Is it normal for fish to have debris on them?

Hello, I recently got a betta fish after cycling my tank for a few weeks. I’m noticing that there are some particles on debris on the plants, filter rocks etc. and when my betta swims up next to one of these he gets the debris on him and it attaches for awhile but seems to fall off after some time. Is this normal? Is this something that usually happens or is this debris something to be worried about?

Probably just stuff sticking to the slime coat

JuiceBox52 said:

Probably just stuff sticking to the slime coat

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The debris on the leaves and filter and whatnot, does that look like normal particles and debris that normally collect in fish tanks? You don’t think it could be a growth/fungus of some kind, it seems normal?

Looks normal to me. How often do you vacuum the substrate?

JuiceBox52 said:

Looks normal to me. How often do you vacuum the substrate?

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About once a week

Kristin919 said:

About once a week

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Pretty Betta, reminds me of mine.

Does the debris look like poop? Small white worms?

When my Betta swims close to the substrate, he normally picks up a new pieces of poop on his slim coat. They usually fall off pretty quickly.

Looks a little like ich on the fish.

Deanasue said:

Looks a little like ich on the fish.

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Agree with Deanasue, just do 50-75% water change daily and add about a table spoon of aquarium salt or rock salt and he’ll be fine

PheonixKingZ said:

Pretty Betta, reminds me of mine.

Does the debris look like poop? Small white worms?

When my Betta swims close to the substrate, he normally picks up a new pieces of poop on his slim coat. They usually fall off pretty quickly.

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It looks like a bunch of tiny tan like particles scattered all throughout the tank all over the plants, filter, heater the gravel and when my fish brushes up against stuff with it on it it gets attached to him but then falls off

Deanasue said:

Looks a little like ich on the fish.

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It’s not inch, it’s debris of some sort. It looks like tiny tan particles of maybe food or something but I haven’t had the tank running for THAT long to have this much debris so I’m a little confused as to why it’s so messy I don’t think I’ve even put this much food into the tank but maybe I could be wrong. I’m just worried it’s a growth of some sort multiplying in my tank and it’s gonna over run it.

PheonixKingZ said:

Pretty Betta, reminds me of mine.

Does the debris look like poop? Small white worms?

When my Betta swims close to the substrate, he normally picks up a new pieces of poop on his slim coat. They usually fall off pretty quickly.

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here you Can see he’s particle free now, the stuff falls off of him and then when he brushes up against something he’ll pick stuff back up. I tried to get a picture of the particles on the plants. They’re the little whitish dots. They’re all over the tank. It’s been awhile since I’ve had fish and I can remember if this kind of debris is normal. I’ve also never had it stick to a fish before that I’ve noticed so I’m trying to make sure it’s normal and not something else.

All I can suggest then is A partial water change of 50% for a few days along with a substrate vacuum and see how it goes.

Deanasue said:

All I can suggest then is A partial water change of 50% for a few days along with a substrate vacuum and see how it goes.

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Ok sounds good thanks!

Couldn't see anything actually on the fish. Picture #2 looks like black beard algae. Honestly, the others just look like sand on the plants.

I do not see anything remotely resembling ich. The debris is particulate matter, just do regular (meaning the once a week normal) substantial water changes and vacuum into the open areas of the substrate. Keep the filter media well rinsed as that is where this will usually get caught, other than just settling on the substrate. Vacuum it off the larger leaves at the same time.

There is a habit among many aquarists of wanting to immediately do something, usually meaning adding some chemical concoction, if they even remotely think something is "different." I used to do the same, and killed more fish because of it. Fish need clean water; water changes will never hurt. Adding substances almost always will stress out fish, and no matter what the problem, if there is one, it will inevitably be worse. There is absolutely no reason to be adding salt here, or anything. Resist the temptation and the fish will be stronger and healthier.