What is this on my silk plant?

[mmrr7313]

Good morning all! I am wondering if anyone can tell me what keeps showing up on my silk plant in the mornings. I have attached some pictures. Not sure what sub-thread to use because I have no idea what it is. We have all live plants, except this one silk plant. There's brown staining embedded on the leaves that doesn't wipe off. My guess is that part is brown algae? (Set up is 5 weeks old.)

But what I am most curious about is the loose stuff that seems to accumulate there over night. It is not attached and knocks off easily. Seems kinda light and fluffy for lack of a better way to describe. Is this just snail or betta poop? Seems like an awful lot of volume of debris for that though. There's no real excess food in the tank, betta eats his pellets as they are given/ I can knock it off and it will be covered again in a few days. Is it some kind of algae that floats? Doesn't seem to be on the live plants. SIlk is below the water coming back into tank from filter.

Tank is 5 gallon. 5 weeks old. 1 betta. 1 nerite. Live plants and mosses and driftwood. Sand substrate. 0 amm. 0 nitrites. 5ppm nitrates. HOB filter. Heater to 76-78.

 

[zERostArk07]

Looks like algae

 

[mmrr7313]

Hmm. I wondered that. Thank you.

 

[thatguywhohasfish]

Good morning all! I am wondering if anyone can tell me what keeps showing up on my silk plant in the mornings. I have attached some pictures. Not sure what sub-thread to use because I have no idea what it is. We have all live plants, except this one silk plant. There's brown staining embedded on the leaves that doesn't wipe off. My guess is that part is brown algae? (Set up is 5 weeks old.)

But what I am most curious about is the loose stuff that seems to accumulate there over night. It is not attached and knocks off easily. Seems kinda light and fluffy for lack of a better way to describe. Is this just snail or betta poop? Seems like an awful lot of volume of debris for that though. There's no real excess food in the tank, betta eats his pellets as they are given/ I can knock it off and it will be covered again in a few days. Is it some kind of algae that floats? Doesn't seem to be on the live plants. SIlk is below the water coming back into tank from filter.

Tank is 5 gallon. 5 weeks old. 1 betta. 1 nerite. Live plants and mosses and driftwood. Sand substrate. 0 amm. 0 nitrites. 5ppm nitrates. HOB filter. Heater to 76-78.

Looks like a combination of all those things, fish poop, algae and dirt. Silk plants in my opinion are never a good idea. They offer no benefits to the tank and unlike real plants they won't eat up and use the Detritus that settles on them. Plus, since they are silk and thus a material, they can stain.

 

[mmrr7313]

Looks like a combination of all those things, fish poop, algae and dirt. Silk plants in my opinion are never a good idea. They offer no benefits to the tank and unlike real plants they won't eat up and use the Detritus that settles on them. Plus, since they are silk and thus a material, they can stain.

Do you have any suggestions on what I could put in the middle of my aquarium instead until I can find a suitably tall and bushy live plant? I'll attach a full pic so you can see the space it is occupying. The rest of the aquarium is real, live plants (2 anubis, christmas moss, tiawan moss, and floating frog bit). I put the single silk one in there to provide shelter for the fish along with something that would reach from bottom to top. It isn't looking good (staining) but I thought it would be a decent temporary measure to give the fishy comfort until I could find a better option. The betta does spend a lot of time in it. There just isn't a decent selection of plants in my city anywhere right now, let alone any that are taller than my fist!

 

[Perfect]

Looks like diatoms

 

[thatguywhohasfish]

Do you have any suggestions on what I could put in the middle of my aquarium instead until I can find a suitably tall and bushy live plant? I'll attach a full pic so you can see the space it is occupying. The rest of the aquarium is real, live plants (2 anubis, christmas moss, tiawan moss, and floating frog bit). I put the single silk one in there to provide shelter for the fish along with something that would reach from bottom to top. It isn't looking good (staining) but I thought it would be a decent temporary measure to give the fishy comfort until I could find a better option. The betta does spend a lot of time in it. There just isn't a decent selection of plants in my city anywhere right now, let alone any that are taller than my fist!

I'd say you could probably keep it in there for now until you're able to get your hands on another real plant. Cory located out of Edmonds Washington. I trust them full heartedly, and most of my plants have came from their shop. They have fast shipping and plants always come in great condition.

An amazon sword plant would go great right there in the middle, Swords grow fast, but it will require root tabs, As well as fertilizer in the water column.

Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus is a super fast growing stem plant that will provide tons of coverage for your betta. You can plant it or even just float it in the water and it will grow roots down that your betta will love swimming through.

 

[Perfect]

I'd say you could probably keep it in there for now until you're able to get your hands on another real plant. Aquariumcoop.com is a wonderful fish store located out of Edmonds Washington. I trust them full heartedly, and most of my plants have came from their shop. They have fast shipping and plants always come in great condition.

An amazon sword plant would go great right there in the middle, Swords grow fast, but it will require root tabs, As well as fertilizer in the water column.

Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus is a super fast growing stem plant that will provide tons of coverage for your betta. You can plant it or even just float it in the water and it will grow roots down that your betta will love swimming through.

OP could grab some hornwort too. Really fast growers. Almost too fast (grows a couple inches a week) but it creates a really nice scape if you plant it right.

 

[thatguywhohasfish]

OP could grab some hornwort too. Really fast growers. Almost too fast (grows a couple inches a week) but it creates a really nice scape if you plant it right.

Not sure why my mind skipped over hornwort haha. Great advice

 

[KingOscar]

There is nothing wrong with using artificial plants, short or long term. Benefits include cover and security for fish, extremely low maintenance, and aesthetics. (your setup looks great!) Water quality and fish health is not dependent on having live plants. When algae and or diatoms are allowed to grow on artificial plants they can look even better, and snails and some fish will pick at them. You're doing well.

 

[thatguywhohasfish]

I'll agree, your tank looks great and you're doing very well. You have to do what's best for you and your tank. There are many, many opinions out there so take what you feel is best suited to you and build off that!

 

[mmrr7313]

Thank you all for the input! I really appreciate the positive feedback because it's been such a steep learning curve for me the past month. Those are some great plant suggestions, I will continue my hunt. (Unfortunately the store suggested doesn't ship to Canada.) I'll keep the silk plant there until I can find a replacement, and hopefully the diatoms situation will settle down. (Although likely keeping the nerite snail well fed!)

 

[Perfect]

Don't worry about the diatoms too much. They actually will help suck out nutrients a bit. Really it is just aesthetic.

 

[MsKDV]

I'd say you could probably keep it in there for now until you're able to get your hands on another real plant. I trust them full heartedly, and most of my plants have came from their shop. They have fast shipping and plants always come in great condition.

An amazon sword plant would go great right there in the middle, Swords grow fast, but it will require root tabs, As well as fertilizer in the water column.

Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus is a super fast growing stem plant that will provide tons of coverage for your betta. You can plant it or even just float it in the water and it will grow roots down that your betta will love swimming through.

I have also bought a ton of plants. I bought a ton of Pogostemon Stellarus Octopus from them. As you can see it’s now a forest! This was after a month, maybe month and a half. Also no root tabs needed. I just use excel.

 

[Perfect]

I used to get the red tiger lotuses fron Cory They grew HUGE

 

[thatguywhohasfish]

I have also bought a ton of plants I bought a ton of Pogostemon Stellarus Octopus from them. As you can see it’s now a forest! This was after a month, maybe month and a half. Also no root tabs needed. I just use excel

Yours look so good! Mine is planted in the back Right side of my 40b and I have to regularly trim it or it will get out of control,. It's also placed by a planted water wisteria plant that I also have to trim or it will overtake even more than pogo lol

 

[MsKDV]

Yours look so good! Mine is planted in the back Right side of my 40b and I have to regularly trim it or it will get out of control,. It's also placed by a planted water wisteria plant that I also have to trim or it will overtake even more than pogo lol

Thank you I haven't trimmed mine at all since I planted it. I'm just letting it become one with my floating plants hahaha.

I swear the tallest ones look a little pink at the top too. Maybe it's just from the light reflecting off it, but either way it's pretty.

I really like your scape! Your neon tetra look very happy too