Mold on Fish Tank Items

Question
Chris:

I woke up this morning to find one of my 5 gold fish floating in my freshwater tank.  Of course, I was stunned because nothing seemed to be wrong when we went to bed last night.  Upon further investigation, I noticed that all of the items I had in the tank (fake coral, fake plant, etc) had a dark green mold on them.  Or so that is what it looks like.  I have gotten most off of them with the exception of the one that looks like anemity *Homes clown fish live in*.  I am not sure if I spelled that correctly.  Anyways, I cannot seem to get it off.  How do I get it off and what might have caused this?  I have never seen anything like it and want to make sure that my remaining 4 fish are ok.  Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,

Amy Hansen

Answer
Hi Amy;

The green stuff is just algae and is not harmful to your fish at all. It is actually a sign of a healthy system. If too much grows it can be slowed down by making more frequent water changes to reduce the fish waste that is fertilizer for the algae.

We need to investigate the other possible causes of the death of your fish;

How long has the tank been set up?
How big is the tank?
How big are the fish?
Does the tank have a filter? How often is it cleaned?
Does the tank have a heater?
When was the last water change?
How much water was changed?

Let me know as soon as you can.....

Oh, and I think the word you are looking for is the invertebrate called an "Anemone". Weird word, that's for sure!

Chris Robbins