Tropical Fish Forum

Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => General Fishkeeping advice => Topic started by: fcmf on April 12, 2018, 05:40:54 PM

Title: Mould?
Post by: fcmf on April 12, 2018, 05:40:54 PM
Wondering if anyone can identify what this is / these are:
* On the RHS is some snail food - it comes in a pellet which I drop in at lunchtime and which softens and spreads out - it has already developed a fungus-type covering on it which happens if it hasn't been touched. I remove leftovers the following morning. Often, however, it leaves the sand where it was an odd, slightly black colour - although, when siphoning that out, it doesn't actually look like there's anything untoward.
* To its left is what looks like some sort of white mould - it could very possibly be snail poo as he likes spending time on the filter just above the terracotta pot - and it's possible that the snail poo and become covered in white mould.
* Round the base of the terracotta pot is something very black / almost midnight-blue in colour and possibly mouldy too - no idea what that is, and it's certainly much darker/blacker than the aforementioned comment about darkened sand where snail food has been.

I'll do a bit of googling and see what I come up with but, in the interim, if would be good to know if anyone recognises / has experience of them and whether I have any cause for concern re the latter two?
Title: Re: Mould?
Post by: Sue on April 12, 2018, 06:48:07 PM
The black stuff round the base of the plantpot - does it lift away in strips/sheets? If it does it is blue green algae, more correctly a form of bacteria called cyanobacter.


My snails poo black bits, especially the nerites. They do like to rasp away at the micro-organisms on the surface of wood, and their poo looks just like processed bits of wood.
Title: Re: Mould?
Post by: fcmf on April 12, 2018, 07:21:34 PM
Thanks, Sue, funnily enough, that term had just come into my head while eating my dinner and looking at the tank ie I wondered if it might be that. I'll test that out and see... Thanks.
Title: Re: Mould?
Post by: fcmf on April 12, 2018, 08:05:14 PM
Now tested it and it turns out it doesn't lift away in the way described that cyanobacteria would - instead, it looks simply as though individual grains of sand have turned black (this is how it looked when I tried to lift it ie not a shadow). I've siphoned it out (got a mouthful in the process :sick: - really must get that wine siphon with the stopper on it), and, judging by the smell of the water in the discarding bucket, it's simply decomposed snail food.
Title: Re: Mould?
Post by: Matt on April 12, 2018, 10:05:12 PM
If you want to start a siphon without the risk of getting a free snack... fill the siphon tube by placing the whole thing in the tank. Take the end you want to go into your bucket and hold your thumb over the end. Take this end out of the tank an release your thumb when it's over the bucket. It's not always easy to fill the tube but it's my preferred method...
Title: Re: Mould?
Post by: Sue on April 13, 2018, 12:33:43 PM
I take the tube to the sink and fill it with cold water, then carry it over to the tank with the open ends upwards (in a U shape), then with fingers over the ends, put one end in the bucket, the other in the tank and then let go. I just have to be careful not to clean the filter in the first bucket, which has a tubeful of undechlorinated water in. Between buckets, I lift the tube out, closing both ends with my fingers, and carefully place it in a second empty bucket with the ends as high as possible.