tank dust

[reinhart]

3 weeks ago, i set up a 20 gallon tank. it now has 3 gold barbs, 3 longskirt blackfin tetras, 1 molly, 2 corys, and 3 ghost shrimp. the tetras showed fin rot a week ago i think. 3 days ago, i put in fin rot medication and removed the carbon filter. i noticed murky water this morning. i figured "oh it's the bacteria bloom" and squirted in water clarifier. Now i notice tank dust all over the gravel and on the top 2 inches of the glass walls. IS that dust there because i removed the carbon filter? is it algae? what should i do? a water change and put the carbon filter back in place?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi reinhart

I haven't heard the expression "tank dust" before, but I have an idea what it might have been caused by. The product you added to clear the tiny suspended particles from the water has cause them to clump together into larger particles in order to be filtered out more easily. What you are seeing could well be these larger particles that stuck to the surfaces before they could be passed through the filter.

You could wipe them from the glass with a clean rag, or just rub them into the water and let the filter eventually get them. You do have some kind of filter media in place, don't you? Carbon in the filter or not won't make any difference with this problem.

Sometimes the cure is worse than the problem!