miss_music

I need some advice. My fathers tropical fish tank is growing this white-ish fuzz looking stuff on the fake plants, fake wood, and bottom of the tank (on the rocks).

is this dangerous? what could it mean??

my dad used to take immaculate care of it, but unfortunately he passed away... and neither me or my mom know what to do aside from turning on the light (keeping temp in safe zone) and feeding.

if there is already a thread addressing this, feel free to point me to it! I just would like to take care of them rather than see them all die because i dont know what to do.

can anyone help?

Lucy

Hi Miss Music
Welcome to Fish Lore. I'm really sorry to hear about your dad.

Is it possible it's from leftover food thats gone moldy?
It would be a good idea to get a test kit. I use the API master kit, it's highly recommended. A bit pricey but more accurate and cost effective over the long run than strips.
Another thing you should be doing is weekly water changes and vacuuming the gravel.

Here's a link to get you started in research:
READ FIRST: Freshwater Beginner Important Topics

Good luck, and again, my sympathy on losing your dad.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!! im also very sorry about your dad
this site will help tremendously and ask all the questions you need....great advice from lucy and I hope you find the help you need and find some new friends..which is always a bonus in life

agabr123

welcome to fishlore

this site might help you identify it if it's algae, but if you post a picture the other members might be able to help.
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_...ater_algae.php

i see you have angels in there in your aquarium info, if you can post pictures of the other fish then the other members can help you identify them as well.

it's possible that the white fuzz is actually eggs from the angelfish spawning that have died. i'd do a gravel vacuum to get out as much as possible.

also, do you know what size tank it is?

sorry for all the questions, but they'll definitely help in getting you the best advice possible

miss_music

ok, so, ive found some test strips... although not ideal, i figure better than nothing at this point.

so, this will make more sense to you guys....

nitrate (NO3) is about 20 (which says safe )
nitrite (NO2) confuses me... the colours are 0 which is white, or as the numbers go up its pink... and the actual pad is kinda light brown...??
PPM total hardness reads 120 (which says moderate... good?)
ppm total alkalinity says between 0 and 80, and says 'add buffer up'... huh?
pH reads below the chart (saying add pH plus)... my chart starts at 6.4 with a colour of orange, and goes up to 8.4 with a red colour.

So, advice??

we do have things down there like water conditioner, water treatment, 'no more snail' (dont think thats it), chlorine remover. and other things i havent investigated yet. should i get all the names, for additional help?

I have some pictures too...

tank itself:


other fish type:


the goo:


and more fuzzy, but you can kinda see the goo better.... its kinda browner than i thought originally:


does this help?

agabr123

the smaller fish look like black neon tetras
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/ch...kneontetra.htm

all the names of your equipment and chemicals would definitely be helpful

have you been able to find an ammonia test kit?

i wouldn't worry too much about the hardness, alkalinity, or pH, most fish can adapt to a very wide range of those particular parameters and if they've lived in there that long they are probably very well acclimated to those levels.

Lucy

Nice looking tank
An ammonia reading would be helpful also.
It would help for you to have a basic understanding of the nitrogen cycle.
Fish waste and left over food create ammonia. Bacteria develops that processes that ammonia into nitrites.
Another bacteria develops that converts nitrites into nitrates.
Both ammonia and nitrites are toxic to your fish. Nitrates can also be toxic, but only in higher numbers.....above 20.
In a cycled tank your readings will be 0 ammonia 0 nitrites with some nitrates showing.
I know it's confusing, but it give you an idea of why testing is important.

Have you tested the water coming from your tap for PH? If it's the same and your fish are healthy, I agree with Alex, I wouldn't worry about that too much.

I could be wrong, but it looks to me like a good vacuuming will take care of what your seeing. I know algea wafers and veggis get fuzzy looking like that if left in the tank too long.

miss_music

so, how would one vacuum a fish tank? what about the fish while your doing that? is there an easier sounding manual way (like, paper towel, for example) to get the goo off??

havent looked for ammonia test yet, but i looked at a new (unused) strip to compare, and the nitrite (bad one) does read 0. so, thats good.

agabr123

http://www.americanaquariumproducts....iumvacuum.html

that's what i use for my gravel vacuum, basically it just works on gravity and sucks all the gunk and waste out of the tank. i always leave my fish in when i'm doing a gravel vac

Lucy

Here's a great instructional video capekate and her daughter made:
1-2-3 easy aquarium siphon instructions

jdhef

I'm sorry to hear that you lost your dad.

I think that one of the most important things you can do is get a API Master Test Kit for Freshwater. It is really the best way to know how your tank is doing. It is kinda important to have really good info on your water conditions, because we have no way of knowing if your dad was using any kind of chemicals the keep his water in the proper range.

If your dad had an aquarium for any lenth of time, there is a good chance that he already has a gravevac. For some reason, I just can't get the capekate method to work for me. But the way my gravel vac was designed to work was by putting the plastic part in the water and radidly pushing it up and down. But you can always suck on the end of the tube tube that goes into the bucket while the other end is in the tank water to start the siphon.

To stop vacuuming just lift the end of the vacuum that is in the tank out of the water and it will "break" the siphon.

Also, feel free to ask any questions you may have. I've probably already asked the stupidest question on the whole forum at some point, and no one made fun of me or called me stupid. There are no snobby people on this forum and we all love to help out.

NaCl

Hi Miss_Music. Welcome to Fishlore. I don't know how big your town/city is but if you are having problems finding an API test kit, maybe you can take a water sample in to your local fish store & have them test it for you. Write all the info down & then post the results.
I use the same kind of vac as agabr123. It's really simple & I also leave the fish in the tank. When you do a water change, don't take out more than 50% at one time & I would recommend closer to 25% change.

Good luck & let us know how things go for you. We love success stories

Sue

DE88ROX

Thanks for that link. Back when I had my tank running I bought a vacuum like that and for some odd reason it just stop siphoning. I could never get it to work withou having to "pump" it up and down in the tank forcing water into the hose. I will be sure to use that method when it comes time to vacuum the tank. After its cycled and fish are added of course. grrrrrrrrr

WOW!!!! The things you learn on this site!! Just awesome!

miss_music

question about the tetras... the situation is that my cousin is taking the tank and fish. for the time being she has a smaller tank, but she doesnt have any fish. luckily, she knows how to care for tropical fish, so no worries there.

my question is about 2 of the tetras... my mom was trying to catch them (to put in baggies to be transported to my cousins house). she caught one, but ran out of time and patience to catch the other 2...

my question is, are they a versatile fish? My neighbour has a tank, but its just a tap water goldfish tank - no heater. we gave him the fish (to float in a bag, like when you buy them.) but it will be colder. think they will live? the other option was flushing them where i KNOW they wont live...

agabr123

they will live but i cant say for how long, do you know how warm the tank is? the closer to about 78F the better.

id try catching the other two again and giving them to your cousin, the one lone tetra will be extremely stressed without any other tetras in the tank that look like him, they really need to be in a school of at least six but three is definitely better than one.

Minnow

Wait, are you giving the fish to your cousin or your neighbor?