Small Fibres Suspended In Tank Water

Hi all

I've noticed recently that I seem to have a lot of very small white-ish fibres (or something along these lines) suspended within my tank water. It doesn't seem to be bothering the fish but I can't seem to get rid. I've given my filter media a bit of a clean (in tank water of course!) and have replaced the filter wool/floss but it hasn't made any difference.

I'm not sure whether the filter wool itself could be the culprit as I use a large pond filter pad which I then trim down. However I've been using this for a while and have only recently noticed the fibres.

Any ideas as to what it could be??

Thanks

It's certainly worth a try

Hi Sue, it's a fairly standard Juwel internal so there's a coarse sponge, cirax media, a 'nitrate removal' sponge which I just view as a medium-fine sponge and then two fine sponges. I took the filter wool from the top out this morning but have left a bit right at bottom (which I know isn't how Juwels are supposed to be) just to see how it goes. If there doesn't seem to be any changes in the fibres then I'll take the other bit out as well. Will feedback how I get on! Thanks

Maybe putting a thin layer of fine sponge on top would do the same job.

I had wondered about that- was thinking of just cutting up a kitchen sponge (unused!).

That's exactly what I've just done   

I cut the scourer bits off though first, not sure if I needed to but it only took a few seconds.

Just make sure they are plain scourers, not impregnated with detergent or anti-bac or some such.

I know you'd use plain ones biffster  I just worry someone else won't realise they need to check.

Episode IV: A New Theory

Well I've removed the filter wool and added the kitchen sponge (plain!), and whilst it's obviously still early days, I can't see any difference!

However I'm now wondering whether it's something to do with the roots of my Amazon Frogbit? The 'hairs' on the root look to be exactly what I've got suspended in the water and the appearance of the suspended fibres did seem to follow shortly after the introduction of the Frogbit (I thought I had Frogbit previously but have since realised it was Dwarf Water Lettuce, so I added some actual Frogbit).

Has anyone experienced something along these lines with Frogbit? Perhaps it could even be some sort of algae growing off the roots?

It could be unrelated but the root hairs do look remarkably like the fibres in the water and I definitely didn't have them before introducing the Frogbit. It is growing like lightning though - some of the roots are getting on for the 6'' mark now (were about 1-2" when I got them). I don't suppose they could somehow be shedding the hairs as the roots grow??

The other possible cause I can think of is some cyanobacteria I'm battling with at the moment (my tank is now in black-out for the next few days), although I haven't read anything which suggests it could cause a problem such as this.

Just a quick update on this for anyone who may be interested - somewhat surprisingly it does seem as if the Frogbit was the culprit 

I removed all the Frogbit from the tank and left it in a bucket of water for a while and since it was removed it my tank water has pretty much cleared. I then checked the water in the bucket and the fibres were there. I can only assume they were the tiny root hairs which are being shed in some fashion.

Bit of a shame really as I quite liked the Frogbit!