Hello everyone. New betta owner here with a quick question.

[TallPaul]

Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to tropical fish keeping and have been researching quite a bit before taking the plunge and getting myself set up.

So at the moment I have a 10 gallon cube tank from Aqua Manta that is home to a betta fish called Spike.

Now I fully understand the cycling process and the nitrogen cycle, I have test equipment and my parameters are fine. But..... when I purchased the tank from a reputable fish store they sold me on some Microbe Lift Nite Out which is supposed to instantly add bacteria to the tank.

I followed the instructions and introduced the fish, he seems a lot happier than he was in his tiny holding cell at the store. He is displaying his fins and is very active. However I have a planted tank with Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias nana and cryptocoryne parva.

I've notice a tiny amount of white coloured fluff on the java moss and it's started to appear on the crypt.

I'm wondering if this is a small amount of bacterial bloom clinging to the plants, the crypt has done it's new tank melt and I've removed a lot of dead leaves.

I kind of wish I had ignored the staff and just cycled the tank the normal way but anyhow we are where we are and the water parameters are good.

Should I just continue with bi weekly water changes and hope it clears up or could it be something else?

 

[Byron]

A few things, after first welcoming you to TFF.

Now, the white fluff...any chance of a photo?

To the cycling, with the plants and assuming they are growing, you lucked out. They will easily assimilate the ammonia from one Betta in a 10 gallon tank, even though they are all slow-growing species (faster-growing plants like floating plants can be "ammonia sinks"). The Microbe may have helped, it likely did not hurt, so no problem there.

Water changes should be more often; once a week is basic, and change 50-60% of the tank volume. I know a Betta with live plants will not be impacting the water much, but it is a good habit to get into. You really cannot change too much water. Use a good dechlorinator. Use up the Microbe stuff according to their instructions, it will not last long once opened to the air, but once gone you do not need more.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The white fluffy stuff could be fungus growing on dead objects, however a picture will be required to identify it.

I found the best way to add liquid bacterial supplements is to double dose every day for the first week and then leave it at that. Try to add the supplements near the filter intake so most of the bacteria get drawn into the filter.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate any time you get an ammonia or nitrite reading above 0. And if you don't get any ammonia or nitrite, do a 50-75% water change once a week as suggested by Byron.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

 

[TallPaul]

Hi, thanks for the replies, it's really hard to take a photo. It's really a small amount and I can't capture it through the glass. If I lift the plant out to see it seems to become invisible.

I'm baffled by it. There's hardly any so I'm not worried. I'm scheduled to do a partial water change on Wednesday so I think I will just clip the strands of java moss that has it. Apparently you should trim java moss when it becomes stringy anyway.

I forgot to mention that it appeared under the suction cup of the thermometer so it is making me think less that it is algae.

I'm frustrated also with my substrate. It's JBL Manado which is supposed to be great for plants. Problem is that it's so loose that when I put the gravel vac anywhere near it then the crypts just get sucked right out.

 

[Colin_T]

Don't bother gravel cleaning where the plants are, just do around them. Leave a couple of inches next to the plant and allow the roots to grow.

You don't trim Java Moss. If it's growing everywhere you can tie it onto a bit of wood or rock using some fishing line or cotton thread (used for sewing). If you want to thin it out, you can pull clumps of it away from the main bit, but in a new tank, just leave it to grow.

Java Moss sometimes gets algae growing on it and this algae can die when the Java Moss is shipped. The moss is normally put in a plastic bag without water for transport and the algae can dry out and die. When you put the moss back in water it ends up with short white fluff on it, which is the dead algae.

Don't worry too much about the white stuff, lots of tanks get it when first set up and within a month it normally goes.

 

[TallPaul]

Thanks again. I'm not overly concerned, it's not like it has taken over the tank or anything. I'm pretty sure I'm doing everything just fine.

It was just one of those things that baffled me and I couldn't figure out what it was

 

[seangee]

Welcome Paul. Not a tiger rider by Any chance are you?

 

[TallPaul]

Welcome Paul. Not a tiger rider by Any chance are you?

Afraid I'm not that exciting.

 

[TallPaul]

New problem. Brown algae, or diodoms all over my plants. I did a big water change today rather than a partial midweek change and scrubbed the interior decorations with a stiff brush.

I also cleaned the plants attached to them. The anubias looks great now. Can't really tell with the java fern and the java moss still looks like it has stringy bits on it.

The cryptocoryne parva was very delicate. I got quite a lot of it off them and they do look better.

So can I expect a resurgence of brown algae or will it start to the back as the tank settles?

I cleaned all of the equipment such as the pump, filter and heater as they felt quite waxy and grimy to touch.

I'm hoping this will be enough to keep the tank clear. I must say that the water did not smell to good as I was siphoning it out.

 

[Byron]

New problem. Brown algae, or diodoms all over my plants. I did a big water change today rather than a partial midweek change and scrubbed the interior decorations with a stiff brush.

I also cleaned the plants attached to them. The anubias looks great now. Can't really tell with the java fern and the java moss still looks like it has stringy bits on it.

The cryptocoryne parva was very delicate. I got quite a lot of it off them and they do look better.

So can I expect a resurgence of brown algae or will it start to the back as the tank settles?

I cleaned all of the equipment such as the pump, filter and heater as they felt quite waxy and grimy to touch.

I'm hoping this will be enough to keep the tank clear. I must say that the water did not smell to good as I was siphoning it out.

You haven't said how long this tank has been running, but from post #1 I will assume not many days, or maybe a week or two at most? Diatoms are common in many newly-set up tanks and will/should disappear over a few days to weeks. Unless something else is encouraging them, like light and nutrients.

As you said it did come off easily--and I assume with your fingertips?--it seems to be diatoms. Some mistake a form of brush algae for diatoms, but brush algae is difficult to remove if not impossible from plant leaves.

What is the lighting--be specific, type, watts, spectrum, everything you know about it.

EDIT. I just spotted your other thread with photos...if that is the same tank, there is no sign of algae there, but I understand those photos were previous. Anyway, they did help, so the light question may sort this out.

 

[TallPaul]

You haven't said how long this tank has been running, but from post #1 I will assume not many days, or maybe a week or two at most? Diatoms are common in many newly-set up tanks and will/should disappear over a few days to weeks. Unless something else is encouraging them, like light and nutrients.

As you said it did come off easily--and I assume with your fingertips?--it seems to be diatoms. Some mistake a form of brush algae for diatoms, but brush algae is difficult to remove if not impossible from plant leaves.

What is the lighting--be specific, type, watts, spectrum, everything you know about it.

EDIT. I just spotted your other thread with photos...if that is the same tank, there is no sign of algae there, but I understand those photos were previous. Anyway, they did help, so the light question may sort this out.

Hi. The tank is an Aqua Manta Nano 35 litre. I think that's the Aussie import of Aqua One brand.

The light is an 7.5W led with white, RGB and blue modules. I have reduced the time it is on now down to about 7 hours as it probably does get a bit of sunlight in the mornings through the kitchen window.

I have included photographs of the diatoms that I did not manage to clean off with a toothbrush (I just missed a few).

Also some of the greyish fluff on the java moss.

The tank is about 2 weeks old now. I cycled it with Microbe Lift bottled bacteria as that is what the staff recommended. With hindsight I would have cycled properly with ammonia

 

[Byron]

I don't want to mislead you about the light, so I will say nothing. My experience with LED is very minimal, and five units I tried all went back, and I am still using T8 fluorescent or CFL incandescent lighting. Red is often weakest in LED, with its much higher blue, and this promotes algae as higher plants are more specific in their need for red light which is the prime driver of photosynthesis. Seven to eight hours is frequently the limit, depending upon specifics, so that may help. Be careful of sunlight...never direct sun on the tank, and even ambient daylight can factor in; it took me a couple summers to figure out that the increased daylight (intensity and duration) entering the windows of my fish room during the summer was the cause of annual increases of brush algae; covering the windows to absolute blackout solved the algae issue which has not returned in four years now. Point is, that ambient light can factor in.

But given the time this tank has been running, let's assume it is the initial unstable biology, and it will improve. I don't see diatoms in the moss, but there is some algae on the crypt leaves though the focus is not such that I can see it clearly, and even if it was, it still might be difficult to identify. The fluff I won't guess about, just see how it progresses (or not).

I cycled it with Microbe Lift bottled bacteria as that is what the staff recommended. With hindsight I would have cycled properly with ammonia

I think you were better doing what you did. I have never used ammonia to "cycle," only live plants and once or twice a bacterial supplement. And with one Betta in a planted tank, "cycling" is not going to be a concern anyway.

If you have live plants, adding ammonia immediately risks damaging them, should you happen to add too much. Plants need nitrogen, and most aquatic plants prefer it as ammonia/ammonium, and they are quick to assimilate it. Fast growers do this best, but again the solitary Betta in this tank is not going to overwhelm even slow growing plants.

 

[TallPaul]

Thanks for your help. I will be keeping an eye on the plants and the led light also. I would prefer something that can go through a natural light cycle like the Fluval Aquasky but that's not available for such a small tank.

Daylight is only at it's strongest in the morning as that's the direction the house faces.

The shot of the crypts isn't great, it was a lot worse until I cleaned them down, there were also brown spots on the pipes of the pump that I had to clean off. I'm aware that that diatoms are ultra common in new tanks so I'm not fussed about having to clean it off, it's just that the crypts are so delicate and easy to uproot.

I actually thing the fuzz on the java moss is rock will that has broken loose from other plants. Tiny bits of it that I couldn't seperate from the roots must have come loose, floated about and tangled up in the moss.

 

[TallPaul]

Thanks for your help. I will be keeping an eye on the plants and the led light also. I would prefer something that can go through a natural light cycle like the Fluval Aquasky but that's not available for such a small tank.

Daylight is only at it's strongest in the morning as that's the direction the house faces.

The shot of the crypts isn't great, it was a lot worse until I cleaned them down, there were also brown spots on the pipes of the pump that I had to clean off. I'm aware that diatoms are ultra common in new tanks so I'm not fussed about having to clean it off, it's just that the crypts are so delicate and easy to uproot.

I actually think the fuzz on the java moss is rock wool that has broken loose from other plants. Tiny bits of it that I couldn't seperate from the roots must have come loose, floated about and tangled up in the moss.

 

[Byron]

Thanks for your help. I will be keeping an eye on the plants and the led light also. I would prefer something that can go through a natural light cycle like the Fluval Aquasky but that's not available for such a small tank.

Daylight is only at it's strongest in the morning as that's the direction the house faces.

The shot of the crypts isn't great, it was a lot worse until I cleaned them down, there were also brown spots on the pipes of the pump that I had to clean off. I'm aware that that diatoms are ultra common in new tanks so I'm not fussed about having to clean it off, it's just that the crypts are so delicate and easy to uproot.

I actually thing the fuzz on the java moss is rock will that has broken loose from other plants. Tiny bits of it that I couldn't seperate from the roots must have come loose, floated about and tangled up in the moss.

That's quite possible (the rock wool bits), or some other detritus.