Help! what is this orange stuff in my tank?

[ElaineB]

I have recently set up a 2.5 gallon tank with 1 betta in it. It has an UGF with regular gravel, 1 live plant and some plastic decorations. I use stress coat and stress zyme to condition my water, my nitrites are at 0.5 and nitrates 0, the tank is about 2 weeks old now. I started noticing some orange circular pellet things on my plastic plants and on the gravel.. some of them are also fuzzy around the orange. Only thing i can compare it to is a dandelion or a pollen particle. Anyone have an idea what this is?

I was able to fish one out for a picture as they are hard to see inside the tank.
Also i apologize if this is in the wrong forum

 

[Reeffanman]

Is this from a freshwater tank?

 

[completelycich]

Have you been feeding your Betta the little orange betta bites? If so, this is probably left over food that has fungus growing on it. If you think it is, just don't feed quite so much.

 

[ElaineB]

Yes this is a freshwater tank, and I feed him small pink flakes that look nothing like these things.. hmm Im still puzzled.

 

[ElaineB]

Does anyone have ANY idea what this is at all?? Theres more and more everyday and i clean it out and they come back idk what to do its really scaring me.. my betta picks at them and is bloated all the time im afraid its making him sick

 

[armymp327]

im 100% sure that is uneaten food, and you are over feeding your betta, bettas will continue to eat till they die, i only feed mine 2 small pellets twice a day and let him fast for 1 day out of the week.

pellet just looks pink at first because of additives, and has the water erodes them they turn orange ( i have the same ones).

 

[ElaineB]

i only feed him a few flakes a day and watch him eat it.. these things are multiplying like crazy and inside the gravel, could it be fungus? what can i do about this should i clean out the tank and start over?

 

[armymp327]

i still think its over feeding, since the betta is also bloated. could also just be the bettas poop. which will typically be the color or close to the color of the food he is eating.

 

[Alyxx]

i still think its over feeding, since the betta is also bloated. could also just be the bettas poop. which will typically be the color or close to the color of the food he is eating.

It looks a lot like betta poop to me.

 

[ElaineB]

Thanks for your answer! These things start out as balls and then grow fuzz so im just gonna guess is fungus of some sort.. Im just going to take everything out and wash it and maybe get a small internal filter instead of the UGF and see if that fixes it.

 

[ElaineB]

bettas poop orange balls? I never knew! But it seems like they start out on/under the gravel because i can see them them starting out small and then getting bigger and growing fuzz.

 

[Alyxx]

I feed reddish/pinkish flakes and my Bettas poop orange. Sometimes little balls like that, sometimes longer orange squiggles. They don't have the stereotypical long string of fish poop that a lot of fish have. I will,be doing a water change for the one that lives in a vase a little later today. I will try and get a picture for you for comparison.

...I'm used to taking pictures of fish, but photographing fish poop will definitely be a first for me!

 

[ElaineB]

Hmm very interesting thank you. Is it possible that they can grow in size after pooped out? Because my betta is still young and not fully grown and it seems crazy that he can poop out something a quarter his size

 

[Alyxx]

Hmm very interesting thank you. Is it possible that they can grow in size after pooped out? Because my betta is still young and not fully grown and it seems crazy that he can poop out something a quarter his size

It is possible that some kind of fungus or bacteria could be growing on the poop. If it isn't food and it isn't poop, I'm not sure what it could be.

 

[Sillyfishies]

I still think your overdressing. When I overfeed my fish, they poop A LOT.

 

[ElaineB]

Thanks for the insight guys, Il take your word for it. Its funny for so much poop Ive never actually seen him do it. Will an internal filter solve this somewhat? This is my first tank so help a dummy out!

 

[Alyxx]

Thanks for the insight guys, Il take your word for it. Its funny for so much poop Ive never actually seen him do it. Will an internal filter solve this somewhat? This is my first tank so help a dummy out!

The filter won't really suck up the poop but under gravel filters kind of suck. Stuff builds up under them and can become a nitrate factory, and to clean them you have to remove all the gravel and water. Internal or hang on back filters are just easier to maintain.

 

[Alyxx]

So... I tried to take a picture of the poop the other night. But I messed up a little. See, I was going to take a picture with my phone since it has a nice camera on it, but the battery was low so I couldn't use the flash and get the real color of it. So I cleaned the vase and poured all the poop onto some tissues and set it down to let my phone charge. Problem was, I forgot about it and when I went to get ready for bed I realized that sitting on my vanity was a tissue with poop on it that had all dried out and gotten black. Sooo happy I was the one that found it and not my boyfriend, since he would never let me live down having poop sitting on my vanity waiting for a photo op.
So, once I notice some poop at the bottom of his vase I will try again.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Alyxx that's funny!

 

[ElaineB]

Haha thats so funny and thanks for the effort Alyxx! I went on a trip over the weekend and when I came back it was everywhere!! I was so upset i thought my betta died, the stuff was literary everywhere and he hasnt even eaten in 2 days. So I ended up cleaning the whole tank out and bought a little internal filter which seems to be working good but I think the flow is too strong for the fish. Ahh its always something!