What is this in my tank?

[Dala908]

Hey! New member here, and first time owning a fish tank. I’ve hand my tank for about 2 months and have had my fish for about 6 weeks now.

Started getting this whiteish film/sticky looking stuff all across the gravel substrate. Not sure if it’s safe or not? My fish seem okay but it doesn’t look great and was wondering if I should pull up all the rocks/wood to clear it all or if I should leave it and let the tank keep cycling?

 

[Andy Sager]

That appears to be a fungus which is feeding on most likely uneaten food. It should be removed. You can use your net to scrape it off the bottom then scoop into the net and throw away or use a siphon hose with net, bucket and some filter pad or floss in the net. This will catch the fungus as you wave the hose over the fungus. By using this method, you can fill the bucket, put the water back into the tank slowly so as not to disturb the bottom, and then start siphoning again until it's gone.

As for feeding, fish should be fed only as much as they will eat in 1-2 minutes, 2-3 times per day at least. Once you get a feel of how much food the fish will eat in a whole day, you can divide that amount into however many times you want to feed the fish. The more often, the better. Think of it as a Pizza pie. The day's food is the whole pizza. If you feed 2 times per day, feed 1/2 of the pie at a time. If you feed 4 times per day, feed 1/4 of the whole pie at each feeding, and so on.

 

[Dala908]

Thank you so much! I have a siphon with a filter so will try what you’ve said. I do tend to give them a little extra sprinkle of each food as they all get very excited at feeding times and I worry the bigger fish get most of it and don’t leave any for the bottom feeders/small tetra.

I use these foods and do a pinch of each so might reduce the amount of each that I give or just alternate which ones I give them (I feed them twice a day).

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you so much! I have a siphon with a filter so will try what you’ve said. I do tend to give them a little extra sprinkle of each food as they all get very excited at feeding times and I worry the bigger fish get most of it and don’t leave any for the bottom feeders/small tetra.

I use these foods and do a pinch of each so might reduce the amount of each that I give or just alternate which ones I give them (I feed them twice a day).

Try feeding on both sides of the tank so that all the food doesn't get hogged by the bigger fish. You can use a new Turkey baster to blow food down lower for the bottom fish while feeding the top fish at the opposite side of the tank at the same time.

 

[Dala908]

Try feeding on both sides of the tank so that all the food doesn't get hogged by the bigger fish. You can use a new Turkey baster to blow food down lower for the bottom fish while feeding the top fish at the opposite side of the tank at the same time.

Hey Andy,

Happy to report all the fungus is gone after 2-3 cleans I’ve removed the moss ball from the front and turned the large rock to allow for better circulation where the fungus was at its worst. The fish seem more active and are picking up any leftover food (as I’ve fed them less these last few days) so it’s a win all round at the moment. The only thing now is my Platys are breeding a lot I now have 5 baby Platy’s in the tank. Any advice on how to get them to stop breeding

 

[Andy Sager]

Yes, keep all males. This is the curse of livebearer fish and a healthy tank. LOL All male collections won't have this issue.

 

[Dala908]

Yes, keep all males. This is the curse of livebearer fish and a healthy tank. LOL All male collections won't have this issue.

Okay lol, I originally got one male and two females and both females have a larger belly now I have a friend who wants the babies so might give her the two females and keep two of the male babies instead she can have the breeders lol