Fuzzy White Fungus?

Hello, I have a problem with a relatively new tank. It's all matured/cycled, but I've noticed the next morning, after I've fed the fish that there's a fuzzy whitish fungus (I think that's what it is) all around the food pellet, or piece of shrimp that I've fed them. The fish themselves are fine, no problems at all. My aquarium plants seem fine too. It's just that this fuzzy white stuff seems to encompass the food and surely that's not right. Does anyone know what this is, and how I can treat it? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi, it sounds like the food you fed them has spoiled. If the fish do not eat it very soon, it will fungus and spoil before long just like you described. I recommend that you not feed them more than they can eat in 2 or 3 minutes. Spoiled food can quickly hurt your water quality and this will harm your fish as well. I recommend that you siphon out the spoiled food and do a 30-50 percent water change.

Probably it just means that you fed the fish too much. If there is only a small amount of spoiled food, you can use a turkey baster to suck it out. However, if there is much of a buildup, you need to do a partial water change and make sure to get all the gunk off the bottom. A check for ammonia may also be in order.

If the fish are healthy, they will always act hungry. They should be fed a variety of quality foods twice a day but no more than they can eat in a couple of minutes. In addition, they can go without food for more than a week. Live plants and regular, partial water changes will help compensate for over feeding.

Sorry if that last post just repeated what Megan said. We were probably writing responses at the same time.

Yeah but I'm concerned because it's not one particular food, it's anything that is food-like the goes to the bottom. In my other tanks if there is any food left the next day there's no fungus. Even if I feed the same food, I don't understand why it's just leftover food in the one tank, but it's fungal in the other?? Should I do a 50% water change if the tank is not that old and hasn't had any water changes yet? The water is clear. I just have the feeling there's something else going on with that tank.

The same thing happened in my tank. I had that stuff that floats at the top. I just scooped out that food they didn't eat right away and threw it out so that none of it went to the bottom.

The aquarium definitely needs a partial water change. It probably has a bacterial buildup, and not all bacteria are good. Clear water is a good sign, but it's not the only indication of a healthy aquarium. It could have ammonia or other dangerous compounds and still be clear. If you have time, you might try a 20 percent water change each day for two or three days. A 50 percent water change could change temperature or other water parameters too quickly. Most fish can tolerate less than ideal water parameters but not rapid changes. After things are back to normal, do a 15 or 20 percent water change every week, and avoid over feeding.

this happens to me too all the time, just take a tube from the air pump ( make sure its pretty long ) and put one end of it into the tank, and with the other end suck really quickly and then hurry and put it into a bucket or milk gallon or container of some sort. use that to siphon out all the yucky stuff, and it also it giving you a water change too. then add new water with conditioner and your all set :] i do this daily.

You can buy a syphon hose with a large diameter uptake end. This lets you clean the gravel without sucking it through the hose. You can also buy syphon starters in case you don't like drinking aquarium water. If you have lots of aquariums, one of the maintenance systems like a Python will save lots of time and work.

at work we have a syphon with a pump on it also that is part of the tubing. You can manually compress the tubing which works as the pump. They are really inexpensive. It works nice for our turtles because you definitely don't want to be drinking turtle water haha.

Or aquarium bottom water cootie cocktails

Can the build up of food kill the betta?

Okay, I did the water change, about 40%, so it will be interesting to see if I still have this problem. I can accept that maybe I put too much food in, although I don't think that was the issue, as I only put a couple of pellets in the bottom for my bottom feeders, but there's still an issue of why fungus would be there in the first place. I've never had anything like that in any of my other tanks, and there are times when the food has been left lying on the bottom and it never gets any fuzzy stuff on it. I can't help thinking that everyone has missed the real issue here. In my opinion, it's not about leftover food, it's about WHY fuzzy white stuff gets onto the food in the first place. **Oh and I've figured how to get over having a change of water temperature, I have an unused heater and I just put the heater into the water I am going to put into the aquarium and heat it up to the temp of the water already in the tank, and voila, it's the same temp!!

Can the build up of food kill the betta?

YES

The water change amounts that I recommended are fairly conservative, but temperature is not the only water parameter that affects the health of aquarium fish. For example, a rapid change in pH can affect their health. For the small water changes, I just use tap water plus a good water conditioner, and adjust the temperature by feel.

About the fungus: To thrive, it needs food, but it also needs a spore or bacteria to get it started. Since the same foods in other aquariums don't get all fuzzy, the fungus cooties must be coming from your one aquarium. Letting it go for several weeks without a partial water change will for sure promote the buildup of those nasty old fungus cooties. Cootie is, of course, a technical term; I learned it in grade school. If left over food is not the source of the fungus cooties, it could be an accumulation of plant and fish wastes. In any case, the water changes should eliminate the problem. Please let us know if it does.

Thanks JA, I think you've finally hit the nail on the head, and I agree with you. The tank in question had previously used gravel, and I never cleaned it thinking it would be beneficial for my current usage, and there was alot of plant waste in the gravel, I could see that when I did my water change yesterday, as I used a gravel cleaner at the same time. I appreciate all your help and I will keep you all updated as to what's happening with that tank. Thank you.

Thank you for putting up with my cootie talk.

Well, I hadn't read this post when I posted to the other one... LOL!

So... Go with the flow... Hope your fish gets better!