Random Mould? Algae? Odd Growth Only On One Type Of Decoration...hmmmn

So in our fantasy tank, we added these two fake coral/marine plant decorations that are identical except for the colour of the plants. One is green the other purple, they're at opposite ends of the tank & they've been in the tank 2.5 weeks along with all the other decorations.

last night we noticed what appears to be mould growing only on these decorations.






water temp is 24-25*C
pH 7.8
kH 4.5*
gH 8*
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrates low since we emptied tank.

normally we do wc's weekly or fortnightly.

current stock
7 Odessa Barbs
3 sterbaI Cory

filter sunsun 304B uv. tank is 72g Bowfront.

any ideas?

 

May be a mould or fungus that grows on rubber/latex. I've seen cheap airline tubing and other rubber items grow moulds and fungus as well.

 

Nuisance algae.

 

May be a mould or fungus that grows on rubber/latex. I've seen cheap airline tubing and other rubber items grow moulds and fungus as well.

how annoying! the decorations were not cheap! each one normally retails for $30 (we got half price sale)

Will it harm fish or parameters? how do I clean it without letting bits get into substrate you reckon?

Nuisance algae.

you can say that again! how do I clean it?

 

how annoying! the decorations were not cheap! each one normally retails for $30 (we got half price sale)

Will it harm fish or parameters? how do I clean it without letting bits get into substrate you reckon?

Most likely self-limiting, may go away with time. Try giving it a scrub with a toothbrush.

 

Most likely self-limiting, may go away with time. Try giving it a scrub with a toothbrush.

Yep will do... if bits of it come off in the water, it won't harm anything or establish on different decorations?

so odd that it's only on those two parts of the decorations... *grumbles about cost & quality*

 

lolz if pieces come off and float try to catch them if u want to
but otherwise it won't harm most likely anything

 

we've only ever seen this algae/mold on the inside of our vacuum tube (can't get that stuff dry between wc's!) and on old (good quality) air tubing (when we saw it on new tubing we realised it was quality and swapped it for the good stuff). it's bothersome because it makes me feel like our tank isn't clean when everything else is clean. grrrr. it makes me want to remove the offending decoration, but that would ruin the "look"... and someone at our LFS commented "well, it looks more natural that way." lolz

 

we've only ever seen this algae/mold on the inside of our vacuum tube (can't get that stuff dry between wc's!) and on old (good quality) air tubing (when we saw it on new tubing we realised it was quality and swapped it for the good stuff). it's bothersome because it makes me feel like our tank isn't clean when everything else is clean. grrrr. it makes me want to remove the offending decoration, but that would ruin the "look"... and someone at our LFS commented "well, it looks more natural that way." lolz

haha lolz I feel like u when I see clean tanks and mine looks dirty
and once someone at my fishstore I go to was like ( want this 100 gal tank? it was $400 now its $350!
I was like that's still expensive but I said no thanks and walked on he got mad like face RED mad!!!

omg it was so funny...

 

haha lolz I feel like u when I see clean tanks and mine looks dirty
and once someone at my fishstore I go to was like ( want this 100 gal tank? it was $400 now its $350!
I was like that's still expensive but I said no thanks and walked on he got mad like face RED mad!!!

Aquariums are so much cheaper in the US! I'm so jealous! 50gal tanks here are like $600-1200! so we got our 72G for $400 and it was a *steal*

Lol, I love LFS stories!

 

Hello, I don't like chemicals in my tanks so when I do my water changes I clean & rinse my decorations in the used water. Hope this helps!

 

Hello, I don't like chemicals in my tanks so when I do my water changes I clean & rinse my decorations in the used water. Hope this helps!

Thank you, and it *would* be perfect advice and what we would have done...except that the decoration is permanently affixed to our tank insert and we cannot physically remove it. This was a decision for fish safety that we made for better or for worse. But! I appreciate your reply...

 

Hello again, when there's just a little algae on things I'll shut air, filter, clean off w/fingers, let settle & then vac. Hope this helps!

 

Hello again, when there's just a little algae on things I'll shut air, filter, clean off w/fingers, let settle & then vac. Hope this helps!

Yep, perfect thank you!

I posted mostly to figure out what it was because all our tanks are normally so clean that i've never seen this before! but your method makes perfect sense

 

Yep will do... if bits of it come off in the water, it won't harm anything or establish on different decorations?

so odd that it's only on those two parts of the decorations... *grumbles about cost & quality*

It'll grow in the rest, too; right now you see it because it's very light colored, reflecting more light, and allowing faster algae growth; give the rest time, it'll catch up.

Algae is the bane of the aquarium hobby. Everyone gets it; some can deal, some can't.