mold in tank/on filter

brandelion

haven't been around in a while...life has been insane!!
I'm probably posting this in the wrong place (hopefully someone will move it if need be :)
anyway...my tank is currently 2 inches low and it looks like it has some kind of mold growing inside the glass (above the water line) and on the underside of the lid... so (having had a mold problem at the last place I live... TOTALLY DIFFERENT SETUP) I thought I'd check inside the filter...and sure enough there are white spots inside the casing and on the filter cartridge

aside from bleach I don't really know how to remedy a mold problem... I figure I'll clean the inside of the glass with vinegar but as for the filter set-up...I'm not really sure what to do to avoid killing all the bacteria I've rather impatiently waited on the last several months

any help would be greatly appreciated!! :)

I'm also having a brown algae issue if anyone has any advice on THAT matter...

thanks a bunch!! ~B :)

Jbb421

teatree oil will kill mold irk if it will harm fish tho

Byron

Can you post a photo of the "mold?"

Re the brown algae (technically, "diatoms"), this is common in new tanks, usually sometime during the first 2-3 months. It will dissipate as the biology becomes settled. Scrape it off the glass for appearance, and off plant leaves to protect the plants. Most algae-eating fish will eat diatoms, but I don't recommend buying fish just for this as it is temporary.

If the tank is established (several months running), diatoms are said to be due to minimal light and/or an excess of silicates.

Byron.

brandelion

ok well first of all the tank has been running for about 6 months - and it's been nothing but trouble since the beginning!! any suggestions on better lighting to help prevent the diatoms?
I bought 3 ottos - they didn't seem all that interested in the brown stuff on the glass - but they didn't survive long - they came down with ich quick enough to still be under warranty :/ - I currently only have 2 platies and a Dwarf Gourami (been reluctant to put any new fish in as every time I do hey all wind up with ich)

as for the mold - or at last I assume it's mold - pics are attached ~ thanks :)

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PRichs87

change your filter pad, it's all brown. I have this filter, it prob isn't mold just calcium build up from your water. I used to live in Iowa (very hard water) and this would happen all the time, I just scraped it off the filter parts.

Byron

Well, I've never seen anything like that. PRichs87 seems to have it identified.

luckysarah

could the hard water be the reason that certain fish are not thriving?

It certainly looks like hard water deposits to me as well.

I have hard water too but I only have fish that I know will do well it in... although I would love to have some Discus I know it would be too much work (adapting the water for each change instead of just using it from the tap)

brandelion

I do have hard water - I posted the numbers a while back and I was told (I believe by Byron) that it wasn't so hard as to cause problems for the fish - I have no idea why I'm having such problems

anyway... the stuff on the glass is NOT from hard water - hard water leaves a sorta crusty ring at the waterline it doesn't do whatever that is!! - some of the whiteness on the filter stuff is hard water deposits but I don't think the little white spots are... although I'm willing to go with that and just wipe/scrape them off

as long as nothing starts getting 'fluffy'

and yes I know I need to change the filter cartridge... the whole setup is in desperate need of cleaning - but somehow I bought the wrong filters and hafta wait till this weekend to get back and get the right ones

Byron

I see I missed the question on light earlier. I've also gone back through this thread in view of your comment on all the problems. Let's see if we can't clear it up for you.

First, to address the light, I need to know the tank size, light fixture type (fluorescent or incandescent) and what you have now for tube/bulbs.

Re the ich, I have found that new fish introduced to a relatively new tank frequently come down with ich. I suspect this is because the instability in new tanks means they are further stressed beyond the stress of being bagged, etc. And ich can be latent in a tank; healthy fish are able to fight it off, but it can linger for some time as it will first attack the gills of a fish where we don't see it; fish are able to increase their slime coat which retards ich externally.

There are some fish that should never be introduced to new setups for this reason. Otos are one of them. Also, without algae they will often starve when introduced into any tank; they do become accustomed to prepared foods but having a supply of algae at first helps them settle much better. They are frequently starved when we get them.

Byron.

brandelion

sorry I thought I had all that stuff posted in my tank info - it's a 20 gallon (high) -the light bulb says: 15w T8 18" - current fish are 1 Dwarf Gourami and 2 Platy -- you had suggested some other bulb at some point a while back but I wasn't able to find one anywhere...
as for the otos... there was certainly NO shortage of algae in the tank when I got them!!
as for the 'mold' situation... I did a thorough cleaning this weekend and upon further inspection found that those round things on the glass were also all over the inside of the lid... and were some sort of green algae
thanks :)