dancingbird

I put a live plant in my tank that has my 2 dojos, 1 guppy and an oto. I've since notice alot of white dust-like fuzz that is covering the bottom of my tank! is the plant dying? what is this stuff and how can I get rid of it? Is it bad for my fish? they seem to be doing fine and acting normal.

Thanks
Vicki

aquarist48

Good morning. It's probably just white algae or white hair algae. I suggest letting it be and let it run it's course. You can try to remove it with a vacuuming but more than likely it will just come back. It's nothing harmful IMO.
http://plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9 info on algae

Bad Wolf

it is rotten, uneaten food, i suggest you do a 20% water change and after that remove all uneaten food. my old betta used to leave uneaten food all the time.

dancingbird

thanks for that great article, it was very informative. It could be fuzz algae but that article said that its on the plants mainly and looking at my tank it's everywhere!! Its on the plants, my rocks and on my gravel. I wish i could get a good photo of it and show you all, but its not showing up very well in the photo. Maybe it came in with the live plant.

I dont see any uneatened food I usually leave the pellets for my dojos on the far left corner of the tank. I did put an algae wafer in the right corner of the tank and the majority of this stuff is around and on my live plant and decor around their bases and some on the leaves. I dont care for the look so would like to get rid of it. however, if it is algae then i've got plenty of food for my oto! lol

I haven't been able to set up my filter, would this help clear the water (which looks cloudy all the time)? I think i'll get rid of the live plant, cause it may have come in with it, do the water change just in case.

Thanks for your great advice!

Vicki

TedsTank

sounds like quite possibly a bacteria bloom...get your filter running....your tank needs to cycle IMO
a 2.5 gallon tank can foul very easy.

aquarist48

White algae should take care of itself in time and as you mentioned some of the fish and critters will love it. I'd clean it off the glass and maybe some of the decorations but not all of it. It will disappear completely in time by itself. As for the cloudy water, bacterial bloom as Ted stated. This too should clear in time. However, you need to get that filter on and running. Click on the blue line for the nitrogen cycle. It's critical to keeping your fish alive. Good luck. If you can share some pics sometime we'd love to see them.

Bad Wolf

when i had fish without a filter it there was cloudy stuff but when i started using filters it went away.

dancingbird

thanks everyone for such wonderful advice. I actually now have a 10 gal with all but one of the fish in it. I had to isolate one guppy cause she was being mean to the other guppy. lol I have to cut out a space in the hood to put my filter in, which is why i havnen't yet. any suggestions on the best tool to use for doing this? I'm going to attempt to do this tomorrow.

I will work on posting some pix of my tank soon.

Thanks,
Vicki

serissime

Ouch, definitely get that filter running. Dojo loaches are big critters. Did you know they can get 10"? Here's a good species profile on them. Definitely get your cycle started.

What kind of hood is it? I don't know how to cut through them unless it already has notches, in which case I would use pliers, although I have used a heavy set of kitchen scissors.

dancingbird

yeah it has notches. would wire cutters work too? i think i have those.

heres some photos of the tank.


here's what my "algae" looks like. best photo i could get.


My 10 gal tank set up


One of my dojos

Yes, i do know they can grow rather large. My goal is to set them up outside in a pond or much larger tank.

Bad Wolf

dojos don't usually get past 4 inches, that tank should be fine, but you will need to buy at least 3 more of them, or 3 kuhli loaches because they a shoaling fish.

serissime

Properly cared for, dojos get much longer than 4". Seeing as they are coldwater fish anyways, a pond is probably a good setting. They can also be housed with goldies in a larger tank. They are a gregarious fish, but do not need dojo friends to be happy if you can't house them, unlike many other schooling fish. I don't understand the point of buying khuli loaches, bad wolf. They won't school with the dojo.

Your tank looks nice. Yes, wire cutters will probably work. Anything that can break the little things, basically.

Bad Wolf

i thought dojos were just kuhli's but a dif color.

agabr123

no, kuhlis get to about 4-5 inches and are tropical
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/pangio-kuhlii

dojo or weather loaches get to 9-10 inches and prefer cooler water
http://www.loaches.com/species-index...guillicaudatus

Dojo

You should def get that filter in asap, and I'd recommend an API test kit so you can closely monitor the tank as it cycles and do the appropriate water changes. I don't think scaleless fish like loaches do very well in a cycle.
Good luck with the lid

serissime

yup dojo, weather loaches are also sensitive to medicine, just a heads up too

dancingbird

Thanks! I'm glad you like my tank setup. Ok got the lid opening for my filter and will be putting that in tonight.

I would like to get either fancy gold fish (they look alittle like koi-which i love! and wish I could get), or dalmatian mollies. Do dalmatians do well with dojos?

Bad Wolf

oh, thanx, i learnt something

Dojo

Well a 10 gallon is already too small for the dojos so I wouldn't add anything until they have been moved to something bigger, or your nitrates will go really high. I know they are small now but they will reach a large size very fast and need room to grow.
The 10g is also too small for a fancy goldfish, and goldfish are only really supposed to be kept in coldwater tanks. You could get a bigger separate tank for a goldfish and the 2 dojos and make it a coldwater tank. I'd say about 30g minimum for them.
Mollies like salt, and that's definitely a no-no with those loaches, again because they are scaleless. I'm not sure how vital the added salt is to mollies, you'll have to look up how they do without it.

Butterfly

Bad Wolf careful with the advice you give please
I personally would not buy any more fish until a larger tank can be obtained. I have three Dojos in a 75g and they are 4, 6 and 6 inches. They need lots of swimming room as they will be very active with space and good water. They also need highly oxygenated water so getting the filter going is a priority. I think that will take care of your original question
The recomendation for goldfish is 20g for the first and 10 g for each additional gold fish because they are such huge waste producers.
Mollys and guppys are tropical fish and need warmer water than Dojos. The dojos will adapt to the warmer water but their life is shortened significantly by living in tropical temps.
Carol

serissime

There is very little conclusive evidence as to whether mollies do or do not need brackish conditions. I've read that there has been a lot of hybridization between the different species of mollies, and some species are better brackish, some better freshwater, but now it's super hard to tell who is who. It's one of those "don't know what to tell you" situations.