# Having problems with a yellow blob



## gato (Nov 24, 2009)

Hello people, I'm new here..
I am from Italy and I'm a NPT beginner..
I have some problem with a "kinda mucus" that started to grow on my plants and gravel..
You can find a couple of pics I made here:
















Maybe fungus? is a bit too thick to be a bacteria biofilm, isn't it?
Any advice about what is it or what to do?
Possibly the two pics are two different organisms..

Some technical data:
I started the tank a week ago, it's a 96 Liters tank, pH is 7.5, KH is 8, T is 21°C.. You can find a pic of the tank here..

Thanks allot!
g


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

I had similar stuff on some driftwood long ago. I think it is either a fugus or type of bacteria colony that is feeding on dead orgain matter. Eventually, it should go away on its own. It took 2 weeks on my driftwood to go away. Also, when I put in black mollies, they began to eat it.

-Dave


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Ditto on what dave said. I think its fungus, it grew on my driftwood initially and then went away on its own.


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## gato (Nov 24, 2009)

Thanks guys, feel much better now!


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## Qwertus (Oct 14, 2008)

I think otos would also eat it, but not sure.


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

if you've got some excel around, you could always spot treat it with a pipette. Excel/glutaraldehyde is pretty broadly biocidal in high concentrations.

-Philosophos


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## gato (Nov 24, 2009)

the fungus is expanding over the gravel..
should I do something or just wait?
btw what is excel (not the software i think )? I'm trying not to use any chem in my natural tank..

here new pic:


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

gato said:


> the fungus is expanding over the gravel..
> should I do something or just wait?


Don't add chemicals; let nature take its course. It's fungus feeding on organic carbon released by the soil as part of the initial "Soil Chaos". You're _much better off _having fungus than algae, because fungus doesn't compete with plants for CO2. 

I do recommend some water changes in a new NPT during the first 6 weeks. If the fungus continues to spread, a water change and light gravel vacuuming wouldn't hurt.

BTW, your plants look nice.


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

gato said:


> the fungus is expanding over the gravel..
> should I do something or just wait?
> btw what is excel (not the software i think )? I'm trying not to use any chem in my natural tank.


I can understand opting out of it if you're doing an NPT with an emphasis on creating a system that balances its self. It's hard to ever say you're recreating nature, but you can definitely use principles from nature to keep a tank steady. I'd say it's more challenging no doubt, but isn't that half of why we don't always keep things simple?

Excel/CarboMax/glutaraldehyde is a tool that I believe everyone in the hobby should at least have an understanding of given its uses. It has applications for increasing hatch rates at low levels, it's accepted by plants as a carbon source, and it will kill off certain types of algae and fungus quite nicely. At the same time, glutaraldehyde is something to be careful with given how quickly it becomes toxic at high concentrations.

-Philosophos


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

I second dwalstad's advice, but it really depends on how patient you are. Some folks simply can't sit and look at goo for any period of time, while others, like myself, are pretty relaxed about it and just nejoy seeing things happen, even if it means waiting out a pea-soup epidemic.

That said, if it really, really bothers you, there are some products that are really great (as Philosophos is mentioning) and will address your issues. Just keep in mind that in treating a symptom (support of fungal "stuff") you leave the cause (the excess organics; obviously this in NOT a diagnosis, just an example), which will lead to another symptom (as Diana mentioned, fungus at this point, which will go away eventually, is better than algae).

The good news is that you only have a little over 2,000,000 options to explore...


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## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

I've never seen that kind of growth in my tanks, but I have seen some sci-fi movies where strange growths take over large areas. <g>

Manually remove what you can and see what happens.

Bill


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Excel is a product sold by Seachem as a substitute for carbon in aquariums. I do not know how wide spread it is. (USA, probably Canada, but elsewhere?) Many plants can use it. It is toxic to some plants, under some conditions. As a product deliberately added to kill algae the basic method is to use a syringe (no needle) and squirt it directly into the mass of algae. This creates a strong concentration right there in the mass of algae, which is toxic at that concentration. Then it is diluted as the water flow spreads it throughout the tank. Total amount used should not be too much for the tank size, and water changes between dosing will remove a lot, if the plants have not already used it. I would assume the suggestion to use it on The Goo would follow the same lines. 

I would prefer to follow the last suggestion: Manually remove what you can, especially if it threatens to grow over some plants, but do not waste too much time trying to get rid of every bit of it. Eventually things will settle down in the tank and I think it will go away on its own. It is only a temporary problem, and not much of one.


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## gato (Nov 24, 2009)

Many thanks to all of you.. especially to dWalstad (thanks for your intersesting book too!).

I did as follow:
1_manually remove some fungus
2_light gravel vacuuming
3_2/3 water change

hope will be enough.
ciao,
g


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

Diana K said:


> Total amount used should not be too much for the tank size, and water changes between dosing will remove a lot, if the plants have not already used it.


Glutaraldehyde dissipates pretty quickly anyhow; it's got a half-life of about 11-12 hours depending on which paper you go with. I've dose excel daily at post-WC levels for months on end with weekly water changes and have yet to see any major issues.

-Philosophos


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