mold, film and spring tails

Olivia W. · #1 06-19-2010, 11:40 AM

So I went ahead and planted my palu water section a few weeks back and just let it sit without putting my mossy frogs in. I also did not fertilize the water. I planted Anubias and some grasses and put in java moss. I made the mistake of planting the grasses in a shaded area so they started to die. I went ahead and replanted them. I also put on a stronger light to help them bounce back but that put holes in my plant leaves closer to the top, so i had to downsize the light again. I also had to pull two grass clumps out cause they died completely. The Anubias are doing great though (growing new leaves) and the moss is staring to root into my wood! Over all its ok now. Tank still looks pretty and the plant with the wholes in its leaves will bounce right back because its actually growing new leaves. The grass is starting to bounce back too. I'm very happy with how it looks. I posted updated pics in the galery section. I will plant more plants to replace the dead grass clumps.

I am having 3 issues though:

1. The wood in my tank started to mold over. Well 2 out of 4. I don't know what the wood is exactly that I put in but all of it is getting slimy but only two pieces are molding over. The one in the middle and the one on the right glued to the glass. That one glued to the glass is molding only by the glued area since that area has limited oxygen supplydoesn't get much fresh air. But the one in the center started to mold above the surface and the grow slime/ mold below the surface as well. I scrubbed it with a toothbrush and changed the water. I hope it won't come back. Is this ok? Should I be worried or just let it sit and go away on its own?

2. I have spring tails too. The showed up on the wood that is on the right. They are cleaners from what my bf told me. Is it ok? I also noticed a whole swarm of them after scrubbing the wood and replacing the water. I had a whole bunch floating on the surface. Those little fellas are ok, right? I assume they are after my slime. I really have no idea how they got into the tank. I boiled all slate and wood and gravel, and I soaked all my plants in diluted bleach. ok/not?

3. Finally I have a film on top of my water. I changed my water and the next day it was back. This is the only thing that really worries me. I have no explanation for it.

froggsong · #2 06-19-2010, 03:30 PM

I don't have alot of time ATM to address everything, but i will say that the best way to get rid of a film it to skim it off the water with a cup (hold the cup under the water and allow a small stream to go into the cup, siphoning off the film), this can be from leaching expanding foam, protein buildup, even the substrate (sometimes tiny tiny particles settle on top of the water and are too small to sink, causing them to float on the surface and clump together, causing a skim). generally, changing the water will not fix the problem, because as the water level drops, the film will stick to the glass and cage decorations, rather than coming out in the water.

froggsong · #3 06-19-2010, 04:01 PM

Ok, I guess I DO have time, lol...

1. From what I understand, fungi don't take in CO2 and put out oxygen like plants do, they take in oxygen and put out CO2 like animals do, so I don't think limited oxygen would be the issue with the mold. However, stagnant air may well be. The mold is "eating" the top decaying layer from the wood. If you add a fan to circulate air, this will help get rid of the mold (at least what's on top that you can see). The springtails will get rid of what's left.

2. springtails are great, you WANT them in there. They are a necessary part of the ecosystem.

3. I addressed this in my last post. Skim as much of it off as you can, then spray down the sides of the glass and the edges of the wood and anywhere else the film can get stuck, the skim it again. DO this until you don't see any more of it. It's tedious and can take a long time, many rounds of flushing and skimming, but it's the best way to do it. I spent a good two hours at least doing it yesterday in my palu... What a pain, literally... I had to stand on a step stool the entire time because the tank is on my kitchen counter.

beckdg · #4 06-20-2010, 10:27 AM

1.
a. mold above water line... adding a pc fan and/or waiting it out should do the trick. mold is normal in a new viv.
b. fungus below the water line... also semi-normal with new wood in an aquarium/palu. it will go away on it's own most likely. it will take some time. i'm pretty sure erythromycin will kill it too if absolutely necessary. i would like to see some pics of that if you could.

2. good stuff... happy to hear

3. what water source are you using? well, city water, etc. ...
did you treat your wood and where did you get your supplies from? (did you collect them yourself?)

Olivia W. · #5 06-20-2010, 08:54 PM

tnx froggsong, yeah that makes sense. I put the filter up on the surface of the water, I mean the jet that sprays water out portion and it seems to break it up some. Yeah i will be in pain like you said to do it right and i will have to. i don't think its foam. my water background it slate, gravel and aquarium silicone so it is most likely substrate, or sand dust. My bf has a culture of spring tails for our pacmans so I figured they are good since he toses in a bunch into the pac tanks to be cleaners. And the mold may not come back, but if it does plenty of spring tails

Olivia W. · #6 06-20-2010, 09:08 PM

hi beckdg:
1. a) I choose waiting it out. it was much worse before. my bf told me to leave it and it seemed to start going away.
b) I scrubbed it off when i changed 50% of my water out. sorry. It was dark gray though, if that helps.

2. ME TOO now that I have you, froggsong and my bf (he's the one that got me into this) say so.

3. I am using 75% tap 25% filtered by brita , all treated with declorinator. The brita water is to get the alkalinity and hardness down and that in turn will lower the pH a little. I read it somewher that that would work and it did.

I treated my wood by boiling, then soaked it until it stopped turning the water brown. Then boiled it again. I let it dry out and then I siliconed all the wood in. All of it floats so I had to silicone stuff down to the bottom of the tank. I got all my wood from "the swap" (its a reptile/amphibian show not the actual name of it but everyone that goes calls it that). The one stuck to the background I got from a lasy that was selling a whole LOT at an allnight flea market. The reason why i think the are two pieces that are different from the other 2 is because The first two are partially submerged and soaked only a little past the water line and then they are bone dry. The other two pices are partially submerged but they soaked the water right up to the top.

Olivia W. · #7 06-20-2010, 09:11 PM

oh, I also put in some young water lettuce. well 2. I love their roots, they look so awesome underwater

beckdg · #8 06-20-2010, 11:37 PM

1. b. could be diatoms or fungus either will go away with time. scrubbing should (usually) keep it in check a bit. sounds good.

if you can swing it a r/o filter will cost less in the longrun and give you much cleaner water to drink and cook with than the brita filter... https://www.firstrays.com/cgi/cart/c...exact_match=on

either way, all sounds good.

Olivia W. · #9 06-21-2010, 08:32 AM

I may later down the line. using a pitcher filter to get about two gallons of water takes 15 minutes and as you say if the filter is cheap i may want to get a better one.

beckdg · #10 06-21-2010, 09:47 AM

yep, we were using PUR filters on our tap for a while there. (years)
when we switched over to r/o i started actually drinking water again for the first time in over 10 years... it tastes GOOD now. plus my mosses and liverworts are doing great with the new water.

there's more cartridges to replace now but there's a lot more time between replacement also. 6 months between carbon filters, a year between sediment filters and 2 years between r/o blocks. all in all that makes one year cost $75 and the next ~$10-$20... for an entire year. that's actually less than what we paid for PUR filters and we bought the 3 packs to save money.

where the big savings comes in for us... the wife was spending ~$800/yr on 20oz bottles of water while she was at work. after i installed the system i had her taste it side by side with her favorite bottled water and she immediately went out and got herself a water jug. the r/o tasted better hands down and it's going to save us $800/yr just from that.

kids are drinking something healthier, wife switched to something practically free, coffee, tea, kool-aid and water now tastes FANTASTIC, picky plants are growing like weeds, topping off the fish tanks is not a cause for concern anymore, cooking doesn't mean contaminating anymore... what more could i ask for from my kitchen sink? i have no idea why these things aren't mandatory in building codes yet.

initial cost is a deterrent, yes, but the units i linked you to are solid units at a substantially lower price than you'll find elsewhere and the results are fantastic... unbelievable. i can't believe i didn't do this a long time ago...

i can talk about this all day long... let me stop cluttering your thread.