White stuff around plants

Question
Hello karen, I initially sent this question to Chris Robbins before
finding the page that said he is maxed out but you are
available...sorry to Chris

My question is: I have a new tropical freshwater tank (26 degrees
Celsius), set up 4 days ago. 85 litres (20 gallons I think).

I introduced plants two days ago (no fish yet) and this morning
noticed that around the base of some of the plants is a white
cloud ...sort of like a fog patch...at the base of two groups of
plants.

I put a fertiliser ball at the base of each group in the tank and
also added liquid fertiliser.

The water was a bit alkaline so I just added some powder to
make it more neutral. I do not have a test kit yet for ammonia
and nitrite levels. (sorry)

Maybe it is an algae? Should I vacuum it out and treat with
something or is it a good bug?

Many thanks for any help you can provide,

Gillian : )

PS I have a photo of it if you want to see it.


Answer
Hi Gillian! Chris robbins is often maxed out! He's a very knowledgeable aquarist however... ;-)

It sounds like you have a problem with the fertilizer balls. The white 'fog' you mentioned is most like caused by them. If it appears moldy like fungus then you should try to vaccumn it up carefully with an aquarium siphon. This white mold is often caused by decaying wastes in the aquarium-- whether it's fish food or decaying plant leaves. The mold grows and feeds off the waste and can cause quite an unsightly scene if allowed to expand and grow. You most likely won't have to use a fertilizer ball AND liquid fertilizers at the same time. Unless you are keeping plants with high care needs the average plants like Anacharis, Tiger lotus, Ludwigia, Hornwort, and Aponogetons ulvaceous can live and grow with little fertilizer added. Most often the fish population provides enough fertilizer for the plants to thrive. Of course they will always do well with more or better nutrients. But too many can of course cause bad algae blooms which is even worse than not so lush of plants. Of course I don't want you to have sickly plants. But if the fertilizer balls are causing the cloud at the base of the plants and it is bothering you, just don't bother. The cloud is probably harmless, but if it is fuzzy, you need to remove it right away before it spreads. There are some funguses that grow on aquatic plants. I have had little experience with that problem fortunately. ;-)

~Please don't bother with the pH. It is likely just fine for your plants and fish and trying to alter it will cause more problems than it will cure. This is because simply adding neutralizing powders will only cure it for some time. But with your natural buffers and minerals causing the 'hard' water it will go right back up. This is a roller coaster ride of pH ups and downs and is very stressful for your fish. I have found nearly all fish can thrive in less than ideal chemistry parameters, some have adapted so well they even breed in it. It's not cruel and the fish and plants are healthy and grow very well. However certain sensitive species, or wild caught fish may need their water altered to sustain their health and wellness. This isn't usually the case with most commonly available tropical fish. But if you would like to soften your water, filtering it through peat does a wonderful job and when changed regularly, it is a reasonable solution to lowering the pH. But then don't forget you still have the problem of any time you change water and add some back into the aquarium, you will most likely have to treat that water chemistry unless you do very small water changes.
Even then with this, keep in mind fish do much better with a STABLE -not- SPECIFIC water chemistry.

I really hope this helps! Sounds as if you have a soon-to-be beautiful planted aquatic garden on your hands! ;-)

If you have anymore questions, feel free to email me... I hope you can get ahold of Chris robbins. Maybe he has better ideas on your white foggy stuff. Since I never use fertilizer balls I can only guess the logical cause would be them. But I do know fungus is a big problem at certain times and can often be very common in newly setup aquariums

Best wishes,
Happy fishkeeping!
Karen~