Why are there grey cobwebs and dust in my fresh water tank?
I have been waiting about 4 weeks now to add my two fish to a larger tank. I went to the pet store two weeks ago to get the water tested and she told me wait another two weeks. Today was the two week mark and i went to look at the tank before I added my fish. I noticed that there was grey “dust” like stuff sprinkled on the rocks and all over the plastic plants. I looked closer and on the bottom of the fake leaves there are “cobwebs”. Everything is grey in color. I didn’t notice anything two weeks ago and i haven’t really looked at my tank between then and now until today. What could this be? It’s grey and flaky sprinkled everywhere and “cobweb” like on the bottom of the leaves. Pleas help if you can! Thank you in advance!
Yes they wanted the tank to cycle on its own. They didn’t tell me to add food though. I added some salt to the tank about three weeks ago because one of the fish is healing from tail rot and they said to do that, but that was it. It is a 20 gallon tonk as well. Do you think I will have to start all over again? Of course I would if iI have to. Thank you for your help!
this question feels a little scepticle but ill give it a shot anyways. i am assuming whom ever you are dealing with (pet store) told you to add fish food to your tank to “cycle it” right? they are having you do “fishless cycling”. what that dust and cobwebb like stuff all over your tank is all the food you added that just sat there and rotted in your tank. personally i am not a believer in fishless cycling for that reason. either way i would do a thorough cleaning of your tank before adding any fish. you add fish now and i will garantee that your fish will get some type of fungal and bacterail infection.
before i contine further i will need a couple more details from ya. i need to know the size of your tank, what this ” pet store” have been telling you and what you have been doing to the tnak for the past two weeks.
EDIT. . .EDIT. . .EDIT. . . do you have to start over? myabe. that “cobwebb” substance sounds like the reason ur fish got fin rot. and salt by itself will not treat fin rot. fin rot is a bacterial infection. the safest method i have used is API MELAFIX.
before we start treating ur tank, we need to address the cause of the gunk in ur tank.
it could be one of two things (that pops up in my head rright now)
1. u or someone in the houshold is WAAYYYY OVERFEEDING.
2. have u checked if ur filter is on? or what type of filtration do u have? is it properly rated for your tank?
3. i need to know what ur water test results are. where are u at on PH, NO2 (nitrites), NO3 (nitrates), NH3/NH4 (ammonium/ammonia).
what ever the case maybe, u still need to clean and get rid of the gunk in ur tank without draining the whole tank. and whatever ur filtration system is, u probably would want to consider upgrading.
either way, in order to properly resolve ur issue, i still need more details.
type of filter, how many times do u feed ur fish, what type of fish are u feeding, ur test results, and how long has ur fish had fin rot/describe any ailments ur fish is experiencing.
details are vital to get ur tank back up and running the first time. so please bare with me and all MY questions. once things are resolved, i promise that things will be much eaasier. its jsut when things mess up in an aquarium, things can get very frustrating. that’s why i work very hard with my costumers in preventing potential headaches.