TuesdaysChild

Probably about 1/4 of the gravel is covered in a very light colored, almost clear fuzz. If you don't look really closely, it looks like blur caused by a smudge on the outside of the tank.

The tank is/was a cycled, heated 5 gallon that houses a male betta. He seems fine. The only thing is there for live plants is some Java Moss which has been in there all along. Everything is testing 0 this morning. Nitrates were previously 15, ammonia and nitrites 0 and had been for about a month. I do regular water changes, a gallon or 2 once or twice a week. I condition with Prime and also add Fish Protector and Vita-Chem to new water. About a week ago, I changed the gravel, replaced it with brand new. There was a small snail in there but, a couple of days ago I noticed it was dead. He was probably dead for a day before I realized it. My granddaughter is obsessed with the snail so I took it's remains from the shell, rinsed with hot water and returned the shell to the tank. Is it possible this is what the problem is?

Does anyone have any idea what this could be, what might be causing it and how I can get rid of it?

capekate

I believe most times that white fuzzy stuff on the bottom of the tank is decayed foods. I have seen the same thing from time to time when i was not up with the vacuuming. Do you vacuum the gravel?

TuesdaysChild

yes, I vacuum every time I do a water change. I also feed pellets one by one. Although, yesterday I fed a mixture of frozen brine shrimp and frozen daphnia. I just kind of dumped a little bit of it into the tank since it was mixed with the daphnia. Do you think that's what it could be.

capekate

Daphinia can break down pretty fast, so that may be the cause. Maybe just do a real good vacuuming and see if it comes back. If it does, I would look at cutting down the amount of food your guy is leaving uneaten and see if the white fuzz actually has a darker center, which can be a decayed pellet.