Fungus

[megaggie2002]

Growing up we kept fish and over the years I have had a fish or two at sometime.

Well I decided to start a tank again.

I used a setup I already had. I cleaned and disinfected everything.

I have had the fish for less than a week and I noticed this fungus today.

(This is not a picture from my aquarium. This is a photo I found on Google that looks like the fungus I have.)

Is this harmful or will be harmful to the fish?

How do I get rid of it and keep it away?

 

[scaeriefaerie666]

Normally this means that you have drift wood, not bogwood (which is what is normally considered safe in aquarium use). I assume that this is wood that you have bought new when you've set up your tank again, as fungus likes this normally means that the wood isn't dead. You can clean it but it will keep coming back and YES it is likely to harm the fish as it pushes up nitrate levels which can be deadly to fish.
My advice, get rid of the wood - or at least take it out and scrub it with salt and boiling water, then leave to dry for at least a week. It will keep coming back though. Get some mopani bogwood which doesn't grow fungus like that and you should be fine.
xxx

 

[megaggie2002]

I do not have any wood in my aquarium. I have a big fake plastic looking stump and several plastic plants. Nothing in the aquarium has been used in an aquarium with any living plants/wood before.

 

[scaeriefaerie666]

where is the fungus growing? Does it look exactly like this? Or just similar.

 

[megaggie2002]

It looks a lot like this, may be a little clearer. The larger clump that was on the fake stump is gone. I have looked everywhere and it is gone. The other place where it has collected has shrunk or disappeared some.

I have some Hikari food meant for tetras. I think it might be old. Could this be caused by something organic in a food?

 

[scaeriefaerie666]

quite possibly. Make sure you aren't overfeeding and that your water changes are regular and it should keep shrinking. The fact that it's going is a good sign, if it was getting worse it would be cause for concern.
xxx

 

[Joshwainwright]

It may not have been fungus and could have potentially been due to poor water flow and/or too much CO2. It's nice to see the problem is no more though, however if it returns please don't hesitate to inform us!