What is this! Uncycled tank - strange paste?

[PaigeIs]

I have a 10 gallon tank I am currently cycling.  There are no fish in it and it does not have a light. I keep the temp at 74ish and run a small sponge filter with an airstone.  About a week ago I noticed some debris when I stirred up the substrate while adding a fake plant. The substrate is just cheap colored gravel from a BBS.  I was out of town for a few days and came home to find a few beige blobs  floating on the surface.  It has the texture of a loose paste, no discernable smell.  It's also in the substrate and all over the plant and the hardscape.  Also, it's gross!

Any ideas?

[nabokovfan87]

It looks like uneaten food. Did you add food to the tank at all that was similar in color?

I would manually remove it, clean the plant leaves and then vac the gravel to remove all of that, then see if it reappears.

[PaigeIs]

On 7/8/2022 at 8:39 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

It looks like uneaten food. Did you add food to the tank at all that was similar in color?

I would manually remove it, clean the plant leaves and then vac the gravel to remove all of that, then see if it reappears.

No food in the tank.  I am using ammonia to "feed" the cycle.  I am planning to clean out the tank this weekend. A sort of do over. The cycle in only on week 3, so hopefully I don't lose too much bacteria.  

[nabokovfan87]

Well, it's definitely looks like a very weird contaminant or some form of a brown diatom algae.

I don't know how it would've been introduced though.  It sort of reminds me of what Cory had shown off on some of the artificial decor items that he had in some of his tanks (backgrounds) where some of the products used introduced a very weird mulm/algae/fuzz like this.

Here's the video, should start right at the relevant part.
 

Is there a lot of light on the tank currently?  A lot of ambient light or is the lighting window for the plants pretty high/long and it would encourage algae growth?

[Seattle_Aquarist]

On 7/8/2022 at 8:17 PM, PaigeIs said:

I have a 10 gallon tank I am currently cycling.  There are no fish in it and it does not have a light. I keep the temp at 74ish and run a small sponge filter with an airstone.  About a week ago I noticed some debris when I stirred up the substrate while adding a fake plant. The substrate is just cheap colored gravel from a BBS.  I was out of town for a few days and came home to find a few beige blobs  floating on the surface.  It has the texture of a loose paste, no discernable smell.  It's also in the substrate and all over the plant and the hardscape.  Also, it's gross!

Any ideas?

Hi @PaigeIs

It looks like part of the container the plant is in is deteriorating.  I don't know what the material is but is could be Coir (shredded coconut fiber) that has been formed with heat and pressure into a container.....unlike clay or plastic coir deteriorates in water.  -Roy

[PaigeIs]

On 7/8/2022 at 9:43 PM, Seattle_Aquarist said:

Hi @PaigeIs

It looks like part of the container the plant is in is deteriorating.  I don't know what the material is but is could be Coir (shredded coconut fiber) that has been formed with heat and pressure into a container.....unlike clay or plastic coir deteriorates in water.  -Roy

Thanks.  That would make sense, except the plant is glued to a rock.  🙂

On 7/8/2022 at 9:07 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Well, it's definitely looks like a very weird contaminant or some form of a brown diatom algae.

I don't know how it would've been introduced though.  It sort of reminds me of what Cory had shown off on some of the artificial decor items that he had in some of his tanks (backgrounds) where some of the products used introduced a very weird mulm/algae/fuzz like this.

Here's the video, should start right at the relevant part.
 

Is there a lot of light on the tank currently?  A lot of ambient light or is the lighting window for the plants pretty high/long and it would encourage algae growth?

Thanks.  This was helpful.  I am going to clean out the tank and start again.  Not sure what is growing in there, but whatever it is, there is too much of it.  🙂