Water Mold

[Cephissus]

I could not find a water mold section so I suppose that this would be the best place as any to bring up an issue that I'm having. At the moment, I'm setting up a brackish 10 gallon through a fishless cycle. I added way too much ammonia and still need to get around to doing a 90% water change, just to remove most of the ammonia. Before I even added ammonia, there was a white fuzz on a bridge in the tank. I removed the bridge washed it, and put it back in the tank. Now the fuzz has regrown onto the bridge as well as spreading to gravel around the bridge. (the temp is at 92 to speed up fishless cycle). The fuzz is as I said it is, purely white. Can anyone help me identify this creeping menace and how to deal with it? I believe I read when dealing iwth water mold, take out infected gravel and rocks and soak in bleach for 10 minutes and then rinse thorrrroughhhly before putting back. Can anyone help me with this dillemma so that I may introduce my fish into a clean an excellent home?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

siphon the bottom out and take out any ornaments that have the mold on it. if this doesnt work then take everything infected and put into a big container with 1 part bleach to twenty parts water. scrub off the ornaments and rocks after then rinse well.

 

[voo]

Are you sure it's mould and not some precipitate from the water?

 

[00mitomk]

fuzz sounds like mould think abt when fruit goes off realli ba du get white fuzz if it looks sumthing like tht then imo i think you would be beter off either getting new gravel and plants to start again becouse the temp fish like water at is a gd temp for good bacteria to grow and bad bacteria bacteria it can lay dormant for ages and u may think it has gone by washing it but usally its very hard to without useing sumthing strong like bleach as the guy above said but if u do use bleach realli weak soloution.

becarful mate

miles

 

[Bignose]

Actually, it is not the end of the world to use undiluted bleach. Just rinse thoroughly, then soak in a bucket with a huge dose of dechlorinator. Bleach is sodium hypochlorite, Na+ ClO-, and dechlorinator takes care of the chlorine just like tap water. Like I said, though, use a big dose.

That said, the mold should need decaying matter to grow on, it really should not be growing stone or something plastic. Your bridge must be wooden right? If that is the case, it might also be a fungi. Have a look at http/www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/aquascaping/wood.shtml (scroll down to Fungi on wood). Once the tank is setup the bacteria in the biofilm that covers everything will be more efficient than the fungi, so it will go away on its own eventually, but I understand how ugly it can look right now. Note on the above page it shows how you can siphon it away carefully.

00mitomk, miles, is there anyway we could talk you into using a period to break up your sentences? It is exceptionally hard to read your posts and understand what you are trying to say. When giving advice, especially when dealing with living creatures, you want to communicate as effectively as possible to make sure that you are understood as correctly as possible. And the way your sentences run on and on dramatically increases the chances for errors.

 

[Cephissus]

No, the bridge is not wooden. It's hollow, made of stone/heavy substance and then glossed over with something. It could possibly be a precipitant. I am going to thoroughly change water like I mentioned before and will try the whole bleach thing. Thanks alot for the quick answers! I'll tell you how it eventually goes.

 

[00mitomk]

sorry mate im nt a gd typer im dylexic u see so ill try abit harder i jst dnt see my errors thts all

 

[Bignose]

No, the bridge is not wooden. It's hollow, made of stone/heavy substance and then glossed over with something. It could possibly be a precipitant. I am going to thoroughly change water like I mentioned before and will try the whole bleach thing. Thanks alot for the quick answers! I'll tell you how it eventually goes.

That is odd because any mold or fungus needs something biological for it to live on, making those really unlikely. Here's a good question, did you buy this bridge from a fish store? Or really what I am asking is, was it labeled safe for fish? The only other thing I can think of is a precipitate from something in your water reacting with the components of the bridge. Seems unlikely, but *shrug*

and miles, I understand your problem, I actually wasn't too concerned with the spelling errors (and especially not now), but a every time you finish a thought plop down one of these bad boys: . Or maybe even a , It just breaks the thoughts up and would make the text a hundred times easier to read. Everytime you pause in your head to start a new clause, just bam.

 

[Cephissus]

I bought the bridge from a fish store in the fish isle and had certificate of fishfriendliness and all. I tried siphoning it up, and just as soon as I began, it seemed to dissengrate and whirl around the tank. It's hanging off parts of fake plants and stuff now, but the water is clean and it's much less noticible. Hopefully it won't come back! (even though i feell like i just adgitated it). I thought I mentioned I'm undergoing a fishless cycle now and have been adding ammonia to the water. I do believe that counts as the would be crap, or biological matter. At the same time, it does soo much look like a precipitate. anyhow, my snails came in today for a seperate tank and when I put them it, they whirled around from the "current" of my filter. I cut it off to save the tikes, but am worried about water quality now. I can already see they've crapped a bit and is oxygen in the water important even though they have lungs?

 

[00mitomk]

ok man, i try it is nt usally my speeling, it is my grammar which is a problem, but ill try