What is this!?

[Hadoken Kitty]

I found this in my tank when I got home from class tonight. There is a gross slime-like covering at the bass of a plant, too! my baby's coloring is fading. He's swimming like normal and eating like normal. So is the other fish. My cleaning day is supposed to be tomorrow, but I'm obviously going to have to do it tonight. But.....WHAT IS THIS!?

[callistra]

Maybe bacteria bloom. Can you share photos?

More info please: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

[Hadoken Kitty]

Housing
What size is your tank? 20G
What temperature is your tank? 80F
Does your tank have a filter? Y
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? N
Is your tank heated? Y
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? RAM, Bristlenose Pleco, and

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Frozen blood worms and brine shrimp (picky eater)
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2 x daily (skip 1 day weekly)

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Bi-weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 20%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? Not yet.
If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Slight faded coloration.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Not at all.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Tonight.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Not yet
Does your fish have any history of being ill? He had a small tear in his fin when I bought him, but that healed on it's own. :(
How old is your fish (approximately)? More than 3.5 months.

Could you not see the picture I posted before?

[registereduser]

looks like an old piece of food that got moldy.

[Hadoken Kitty]

You think so? Would it be necessary to do more than a gravel clean if it's just the food that got moldy...? I don'y want to mess around with mold...but 20G is a lot of water to completely empty and fill up if I don't need to.

[callistra]

Sorry it wasn't showing up when I posted. I can see it now though.

Slime mold? Maybe someone with more experience can say.

I don't think he's getting enough raw nutrition with what you're feeding. What pellets have you tried? Have you tried New Life Spectrum Betta or Omega One? Sometimes bettas just need a few fast days before introducing pellet food. You can also add vitachem to the water. It's a fish multivitamin and would make up for the vitamins he's missing from the food

[Hadoken Kitty]

Originally Posted by callistra

Sorry it wasn't showing up when I posted. I can see it now though.

Slime mold? Maybe someone with more experience can say.

I don't think he's getting enough raw nutrition with what you're feeding. What pellets have you tried? Have you tried New Life Spectrum Betta or Omega One? Sometimes bettas just need a few fast days before introducing pellet food. You can also add vitachem to the water. It's a fish multivitamin and would make up for the vitamins he's missing from the food

I hope someone posts soon! I don't know what to do about how to clean it, seeing as I have live plants in there....

Hmmm. I've tried feeding him pellets. Plenty of times! He's just beyond belief picky. If it doesn't look like a worm, then he just turns up his nose at it. I don't really know what to do. I think I've spent more money on betta food that he won't eat than food that he will...

[registereduser]

I wouldn't worry about it, just vacuum and clean the usual amount. How often do you do that?

[Hadoken Kitty]

20% bi-weekly. I just did a master test kit. I don't have hardness or alkalinity, but I have everything else. They are as follows:

PH: 7.6
Nitrate: 5.0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.25 ppm
Ammonia: 0.25 ppm

[Bootsie]

Basters are great for spot cleaning :)