kjm2270

I have two platies in a five gallon aquarium, and today I noticed a strange "furry" thing on the bottom of the tank and some faint brown spots on the walls. Can anyone tell me what's going on?

Chief_waterchanger

Brown spots could be Diatoms. Diatoms are like algae, but instead of being a "plant" they are more like a floating piece of sand that grows and is a lifeform. It is carbon based but surrounded with a silicate coating. Given 2-6 weeks they should go away on their own as they are out competed by any algae or plants in the tank, or you can just wipe them off continuously until you stop noticing them.

Could you describe the "furry" thing in better detail please? Color, size, growing or not, could it be algae?

kjm2270

Actually I just noticed a tiny floating "furry" along with the large "furry" sitting on the bottom of the tank. The tiny one looks like a seed with white hairs sticking out all over. The large one looks like a a corn flake with white mold.

Chief_waterchanger

Left over food that has bacteria growing on it.. you are overfeeding the tank, more than likely, as most people do. I would remove that immediately due to bacterial growth issues.

Hope that helps.

Blub

And I would also feed a little less food.