What is all over my decorations?

[5x5]

My tank is about a month old and do I PWC very frequently (still cycling).

In the past week or so, I have noticed strange white-ish build up between the crevices and on my fake rock / cave decorations.

I'm not sure what it is, or if I should clean it. It's white and almost looks like little clouds or spider webs.

Any ideas what I am seeing?

 

[Fishkeeper26]

It may be fungus, can you post a pic?

 

[5x5]

Yes, I'll get one uploaded after work tonight.

Is fungus common? How about after only a month? I don't have any algae issues on the tank glass...etc.

 

[Fishkeeper26]

It may just be from over feeding, it can be a result from a build up of organic waste (like food)

 

[5x5]

If that turns out to be the case, should I take out the decoration and clean it? I have been hesistant to do that because I have been going through a painfully slow cycling period and don't want to disrupt any bacteria colonies that could be forming on the decoration.

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Are there any fish in the tank?

 

[5x5]

Yes, I'm cycling with fish. There are cherry barbs and danios. I probably am overfeeding.

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Ok that may be why

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I've seen and heard of it in newer tanks, mostly tanks cycling fishless, using ammo and on DW. IMO/E it's a fungus that will go away and yes during PWC, either try to vacuum it out, or loosen it and vac it or use your net to scoop it. Either way, rinse the tools off in HOT tap water afterwards to kill anything that may linger.

 

[5x5]

Here is a picture of it. I made some small red arrows pointing to it, but as you can see, its all over the rock crevices

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Kinda hard to see in the pic, but a brand new toothbrush works great for getting into those tight spots. Cleaning it up with the vacuum going gets it out of the tank.

Looks like a cool castle decco though .

 

[5x5]

Thanks! Haha

I gave it a cleaning this morning with my free toothbrush I got from the dentist last week. I didn't have to scrub it, just making contact with it make it kind of float off the castle rocks.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Good to hear. I got that junk in 1 tank, but the other 3 never got it. Go figure.

The question I have is, where's a full pic of the cool looking castle decco? lol

 

[5x5]

Here it is: I've made some changes lately, but this shows the castle in the center.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Very cool looking

I want to do a theme based tank soon. Just gotta convince my GF to let me have another tank in the house lol.

 

[5x5]

Any ideas for a theme? I would like a much larger (maybe 180 Gallon) downstairs, but I have some convincing to do as well. I also worry about the fact that the temperature is hard to keep constant throughout the seasons down there.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I'm thinking a beach scene, kinda like a Corona ad lol. It'll be unique to say the least and might even be a sellable setup to the right person/biz.

It would be an 8-10g tank, but I have a tank in every room right now and I don't want to bring it up until I have my SW tank up and running .

Are you talking a basement location? With a tank that big, you could have it a frontal view only and wrap the back and sides in a thermal blanket, like high density insulation to conserve heat.

 

[mdawg75]

I had that stuff on my air hoses and some decorations, early on and after dropping a small Bristle Nose Pleco in the tank it took two or three days and it was gone.

 

[5x5]

Mr Limpet,

Good idea with the thermal blanket...I never ever considered that. I remember last winter it got very cold in the basement, but I'm going to try and insulate the room a little better this fall. Do you know of anybody successfully doing a thermal wrap around 3 sides like you mentioned?

MDawg, I was thinking about getting a BN pleco once my tank cycles, so maybe that will help.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Mr Limpet,

Good idea with the thermal blanket...I never ever considered that. I remember last winter it got very cold in the basement, but I'm going to try and insulate the room a little better this fall. Do you know of anybody successfully doing a thermal wrap around 3 sides like you mentioned?

MDawg, I was thinking about getting a BN pleco once my tank cycles, so maybe that will help.

I don't know of anyone doing it on a tank, but here in CA thermal blankets are the norm on hot water tanks to conserve energy (which is where I got the idea ).

If you want a cuc, think about AES (amano shrimp) they're lean, mean cleaning machines in all my tanks, even my BW tank. Best part is they clear more than they poop, so it's a win-win.