What is this White Crud?

[KappaTheImp]

Hi all. It looks like I'm in for another betta misadventure. We JUST got Soldier over dropsy, and he seems just healthy as can be, but I was hesitant to move him back in with other fish. The tank I have him in is a 1.5 gallon that we were using as a hospital tank, it's at 78 degrees, and it's still in the beginnings of the nitrogen cycle. Ammonia is at .25 right now, doing a partial water change here in a bit.

With all that being said, I thought that there was just some bacterial bloom in the tank now that the antibiotics are gone, but from all of the descriptions I can find, this doesn't look the same. It's on the sides of the tank, not just milky water.

If you look at the pictures, it's really obvious right near the filter. It's white and really long and stringy. You can see how thick it is in the pic with the heater. It's growing all over the tank, these were just the clearest pictures I could get.





That's a poop over in the corner btw. It isn't uneaten food.

[shellieca]

IME, too much heat for a small volume of water. I had a 1g tank, unfiltered with an adjustable heater & had the same problem. So, that is one reason I no longer have a tank less than 10g.

[KappaTheImp]

I don't know how it would be too much heat... Like I said, it's at 78 degrees.

[aokashi]

nah, I have a25w in a .5g jar... no white stuff because my plants eat all the nutrition.

It is simply because your cycle hasnt established yet.
but really in an aquarium, expect things to grow on surfaces... it's really just bature at work. you can definitely scrub the stuff down every once in a while.

And it's just bacteria....

[shellieca]

Originally Posted by KappaTheImp

I don't know how it would be too much heat... Like I said, it's at 78 degrees.

I had the heater set to 78F in a 1g container and after a few days I had all kinds of slimy stuff growing in the tank. I did a good cleaning, took that heater out & the problem went away. Even with a "mini" heater (the flat, unadjustable kind) I'd get a little slime on the heater. It's just my experience.