What is this stuff?

[thominil]

Hi,
About a month ago I got this white growth and it keeps coming back over and over again. I was searching AA for a pic because I don't have a camera and found one:http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=12293&d=1194396006. I was wondering if anybody knows what this stuff is?

Thanks, Thom

 

[thominil]

O, ya i forgot to say it's in both of my tanks a 29g and 10g

 

[Alaris]

Looks like a fungus?

 

[thominil]

I thought it was some kind of bacteria at first?

 

[Zagz]

How often is it coming back? Is there left over food at the bottom of the tank ever?

 

[thominil]

Rarely there is food left at the bottom, it comes back like every 6-10 hours. My 29g was covered in in so saturday night i got rid of as much as I could and when I woke up it was starting to grow back a litte.

 

[Zagz]

Does it grow back in the same spot only? Have you checked under the substrate to see if there is something rotting there?

Do you have gravel or sand for substrate?

 

[thominil]

It comes back all over. I have black gravel. There is fish poo under there is that whats causing it?

 

[rich311k]

How often do you change water and gravel vacuum? How much do you feed? It could be from an excess of meaty foods.

 

[thominil]

Gah sorry about the late responses.
I change my water about every 3-4 days mostly 3 sometimes I let it slip to 5
Hmmmmmm......meaty foods? I feed them flake foods.
I do give the fish in the 10g bloodworms.
I feed once a day at night.

 

[Zagz]

Do you stir the sand regularily to prevent gas pockets? Try stirring up the sand where it occurs every water change and see if it comes back. No idea for sure but certainly can't hurt to try.

 

[Alaris]

It comes back all over. I have black gravel. There is fish poo under there is that whats causing it?

OP has gravel, not sand.

 

[thominil]

so...... should I try not feeding them (fish) for a day or 2 and do like a 20% pwc to try depriving it of its food source? Also it doesn't seem to like pwc's much I did one last night and it didn't come back as much.

 

[Alaris]

Vacuum the gravel first. And feed less food. You should only be feeding what the fish can eat in a few minutes.

 

[thominil]

Not much to cut back on for the feeding theres 15 fish in there i stick in like 10 bloodworms and maybe 10-15 and 1 algea wafer for the sae flakes and i feed once a day as mentioned... so do I just take out the bloodworms for a few days? And then do the pwc?

 

[Alaris]

Do pwc weekly like usual. Test your water. WHENEVER ammonia and/or nitrItes is .50ppm or more, do a 50% water change. WHENEVER nitrAtes are 40ppm or higher, do a 50% water change, however this shouldn't be necessary if you are keeping up with your weekly maintenance.

 

[Zagz]

My bad, I can't read. I would vac the gravel as suggested and make sure there is nothing under it that has accumulated and is causing a fungus. Alaris is right about doing 50% or more water change whenever the nitrites and ammonia get to .5 ppm.

 

[thominil]

It went away!!!


It went away finally!! thanks guys!