Strange stuff

[Lynnzer]

Just coming to the end of a fisless cycle, hopefully, but this morniing I noticed a couple of things of concern.
The first one is some strange, perhaps fungal, growth on one of the wooden bits in the tank.

Another look at the tanks shows a number of thread like, perhaps cobweb-like, filaments that have appeared attached to various bits of the tank such as the glass and sponge filter.
I haven't had anything placed in the tank which could have decayed, no food, nothing at all with any nutritional value. However I have added Quick Start, and also utilise CO2 for the plants. All of them are fine. None showing any sign of dying.
Ideas please

Oh, I have put the tank on camera where you can see better. It's probably offline right now as I have sorted the problem, however the tank will be online with fish when I finish all the things I need to do to make things as perfect as possible

 

[Beastije]

Maybe someone else will disagree, but fungus on wood is normal and doesnt harm anything. Snails and catfish and some other fish will eat it, if you leave it there. Most often it is just visual issue and people scrub it off with a sponge/ brush.
How long was the fishless cycle?
The swimming stuff looks like a biofilm or stuff, do you perhaps also have it on the surface? Could be too much of one bacteria and it should stabilize, but I havent done a new setup in a while and might be best if someone else advises. Could be also the wood is decaying a bit too.

 

[Lynnzer]

The fishless cycle has been a bit of a mixture. I had a new tank, new substrate/soil/ new canister filter but also a large sponge filter that I took from another running tank. It's been a fortnight so far but I'm pretty much near the end of the cycle I'd say.
I was thinking biofilm personally but most of that I ever get is just a film on the glass. Or at least that's all I ever see. Don't some fish eat this?

 

[Beastije]

If there is this much biofilm, I wouldnt say the cycle is done. Snails will eat it, so will some fish, not all though.

Just curious, did you boil the wood first?

 

[Slaphppy7]

Most driftwood "snot" is harmless, and will eventually go away on it's own.

But, there have been instances with certain types of wood when it can be toxic...what type of wood do you have?

 

[Lynnzer]

If there is this much biofilm, I wouldnt say the cycle is done. Snails will eat it, so will some fish, not all though.

Just curious, did you boil the wood first?

It's all Mojo Barico wood, fresh in from wherever...
The biofilm could perhaps have sprung into existence from whatever minute strands there were on the sponge filter from an existing tank. Fed with Flourish and a good ongoing dose of CO2 may have given it wings, do you think?
So how do I rid myself of this? Keep the lights off, as in prevention of algae, or add something to kill it?

 

[Beastije]

I had large layer of biofilm when doing a quick start in my other tank, I just scooped it out and waited a week more and it was gone. Snails were working on the rest. So I guess similar approach?

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

whenever I see biofilm which is very rarely I scoop and dispose until it has depleted. I want to say that some shrimp species will eat biofilm.

 

[Lynnzer]

Well as it was floating almost everywhere I removed as much as possible then did a 60% water change.
I needed to do the water change anyway as my cycle is nearly complete as far as the tests go.
Before the change the readings were Ammonia - 0.5, nitrite - 0.25, nitrate 0.0.
After a few hours it now shows as Ammonia 0, nitrite almost nil, nitrate - 0.
One more test in the morning to check it out then hopefully time to replant some of the plants that have come free, then add fish. Galaxy Rasboras - 10 of to start with then a dozen chili rasboras, 4 panda cory and 4 crystal red shrimp. Perhaps 2 ottos too but as there's no algae it might not be a good idea

 

[Lynnzer]

Another test completed and I couldn't be happier. Everything's spot on. I'll be leaving the tank until the weekend now. No light apart from normal daylight that reaches the room, no CO2 BUT a dose of copper sulphate to get rid of any snails still hanging around.
Then it's all go for fish.
I intend to create water as near as I can to the recommended parameters that the fish and snails do best in and will do it by a mix of rainwater or bottled water with my normal tapwater. For the nerds, I am creating something that has given me much thought over the last week after the purchase of a 100ltr rainwater butt. It'll be another topic if you want to appraise yourself of it.

 

[Beastije]

I dont recall how large your tank is, but you should add fish with some time between them, not all at once. That creates a large bioload you dont want for sure. But I bet you know that.

For cories, 4 is too little, 6 is the minimum, if you dont have space to have at least 6 (or 8), dont add them at all and up the numbers of the other species accordingly (to not over populate)

It was advised many times, wait at least 6 months for adding otos, and ideally dont have a spotless crystal clear tank, otos would do well with wood with biofilm, algae covered wall or stones,...
Same would go for the shrimp, what will they eat in a pristine tank. Better give it time to get slimy.

Copper stays in the tank, in the wood, in the substrate that grows the algae then, which is copper infested and has enough residue to kill anything that eats it later on if it is copper sensitive. It is always a gamble

 

[Lynnzer]

Yeah, the panda cories. I have 12 of them split between 3 tanks. I could always halve them between two tanks instead. They are the most intriguiging fish to watch as they play follow the leader and rise and fall in bubble streams just for the pure enjoyment.
My biggest problem here though is what you say about copper still being on algae and wood. I could try a few golden shrimp out in the tank as I have dozens of these, but I can't see an easy way to catch them in due course without destroying the tank architecture. Whatever goes into the tank, stays in the tank as far as I'm concerned.
So, no otto's just yet either. They'll be OK where they are for now anyway.

 

[Colin_T]

The wood has fungus on it and you should take the wood outside and hose the fungus off. Then put the wood back in the tank.

Some driftwood fungus is toxic and other types aren't, it just depends on the species of fungus and unless your a microbiologist that specialises in fungi, there is no way to tell between them.

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Biofilm is not normally thick or white and takes a while to build up. You can feel the biofilm on glass in aquariums. The glass looks clear but has a slimy feel to it. That slimy stuff is the biofilm that consists of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microscopic organisms.

 

[Lynnzer]

It was biofilm for sure. The tank inside glass was very slimy and most of the stuff that appeared to be floating was actually coming from the glass. I put that bloom down to large quantities of nutrients from actual aquarium soil on top for the plants to root into plus, perhaps, my feeding with CO2 and Nourish.
I switched the CO2 off and the water has been changed 3 times since so there's no Flourish left in the tank. Anyway, it's been cleaned off the glass and there hasn't been a recurrence.
The fungal growth? Not keen on taking the wood out I'm afraid as the amount of faffing about to the internal aquascape architecture will be badly disturbed. I'll do a wait and see thing for now. I also found this that seems to explain the issue and how to deal with it.
Further to these things, I have now started a snail kill period for 3 days, using Gastropex eSHa. I'm on day 2 at present and I have a breeding net immersed at the front of the tank with a live, large, golden shrimp in it just to see if it really is shrimp safe.