pdmeighen Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 ... and I'm having issues. I have a 55 gallon tank which has been active for about 5 years. I've had a series of problems but I'll spare you the details including everything being cover with "Grey Gunk". Everything died - snails and fish. The plants weren't doing too well. I removed everything leaving the soil substrate and gravel. Next I drained 3/4 of the water and replaced filter media (which I probably shouldn't have done). Yesterday I added water, some rocks and some plants. I plan to add more in the coming weeks. There is still some Grey Gunk (see picture) which I vaccumed out. When the vaccum touch the Gunk it released a cloud. I'm wondering if the Gunk is a fungus and the if the cloud was spores. Next steps - add Neocaridina Shrimp which I'm hoping that will eat the grey gunk and some snails. Anyway please feel free to offer any suggestions and recommendations on what the Grey Gunk is and how to fianlly be freee of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tlindsey Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 On 2/25/2024 at 3:30 PM, pdmeighen said: ... and I'm having issues. I have a 55 gallon tank which has been active for about 5 years. I've had a series of problems but I'll spare you the details including everything being cover with "Grey Gunk". Everything died - snails and fish. The plants weren't doing too well. I removed everything leaving the soil substrate and gravel. Next I drained 3/4 of the water and replaced filter media (which I probably shouldn't have done). Yesterday I added water, some rocks and some plants. I plan to add more in the coming weeks. There is still some Grey Gunk (see picture) which I vaccumed out. When the vaccum touch the Gunk it released a cloud. I'm wondering if the Gunk is a fungus and the if the cloud was spores. Next steps - add Neocaridina Shrimp which I'm hoping that will eat the grey gunk and some snails. Anyway please feel free to offer any suggestions and recommendations on what the Grey Gunk is and how to fianlly be freee of it. @pdmeighen Welcome to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 (edited) @pdmeighen, I have never seen that before….maybe @Tony s has some input, he is very helpful on a lot of things, not saying he knows everything (nobody does) but he is helpful, also welcome to the forum. Edited February 25 by Bigdog99 Fixed a typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 No idea. Could be some form of bacteria bloom. I once had some sand grow 2 inches of brown muck on the bottom of a tank. Never cleared until I treated the whole tank with erythromycin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 To me it just looks like mulm but maybe there's something more to it 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 That is super weird, it looks like something that might be in a saltwater but this is a freshwater correct? @pdmeighen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMartins Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 (edited) It looks like what I get in my tank and I agree with @Schuyler that it could just be mulm. I either gravel vac it or eventually goes away when the Cory’s stir it up and into the sponge filter. It hasn’t affected any off my fish and my water parameters are good. Edited February 26 by TMartins 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Very odd looking, that is for sure, never in my life, but I am sure with time (which usually is always a good thing, to wait it out) it will go but if u have corys like @TMartins that is an option 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMartins Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Also take what I said at face value because I’m just going by a picture. If it comes off easily like in my tank then it’s just mulm, but for some reason if it’s attached to the gravel then it’s definitely something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdmeighen Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 On 2/26/2024 at 8:16 AM, Bigdog99 said: That is super weird, it looks like something that might be in a saltwater but this is a freshwater correct? @pdmeighen Correct, this is fresh water. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Yeah, take the advice @TMartins said and it will also it will go away eventually, I mean diatom algae stays and stays and stays so yeah. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 It looks to be a combination of left over food that is growing the bacterial colonies and fungus that break down the excess. Try feeding less and doing weekly gravel vacuuming. Also adding more flow and mechanical filtration like a hang in back will help or a powerhead with a sponge prefilter. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdmeighen Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 (edited) Thanks for all of the responses. Here's the lastest pictures from my tank. There are no fish and I've not added any food. The plants were added on Sunday and there was nothing on them so the stuff in these pictures has appeared over the past 2 days. Also the water smells very musty. You can smell it as soon as you walk in the house. A google search for musty smelling water suggests: "usually a sign that excess waste is in the tank, and usually excess food. To correct the problem, change out 50% of the water, wait one whole day, and then change out 25% more of the water." I just did a 75% change and used the siphon to clean up any debris by pushing it down into the gravel and sucking up anything that looked like it didn't belong. I guess that tomorrow I'll be doing another water change. Do you think that I should remove the plants first? I've order new plants and am debating if I should add them or not. I'm also thinking that I should not add any living fish/shrimp/etc. Should I remove everything - substrate, gravel, etc and start over? Is there actually a fun part to this hobby? Water test results are: Hardneess - 120 Free Chlorine - 0 Nitrate -0 Nitrite - 0 Carconite - o Alkalinity - 40 Ph - 6.0 Edited February 28 by pdmeighen removed wrong photo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 On 2/27/2024 at 7:50 PM, pdmeighen said: Is there actually a fun part to this hobby? It would not hurt to start over but I am sure others will have better advice than me but to answer this above, yes it is, it can be frustrating sometimes but IMO it is great! 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 On 2/27/2024 at 7:50 PM, pdmeighen said: Is there actually a fun part to this hobby Yes there is, there can also be frustrating challenges. You have one of those currently. It gets better. I know it’s hard to believe right now, but it will get better. the smell concerns me. Even a ton of mulm doesn’t stink like that. Bacterial infections do. Honestly, I would absolutely hit it with erythromycin. Usually thought of as fish medication. It also works on bacterial growth in the tank. If you’re really getting frustrated, what have you got to lose. Hopefully it works, if it doesn’t, it won’t hurt either 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdmeighen Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 Since I decided to clear out everything, I started a new topic called "Rebooting a 55 Gallon Tank" under general. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyxxl Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 On 2/27/2024 at 7:50 PM, pdmeighen said: Thanks for all of the responses. Is there actually a fun part to this hobby? Water test results are: Hardneess - 120 Free Chlorine - 0 Nitrate -0 Nitrite - 0 Carconite - o Alkalinity - 40 Ph - 6.0 I have to say yes there are lots of fun aspects, learning science is always fun, watching the tank change and mature over time, meeting like minded people. These are all great fun in my mind but I am a nerd. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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