10 Gallon Tank Cloud-Like Fluff on Live Plants

[charmander]

Hi all, wondering if anyone know what the fluff is on the live plants. I can rub it off under water but now there seems to be more. Should I be removing 1/2 the water till it stops? I have a Marina hang on back filter and a sponge filter for the 10 gallon tank with a heater at 78 degrees.

 

[PeterFishKeepin]

Bio film? Algae should be fine, is the tank newly setup?

 

[Flyfisha]

The lighting should be on no more than 8 hours a day maximum.

You should be removing half the water every week regardless of if there is algae or not.

 

[charmander]

Bio film? Algae should be fine, is the tank newly setup?

Thanks! Glad it is just algae. I was going to toss the plants. It is a new tank. I switched him from a 5 gallon tank to a 10 gallon tank a few weeks ago.

The lighting should be on no more than 8 hours a day maximum.

You should be removing half the water every week regardless of if there is algae or not.

Thanks Flyfisha. I normally do but this time I did not because I was trying to get the BB to build in the tank since I just moved him from a 5-gallon to a 10-gallon tank. Thanks for the info on the light time though. I had to get a new light since the tank didn't come with a light and I thought it was a weaker light and bumped up the amount of light by 2 hours (9 hours total light time) but I'll take it back down. I used to give him 6 hours of light and it was working but with the new light I'm still trying to figure out the right amount of time. Guess 9 hours is too much

 

[Flyfisha]

Hey charmander,

I would like to quote part of what you wrote and make a comment that is intended to fine tune you perception of where bacteria live in our tanks without you feeling I am attacking you? Please. It’s a small point but one that shows a different comprehension of the new tanks situation.

quote
“I was trying to get the BB to build in the tank” by not changing water.

It is my firm belief that beneficial bacteria live on all hard surfaces . Very little is in the water.
With a new tank we must not wipe the glass or deep gravel vacuum. We don’t clean the filter. We don’t touch any hard surfaces. Yes we can hover over the substrate from an inch or so above the sand / gravel/ dirt etc but we don’t push the vacuum hose deep down or disturb the substrate at all.
We can change water often. We can change up to 50% of the water per day . Or more often. Even after a few hours ( 4 ) we can change more water again and again on the same weekend. We only change up to 50% at one time because we don’t want to shock the fish with slightly different parameters.

After a couple of months we can deep vacuum. We can clean the glass and wipe the ornaments etc. Just not all at the same time or in the same week. A filter can be rinsed but not replaced. In an established tank the filter can be rung out as hard as you like. Until it’s established just dunk it like a tea bag.

One final word.
Not many years ago (40 year ) people talked of “good water “ some old timers still do. When you meet someone who talks of good water smile and walk away. Generally they don’t want to know any modern ideas.