Safest way to deep clean an established tank?

[loratheexplora]

How to get rid of/ what are these specks in my 6 month old tank?

Hello everyone! I apologize in advance if this has been asked already; I am new and still figuring out how to navigate the forums.

I currently have 2 tanks set up (I acquired both before I was fully educated on fish keeping and have been slowly making changes) one 29 gallon currently with fancy goldfish in it (they have outgrown it and I am rehoming them tomorrow to someone with a larger tank) and a 13 gallon with 1 balloon molly and 1 female crowntail betta. Both tanks are planted and have driftwood. I don't have current water parameters but I will check them when I get back home.

A few weeks ago I noticed that my 13 gallon has a large amount of white buildup (Google search tells me this is a calcium buildup) however there are also little white lines and flakes on EVERY surface of the aquarium. They aren't moving that I can tell, but they aren't round like photos of snail eggs I have seen (I do have snails in my tank that came from a plant from a LFS). I did around an %80 water change and cleaned the glass as well as adding a dose of starter bacteria. The white flakes went away, but I noticed yesterday that they are back again. My plan for this tank is to relocate the molly and betta to the 29 gallon once the goldfish are gone, and add dwarf puffers and kuhli loaches to the 13 gallon. However I do not want to do this if the tank is not healthy or clean.

Should I remove and clean all decorations and sand, or should I just toss everything and start over since my fish have a second tank to live in for now? My fish are acting fine, but I plan on doing a deep clean on both tanks before adding or moving fish.

Thanks in advance for advice and i apologize for the long read!

 

[Delapool]

Not fungus at all? What is the substrate and everything else in tank? I can see some crystals and white blobs?

 

[loratheexplora]

Flourite sand as substrate, crystals are just decorative plastic crystals.

 

[Delapool]

And the white lumps?

I get some calcium scale buildup but it's basically at the water line for the first inch (I do have soft water but still seems a lot for every surface). Do you have water readings?

And it's definitely not fungus?

 

[loratheexplora]

Oh! The large white lumps are decorative crystals, like the ones people use in vases or table decor. I also have some plants that aren't shown in the photo. Ammonia is less than 0.5 as well as nitrates. I need to go buy a new test kit today but I have relocated my fish from this tank just in case. The tiny white specks I'm worried about are most apparent on the driftwood; it doesn't look like fungus (but I'm no expert). It oddly kind of reminds me of ash; it seems really light and flakey. It could be from the calcium buildup I've noticed on the filter intake as well?

 

[V227]

I once lived in an area where the tap water came from a hard water lake. I experienced mineral deposit flakes on my heater and decor. It didn't bother the fish. I moved 25 miles west
where the tap came from a different lake, softer water. No more mineral deposits. The flakes could even be from your hot water heater, if you are currently mixing warm water into your WC routine. As for deep cleaning, probably not needed. A sterile tank is sometimes an unhealthy tank. If you get a chance view the pics of other member tanks. No worries.

 

[loratheexplora]

I once lived in an area where the tap water came from a hard water lake. I experienced mineral deposit flakes on my heater and decor. It didn't bother the fish. I moved 25 miles west
where the tap came from a different lake, softer water. No more mineral deposits. The flakes could even be from your hot water heater, if you are currently mixing warm water into your WC routine. As for deep cleaning, probably not needed. A sterile tank is sometimes an unhealthy tank. If you get a chance view the pics of other member tanks. No worries.

Thank you! My fish do seem happy and healthy but I had never seen those flakes before. I do use warm water when I do water changes so that is very likely. I'll probably just do a large water change and let it run until I am able to get my new fish and full water test kit. Thanks again!

 

[loratheexplora]

I wanted to update and thank you both for your help- while doing the large water change and cleaning I discovered the source of the problem. My boyfriend had added a pvc tunnel for the future kuhli's and forgot to take the adhesive off... duh. Cleaned it up and letting the filter do its thing. Thanks again!!

 

[Delapool]

Lol - problem solved (will have to remember that one - nobody here has any interest in the fish EXCEPT when visitors turn up).