Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: Afterburner on January 14, 2021, 07:34:14 PM
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Hi all, coming back to the hobby after 15 years off, just getting my 60l tank (xmas present) cycling (something I have never done before!)
Am getting plants and bits through the post in dribs and drabs, last week I got a bit of lava rock. Washed it out a few times in tap water just to get rid of the dust, then placed it in the tank with the plant tied to it.
The next day some small white spots had appeared, and now they have grown and some have gone dull very slightly orangey.
Pic attached. Any clues? Is this normal / odd / dangerous/ about to take over the world?
Cheers
Afterburned
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Are the spots/growths a bit fluffy? I'm thinking possibly fungal growths.
Where did you get the rock from? And was the plant already attached?
I've never used that sort of stone in my tanks, so I'm not sure what to expect from it, but as it is very textured I'd have thought it would be easy for things to get into all the holes.
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Only other thing I can think is pest snails - they’ll move of course if this is the case so easy to diagnose!!
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Yes, a bit fluffy, I was thinking fungal growth. Just not sure if it is nasty or not.
I got it and the plant from Aqua Essentials, they were not attached when I bought them. It's a Microsorum pteropus Windelov. It grows well on lava rock apparently.
Would hope there is nothing animal abut it - nothing animal in the tank yet!
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Funny you mention that particular company, I had a delivery from them today too.
They are very good, so I can't imagine the growths would be anything harmful to your tank.
Interesting to see what happens, so please keep us updated.
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Will do, thanks Littlefish.
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Well, it's getting worse...
More spots appearing and clumps getting bigger. Definately some kind of mould I would say.
What to do? (emailed AquaEssentials to see what they say)
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You may have to remove the plant to be able to treat the stone separately.
I'd suggest waiting to see what the supplier suggests, as they are the experts on this sort of thing.
You may also want to be quite careful with this rock when your tank is up an running, especially if you are considering corys as mentioned. The rock is quite rough, which may damage the barbels of the corys if they spend a lot of time going over it looking for food. You may have the same issue with your gravel substrate, if it is rough/sharp gravel. Some of the aquarium gravel has more rounded edges, which is probably better.
I have sand in all my tanks, but some of the others may be able to give more advice on how other/mixed substrates work with corys.
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Hmm, the supplier didn't know, maybe some organic matter coming out under pressure. Makes sense. He advised putting it in a bucket to soak for a few days.
Out of interest more plants arrived so I touched one of the white spots and it crumbled to dust - a quick rub and most were gone! I'll keep an eye on it, no fish in there yet.
The gravel is aqurium gravel and fairly well rounded, the rock will have plants and moss on it so shouldn't have too much surface exposed (I must admit I didn't think of the corys when I bought it - I was in plant mode!).
Thanks for the replies, if it comes back I'll let you know!
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It may be worth getting a cheap toothbrush to give the rock a scrub in a separate container of water. Get rid of as much as possible and try to keep the growths under control.