My heater keeps growing a white fuzz- Any clue what it may be?

[bamsuddenimpact]

I just did a water change Friday (5 gallon) And this is the second time after being cleaned off my heater seems to grow a white fuzz. My fish is fine active and swimming like normal- but any clue?

[bamsuddenimpact]

anyone?

[lauraannq]

Originally Posted by bamsuddenimpact

I just did a water change Friday (5 gallon) And this is the second time after being cleaned off my heater seems to grow a white fuzz. My fish is fine active and swimming like normal- but any clue?

um salts/minerals in your water.. it's the same deposits that form inside a electric tea kettle or iron .... i have well water so we get it a lot if we aren't careful. ... some people like well water for fish others not so much.. me i go poland spring route for my beta, as i know even with a whole house filter we have minerals in our water... and as i don't know if he likes mineral water i figure it's just safter...

[shellieca]

I had that problem when I had a small 1g aquarium with no water circulation. It was a slimy thing. Now that I have larger (10g min.) tanks, I no longer have that problem on my heaters. I know yours is a 5g, is it close to the filter?

[starrlamia]

heater slime it's fairly common, or could be white mold. Just wipe it off.

[bamsuddenimpact]

Originally Posted by shellieca

I had that problem when I had a small 1g aquarium with no water circulation. It was a slimy thing. Now that I have larger (10g min.) tanks, I no longer have that problem on my heaters. I know yours is a 5g, is it close to the filter?

I haven't put the filter in the 5 gallon because I was afraid of my betta getting stuck (and the filter hole makes it easy to put the heater in) when I first got him. He has great finage, and as much as I read about baffling I always see the horror stories about bettas getting stuck in or on the filter. And my bettas have always shied away from filtration (had two previous tanks w. filters) so I didnt try with this one.

[iElBeau]

If you don't have a filter, it's likely water quality. Up your water changes. I had a similar growth on my betta himself when I first started, and it turned out I hadn't cleaned his home frequently enough. OLF has a great thread with recommended water change schedules.

[bamsuddenimpact]

Water quality- I do a 100% change every 3-5 days. OFL suggests a 50% 1x week and a 100% monthly. And the fuzz comes within 2-4 days of a change.

[babystarz]

Yeah I've had this issue too, I scrubbed my heater in vinegar once and that took care of the problem. Another time I let a snail take care of it and that worked too.

[Underthesea10]

Originally Posted by lauraannq

um salts/minerals in your water.. it's the same deposits that form inside a electric tea kettle or iron .... i have well water so we get it a lot if we aren't careful. ... some people like well water for fish others not so much.. me i go poland spring route for my beta, as i know even with a whole house filter we have minerals in our water... and as i don't know if he likes mineral water i figure it's just safter...

Hey that's my water!!! lol, my boys are lucky, my husband and I get it fresh from the well . It is high in PH though. I have a similiar problem, yet its not with our heaters, the white fuzz prefers our live plants...Im still not sure what it is or if its harmful. I give my plant roots a quick rinse but it returns within a few days.