white moldy stuff

Question
I have a freshwater tank I bought 2 chilids awhile back.there is some white moldy stuff on the bottom of the tank. I have a couple big rocks in my tank and it is all around the rocks.
I'm not sure what it is. can you help?

                   Thank you
                    Tammy

Answer
Hello,

This is very unusual. First thing you should do is make sure none of this moldy stuff is on your fish. If it is, then you should treat your tank for fungus. If not then it could be a contaminate that got into the water. You should remove immediately. This may mean, scrubbing it off or removing the surface it is on and cleaning it thoroughly. If it is on the glass, then you will of course have to scrub it off.

Also, if the big rocks you have that it is around are not aquarium approved and were just found somewhere, then they could be the cause and you may want to remove them.

Finally you should check you basic water quality tests (temperature, pH, general hardness, nitrites and ammonia) just to make sure there ae no fluctuations/unsafe levels.

I hope this helps.

Good-luck,
From Stephanie