Stuff In Filter

[Sesshis_grl]

Hi

In both my tanks there is white stuff in the filter, looks almost like mold..but no green whatsoever. I did switch to tap water a couple months ago, is this just build up? I've wiped it off and it just comes back. Is this a problem or normal?


Here is a picture of it:

This is from my 10G tank. Some parts are fuzzy but others are just white. It's really weird, cuz again it just keeps coming back. This filter has been going since august, but have used a fungus med and a bacteria med in this tank.


thanks

 

[Aqua Tom]

Whats the PH and hardness of your tap water?

 

[Sesshis_grl]

I'm not sure about the hardness...although if you trust the LFS they say that our water is very hard and has a lot of stuff in it. I just did a ph test on water straight from the tap and its reading 7.4-7.8

 

[karin]

It looks to me like a bacterial bloom. Are you having trouble with nitrites? When I had a bacterial bloom similar to this I had a nitrite spike. Cause was a faulty filter. Solution, about a week of daily 30% or more water changes. And increased aeration because my fish were suffering. It could have been caused by the "bacterial med" if you killed off beneficials with this. Could also be your water change to tap. You are using a dechol right? See if you can get Prime instead of the ones that have aloe vera. Maybe bacteria are trying to catch up to stuff that is in your tap.

I think aggressive water changes would be helpful.

 

[Sesshis_grl]

I'm actually not sure where nitrates and nitrites are at at the moment, as I mentioned I have been having issues with both tanks and both tanks have been treated with some kind of med. So I need to do a test, how can you tell if the bacteria was killed off? I think with my 29G it should be easy b.c its been up since june so I should have no amonia if the bacteria are fine, but the other tank is the problem. I seriously think it never cycled properly because I've been having problems since day 1.

I can try doing the water changes and see if it helps. I know my filter has stopped a couple of times for whatever reason(I think gunk was stopping the propeller thing)so that might be the cause...not sure. If this is a bacteria bloom how many weeks of daily water changes should it take to get rid of it? Also did you clean your filter at all? or just leave it alone? I don't mean the normal clean every couple months but did you clean it to get the white junk off of there.

yes I use dechorlinator, it's called Aquasafe by tetra I think. I'm not sure whats in it exactly its just what I've been using since I've had goldfish ^.^;;

 

[raptorrex]

I'm actually not sure where nitrates and nitrites are at at the moment, as I mentioned I have been having issues with both tanks and both tanks have been treated with some kind of med. So I need to do a test, how can you tell if the bacteria was killed off? I think with my 29G it should be easy b.c its been up since june so I should have no amonia if the bacteria are fine, but the other tank is the problem. I seriously think it never cycled properly because I've been having problems since day 1.

I can try doing the water changes and see if it helps. I know my filter has stopped a couple of times for whatever reason(I think gunk was stopping the propeller thing)so that might be the cause...not sure. If this is a bacteria bloom how many weeks of daily water changes should it take to get rid of it? Also did you clean your filter at all? or just leave it alone? I don't mean the normal clean every couple months but did you clean it to get the white junk off of there.

yes I use dechorlinator, it's called Aquasafe by tetra I think. I'm not sure whats in it exactly its just what I've been using since I've had goldfish ^.^;;

what fish do you have in the tank?

 

[Sesshis_grl]

which tank?

The filter in the picture is from my 10g. That one has 2 leopard danios, 1 guppy (don't expect it to live very long, it got worms from my late ram, and 2 mystery snails

My 29G has 4 angelfish, 1 dojo, 1 pleco, and 2 kuhlis

Also I'm moving very soon and since I have to break down the tanks anyway, I would really like to sanitize my gravel/tanks. Does anyone have a good suggestion for this? I've heard that you can bleach if you dilute it but I'm wary of that. I'm trying to get rid of any parasites, parasite eggs, or bad bacteria

thanks

 

[AstonN24vantage]

how often do you clean the filters?

 

[Sesshis_grl]

This one in the picture was about 2 months ago? And wiped away the white gunk every so often since then. The 29G sponge got swished I think 3 months ago...it's a little past due I think. I have cleaned the charcoal and wiped the white gunk off multiple times after that too. As stated before the white stuff keeps coming back, doesn't really matter how often I wipe it. Sponges get swished in old tank water to not kill bacteria. Haven't completely broken down my 29G filter and wiped everything yet becasue I wasn't sure if you were supposed to do that.