless they are sterilized, but the spores are everywhere and will get in to any damp area with food they can grow on.

You can knock back the fungus with a spray of baking soda and water. One teaspoon baking soda, not baking powder, to a quart. Spray until wet. It knocks down the fruiting bodies of the fungus and prevents it from reproducing but unless the conditions that caused it are changed it likely will come back.

The conditions that fungi like best are very high humidity and warmth, which is what they get in that closed tank. Best to use sterile media to start with, but there is no practical way to stop all fungi, they are just too common in air, spores are blown all over the place.

I'd allow some air into the tank to lower the humidity a bit all the time. Just don't cover it fully, leave a small gap, maybe a gap on each end if you can. Or prop up the lid a bit off the tank top. You have already seen that helps, and it will make the conditions far less favourable for the fungus.

They also don't care for alkaline conditions, and that's why the baking soda works. It will not harm anything else and the amount you will use should not have any effect on the tank later, because the amount used is quite small.

 

[Adamjlx]

Thanks Fishfur! I'll have to give it a try. I left the opening of the tank (I have a Fluval Edge 42L) with a modified lighting system so the vent at the top is sealed) off all night and there are no signs of the Fungus this morning. So definitely it had to do with the amount of moisture and humidity that was trapped in the tank when the hood was on. I have sprayed the mixture you mentioned about in the tank and will keep watch.

 

[Fishfur]

Good luck, so long as it has a bit of ventilation should be good.