Strange gunk - could it be dying plants?

[Grey]

Hello, I'm sorry to bother you.

Over the course of the past few weeks I've been attempting to set up a small (35 litre) aquarium in my bedroom. It's taken me a lot longer than usual due to sickness (I've been housebound for several years but decided to give it a go with a lot of help from my mother) and throughout that time has also caused a lot of stress. I've never had live plants before and wanted to give them a go so I did a lot of research and chose the classic, easy-to-grow plants Java Fern, Java Moss and Christmas Moss - I also bought a banana lily (Nymphoides Aquatica). The java moss has been put in my killifish fry aquarium and has had no problems but I've had a fair amount of grief with the other plants (with the exception of the banana lily and Christmas Moss, though those are new and were added yesterday).

I've made plenty of mistakes with this aquarium and am learning more every day however I have a recurring problem that I can't quite seem to solve. The problem is regarding a strange white gunk that appears on the plants. Now, we actually tore down and re-scaped the aquarium last night as this problem got out of hand and I thought I'd fixed it by trimming up the plants (removing dead/dying foliage and bad roots) but it's already making a return. I thought the gunk may have been decaying foliage, this is what the research I've done has told me but I'd love some confirmation.

The aquarium has no fish in it yet, it contains a single piece of driftwood. The Java Ferns were planted as my brain farted and I mistook them for another plant however they are no longer that way and are instead resting on the gravel in the bottom of the aquarium (I used sand up until a couple of weeks ago, but now I'm using gravel that is a couple of mm in size) - I'm wondering if this may be the problem. From what I know Java Ferns need to be rooted to something, I thought I could trigger this effect by resting them on the gravel and hope they take root there but I could be sorely mistaken.

The lighting is going to be replaced soon but right now is a single LED lamp designed for smaller aquariums such as mine; I can't get the exact wattage but it houses 32 bright white LEDs and is often used with Nano aquariums. I'm wondering if that may also be the problem - inadequate lighting. The aquarium I'm using currently does not have a lid so I've been looking for a light that can hook onto the rim and doesn't cost too much to run (being housebound I run up the electricity bills a bit).

I have a sponge filter I had been using for the aquarium; I've removed it for a while but am keeping it wet as it seemed to have a good amount of bacteria growing. I have added a mechanical filter to the aquarium temporarily and it is a "200L/H Aquarium Internal Fish Tank Filter Pump" in the hope it will remove some of the gunk.

I am not fertilizing the aquarium as I don't want to deal with that sort of thing, I also don't have the funds for a CO2 system and don't think I could cope with one.

I can't describe the gunk very well; it's a whitish translucent goo that I can see covering some of the roots of a couple of Java Ferns and attached to a couple of leaves (it looks like a streaming white fish poo). I'd love to get some advice on how to remedy this as I do nothing but look at this aquarium with a worried expression and that is not why I decided to invest all my time and energy into setting it up.

Thanks for your time.

 

[MdngtRain]

Hmmm, I'm pretty new to the hobby so I can't think of anything off the top of my head. The only thing I might suggest is to wash the plants off in the sink or something to try to remove the stuff and hopefully keep it away. I've never had anything like that that wasn't decaying plant matter.
I hope someone else can better help. Sorry it's turning to such a headache for you

 

[Grey]

Thank you for the response! I have cleaned the plants previously but I think it may be the roots decaying. I hadn't anchored the Java Ferns to anything but instead had them gently resting on the gravel; I'll admit when I bought them I got their names mixed up with Amazon Sword plants so I think it's my own mistake that caused the problem.

I took the plants out and have put them in a different container with water for now. I did a partial water change to the main aquarium and it is much clearer now; I'm going to see if the water stays clear overnight - if it does I can narrow the problem down to the ferns.

Thank you again!

 

[Grey]

Just an update (I apologize for the double post, I feel this is important); after a little over 24 hours after removing the plants I thought were causing the problem the aquarium's water has stayed wonderfully clear. I'll be doing another water change tomorrow and making sure any remaining gunk is removed but for now I am finally starting to enjoy this aquarium.

Have ordered some Amazon Sword plants (the ones I'd initially intended on purchasing) to replace the plants I took out. Very excited! Now I just have to find a lid for the aquarium.

 

[lauraf]

Keep at it with the live plants. The goop could very well have been from decaying plant matter. Sometimes new plants go through a shock to being fully subersed - many of them are actually grown emersed before they get to your pet store.

 

[Grey]

Aye, I'll not give up on the plants I have - I've learned a fair amount and am looking forward to learning more. Thank you for the info! I will keep that in mind.

 

[Grey]

While the gunk has become more manageable and I found our gravel cleaner and got it working - it's still giving me a bit of a headache. I think it is just where the plants are adjusting to their new home but I'm not entirely sure if there is anything else I should be doing for them to prevent this in future or slow it down.

Each morning I find some gunk returns to the side of the aquarium, though it much, much better than it was previously. I've been able to remove dead and dying plant matter as I find it however I do have a coconut cave that has Christmas Moss growing on it that I added and the moss seems to be causing a lot of the gunk by itself; I've removed dead strands of it but am having severe problems with my arms which is leading to me not being able to remove the dead foliage every day. I can only do it bit by bit.

Would it help if I purchased and used some form of fertilizer? I'm trying my hardest to keep up with cleaning the gunk off every day but am exhausted. If I can do more for the plants to ensure their survival and therefore reduce the gunk produced I will.

The gunk hasn't spread across the gravel as much as it did before and I've found it easier to remove. Yesterday I gave the aquarium a really good go-over with our multi-purpose gravel cleaner and the aquarium has stayed crystal clear overnight which is a first in a couple of weeks - I'm hoping we're nearing the end of this cycle of plant deterioration but I am doing everything I can to keep a close eye on it and to keep the water at good clarity.

I don't want to start cycling until the plants have settled in case something goes wrong and I have to start completely from scratch again. Would it be beneficial if I started a cycle? I still need to get a cover for the aquarium as well.

 

[lauraf]

It seems strange to have so much 'gunk' still going on. Are you noticing a lot of dying plant leaves?
I don't know how starting the cycle could hurt at this point, and decaying plant matter may have already started your cycle for you - could be the cause of the cloudy water.

 

[Grey]

The thing is that the water is crystal clear but there is this gunk on the sides of the aquarium and sometimes on the gravel. There's also been a population explosion of detritus worms which leads me to further believe that the issue is solely dying plants as they can feast off the stuff. I've noticed some decaying plant matter and have removed it as and when I've found it but it just keeps coming. I did a 20% water change every other day when the problem was at its worst and that has certainly helped but I am toning down how often I change the water now.

The problem seems to be at a stand-still right now. No matter how scrupiously I clean the aquarium I get the same amount of gunk back that I clean off. I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. If it is a light issue I can always put these plants in our downstairs aquarium which has been up and running for over a year and go for plastic plants but I don't know what fish I'd want in the aquarium after that; it's only a small one and I was desperately hoping to keep cherry shrimp in there at some point.

Thank you for your response.

 

[OrangeCones]

The aquarium has no fish in it yet, it contains a single piece of driftwood.

With no fish, the plants will have no source of nutrients. Since you have another aquarium, I would suggest that you use water from the other tank as your 'new' water. When you do water changes on your other tank, save some for this new tank. Drain that amount from your new tank, and add some of the 'old' water to your 'new' tank as its 'new' water. (Hope that wasn't too confusing.)

How long have you had the driftwood in the water? Does it stay on the bottom on its own, or did you tie it to something heavy to keep it down? New driftwood often develops a fungus that can be quite gross. Fish will often eat it, but it usually runs its course in a couple of months.

From what I know Java Ferns need to be rooted to something, I thought I could trigger this effect by resting them on the gravel and hope they take root there but I could be sorely mistaken.

Java fern need to 'cling' to something. I have had them cling to the gravel itself over time, but it does take time. If you have a medium sized rock, I'd tie the ferns to it with cotton thread (it will decay over time when its no longer needed - many say use fishing line but it will cut the plant if you don't remove it in time). If you don't like the look of the rock, just bury it under the gravel slightly.

I have a sponge filter I had been using for the aquarium; I've removed it for a while but am keeping it wet as it seemed to have a good amount of bacteria growing.

Unless you are feeding the bacteria on the sponge filter with small amounts of ammonia, there is nothing there to help your future shrimp. I'd place it in your other aquarium and it will help 'jump start' your new tank when you are ready to add the shrimp.

 

[Grey]

Thank you for your response, OrangeCones.

I will do another water change in the aquarium later this evening or tomorrow morning and take some of the water out of the downstairs one to help add nutrients; I had wondered if this was perhaps part of the issue - I'm glad there may be a solution.

I did eventually replace the driftwood with a piece of bogwood that had an Anubias plant attached to it; it is also covered in a fine layer of Christmas Moss. This piece was "premade" and settled much faster than the other plants in the aquarium; while there is a tiny amount of decaying it is nothing compared to the previous issue with the old driftwood or the other plants.

I'll put the sponge filter in the downstairs aquarium, too. To be quite honest I hadn't thought of that - d'oh! I'm still learning though so I can't thank you enough for your advice. Would you suggest plugging it in with the air pump or just leave it sat in there?

I'm going to continue to watch the progress of the plants and hope that the old water will help.

Thanks again!

 

[OrangeCones]

I did eventually replace the driftwood with a piece of bogwood that had an Anubias plant attached to it; it is also covered in a fine layer of Christmas Moss. This piece was "premade" and settled much faster than the other plants in the aquarium; while there is a tiny amount of decaying it is nothing compared to the previous issue with the old driftwood or the other plants.

'Cured' driftwood such as your 'premade' piece will likely cause less trouble with the fungus, although it could still happen. If the other piece is one you want to use, and its small enough, boiling it on the stovetop may help rid it of the fungus spores. All of my driftwood is what I have found in the forests around my home and I've treated them all with boiling them first.

I'll put the sponge filter in the downstairs aquarium, too. To be quite honest I hadn't thought of that - d'oh! I'm still learning though so I can't thank you enough for your advice. Would you suggest plugging it in with the air pump or just leave it sat in there?

I would set up the sponge filter exactly as you plan to use it in your new tank. That way, its as simple as moving the filter to the tank when you get the shrimp. There will be no 'adjusting' needed to keep the beneficial bacteria alive and thriving. Even after you get the shrimp, I would still recommend you continue with using the other aquarium's water when you do water changes at first, since they are such a low bio-load. Its 'cheap' fertilizer and as long as you maintain the water quality (zero ammonia and nitrite, and I'd recommend under 20 nitrate for the shrimp), you should have no problems. All of the plants you mentioned do well in low light, so your lighting should not be an issue. I've grown all of those with NO lighting, other than what sneaked in from windows across the room and any room lights turned on. They grow slowly, but they DO grow.

 

[Grey]

I cannot begin to thank you enough for your help; I've just done a water change and will hook up the sponge filter downstairs for the time being (let's hope the tubing is long enough). I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope the water changes work.

I'm going to wait a while longer before getting shrimp and see if the plants settle down nicely. I'm hoping to get a few more hiding places before adding the inhabitance so I'll do weekly water changes and hope for the best. I'm also relieved that the lighting I chose is appropriate!

Thank you!

 

[OrangeCones]

I think you'll do just fine. Shrimp don't need a lot of hiding places unless they are living with shrimp. I kept a shrimp-only tank for many years and they were always out and about with no fish to chase them around!

 

[Grey]

That sounds awesome. I've wanted red cherry shrimp for years but never had the knowledge nor inclination to set an aquarium up. I'd considered keeping a pair of apple snails in there as well but I am as of yet undecided. Of course, I'll need a lid if I do go ahead with it.

 

[OrangeCones]

I've never kept apple snails, so couldn't advise on those. For the the shrimp, my tank had a light suspended over it so it had no 'lid' at all. It does help with evaporation, but I never saw a shrimp that had jumped out on my floor! They are quite fun to watch and breed very easily with no fish to bother them.

 

[Grey]

That sounds awesome - I'm very excited again. I will see how the water from downstairs affects the aquarium and let the plants recover fully before adding anything else.

The apple snails are climbers, so if there's space to get out you can bet they might try - good thing is they can survive out of water for up to a week. We have four downstairs, three ivories and a purple. Remarkable animals - hilarious to watch.

But anyway, thank you again! Patience is such a virtue and is critical in this hobby. I hope my health will improve once the aquarium has settled haha!

 

[Grey]

This'll be the last bump for this topic, but solely because of good news I wanted to share! It's been almost three days since I added the old water to the aquarium and the gunk on the sides has decreased dramatically; it's no longer creeping across the gravel and the plants are perking up!

There's still a lot of debris to clean up, but I'm going to take care of that tomorrow. Looks like the "old water" did the trick - thank you so much!

 

[OrangeCones]

With a 'fishless' tank, its the best way to fertilze the plants (just like having fish in there).

I've been keeping freshwater planted tanks for ages (saying how long would say I'm old, so that's all I'll say). I've always done this with the fishless tanks. I even once had a 75gallon tank with 2 Oscars in it and used a 2nd 75gallon tank in the stand under it as a 'sump.' The plants in the bottom aquarium grew beautifully with the constant addition of 'oscar poo' as it were!

Great to hear updates. No problem at all to adding to your topic later like this. Plants (fish too) do not change for the better or worse overnight so sometimes takes awhile to see things turn.

 

[Grey]

I'm glad I've learned something new, this will really come in handy in the future and I'll continue to add old water to the aquarium when I do water changes until I get some fauna in there (which may be soon!).

Thank you again and best of luck in the future!