professorfluffygills
New member
Does anyone recognize this clumpy, sagey-greenish-gray stuff that keeps appearing on my 40-gal tank floor? I've done research literally for hours over the past several weeks and I'm finding a whole lotta nothing. I thought maybe algae, because I'm cycling the tank (taking forever), and the nitrates are high -- I keep running ammonia through and I haven't been doing many water changes since the tank has no inhabitants yet. It appears literally overnight. It's raised, in tufty clumps, pretty easy to siphon up, breaks apart and becomes kind of powdery when I disturb it. It will be gone for a couple weeks then it's back again. It doesn't appear little by little, it's literally not there on Tuesday, and there on Wednesday. It's mostly on the tile floor but now forming on some other horizontal surfaces (never on the glass). I've looked at every kind of algae I can find, nothing looks like this. It doesn't look anything like cyanobacteria. Now, after leaving it in the tank for a few days (had to go out of town), I've noticed my ammonia meter is green again. It was negative when I left. An ammonia spike...with no one in the tank?! I don't know what to think and I can't put my axolotl in here until I know this clumpy stuff isn't something toxic (and of course, until the ammonia is gone). And, I really need this tank to be safe because I *really* need to move her. I'm at a loss.
Thanks so much to anyone who has ideas. Happy to provide more specs about the tank if needed.
Sincerely,
Desperate in clumptown
Thanks so much to anyone who has ideas. Happy to provide more specs about the tank if needed.
Sincerely,
Desperate in clumptown