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I was just looking at my tank and noticed the the glass and plants (fake) have a white film/fuzz all over them...what is it! My danios and guppies are all swimming with their noses against the surface of the water...my albino cories seem fine and my shrimp is hiding (just got him today). What is this white fuzz?! It's a 5 gallon tank...parameters are:

ammonia 0.5-1ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 0-5ppm
ph 7.1-7.4

My tank is only 2 1/2 weeks old so is it because maybe its not fully cycled or do i just need to do a water change and wipe everything off? It is in the sunlight but the curtain has been closed all day, so its basically just light from the aquarium that is coming in...i only noticed this today and i did my usual 25% water change.


[span class="edited"][Edited by kelso 2004-09-01 20:41][/span]

I was just reading on another forum that the product prime...binds ammonia and makes it less hae=rmful...i use prime everytime that i do a water change...so i'm wondering if the ammonia in my aquarium is harmful or not (semi).

[span class="edited"][Edited by kelso 2004-09-02 14:50][/span]

It's probably fungus, you don't need to worry about it. What you need to do is worry about the ammonia that is building up. It looks like you stocked the tank too fast. Make sure the ammonia doesn't continue to come up.

well i've had fish in the tank for about 2ish weeks now and the parameters are at a constant...i was doing frequent water changes because i was concerned about the ammonia but it hasn't changed so i'm doing 25-30% change twice a week...

kelso- i assume you are the same person who posted the shrimp question on the invert forum. it is obvious you are eager to learn about fishkeeping, but try to correct your mistakes before they happen.

with fish (or any living creature you wish to care for), always think, research, and act. think about what you want (tank size, types of fish, live plants). research what you thought about (cost,fish size, compatability, budget, etc.). act to make your plan happen (purchase, cycle, add life, maintain what you have).

most importantly- take your time. it is tempting to overload a new tank before it cycles, but what do you gain by not waiting the few extra days? buying a shrimp because you assume it eats "poop" hurts the shrimp. just buying 2 danios because they are cheap means you will have 2 very lonely danios.

fish keeping can be a most pleasant and undemanding hobby. if this tank fails, do not let it deter you with future attempts at having your ideal tank. i sincerly hope your 5gal setup turns out okay in the long run.

See thats what my problem was...i went to a fish store that my boyfriend recommended because his mom dealt with them for years. So i decided oh this will be good..i went there and the guy recommended me to buy 3 zebra danios and 3 male guppies...i only wanted the guppies because i liked the way they looked and he told me that they were very boring fish and the zebras were more active and blah blah blah...so me being the newbie i am said alright and i bought 3 zebras and 3 guppies. I listened to the guy talk about his experiences with these species and whatever for about an hour (then i finally bought the fish). He also told me that i could have up to 12 fish of an inch in size in my 5 gallon aquarium.The fish have been acting the same as when i bought them and whatever. anyways...ummm...should i stop going to this fish store because they are giving me false info or what? not sure what to do here...can't take the fish back because i've already had them for 2 weeks.

[span class="edited"][Edited by kelso 2004-09-01 22:52][/span]

you can see if they take donations or if other lfs do. You won't get your money back, but at least you don't have fish that you don't want. Those people at lfs can be like car salesman sometimes. Selling you stuff and fish you don't want.

You don't have to stop going just stop listening . I buy fish all the time from the nearest lfs and think their opinions are worthless lol. In a 5g tank you should really only have the guppies. The rest is overstocking your tank. It's not going to completely cycle because that tank is small and very unlikely to handle that bioload especially as your fish grow. As your fish get bigger you'll probably start losing them with the cory first. Cory also prefer schools of 5-6 even 5 small cory wouldn't fit in that tank alone. Swimming at the surface could be a lack of oxygen from the amount of fish especially if you have no bubble stone in there or from the ammonia levels.

your tank is overstocked.. i dont even think your fish will fit in a 10 gallon.