Unfortunately I'm going out of town tomorrow so that won't be an option. Still no one has any idea about the "gunk" in my tank? Could the leftovers from overfeeding make fish sick?
Dying GloFish!
- Thread starter JimTurntable
- Start date
Overfeeding can certainly lead to disease in the tank along with other things, reduce the amount you are feeding for awhile, only feed as much as the fish can eat with in 1 to 2 minutes, any leftover food will just sit in the bottom and become decaying organic matter that will grow bacterias and fungi that could infect the fish.
Jim, about the "gunk" in the tank, if you have any left or if it starts to come back, a picture is really going to be needed for anybody to come up with an answer to your question. Several pictures in fact, from different angles in the tank, then reach in and pull out a handful along with whatever substrate it's gathering on, then poke it around with your finger....you get the idea?
"Gunk" is just not a very descriptive word, alas. It could be anything from fish poop to minerals precipitated out of the water somehow to ....I dunno. However the fact that you say it is "grayish" and "sticky" sounds peculiar to me. Think back to the time when you first noticed it and where in the tank it was and how long it took to spread or deepen, and what changes you had made most recently before the condition arose.
Plus we would need more description of what else is in the tank: plants? What substrate if any? Wood? Stone? Equipment? Filters/heaters/CO2 gear? Any plastic or other decorative objects? The weirdest things can break down or shed material and might be contributing to the problem. "Describe the situation, omitting no detail however slight" as Sherlock Holmes once put it.
"Gunk" is just not a very descriptive word, alas. It could be anything from fish poop to minerals precipitated out of the water somehow to ....I dunno. However the fact that you say it is "grayish" and "sticky" sounds peculiar to me. Think back to the time when you first noticed it and where in the tank it was and how long it took to spread or deepen, and what changes you had made most recently before the condition arose.
Plus we would need more description of what else is in the tank: plants? What substrate if any? Wood? Stone? Equipment? Filters/heaters/CO2 gear? Any plastic or other decorative objects? The weirdest things can break down or shed material and might be contributing to the problem. "Describe the situation, omitting no detail however slight" as Sherlock Holmes once put it.
If the tank was not well cleaned when new, it could be 'skin' from the silicone floating around. Its a filmy white/grey gunk.
It's not sticky, that was the wrong word. It's just hard to siphon because it's a little heavy. I can't get a picture right now, sorry. It's going away so I think it was related to my feeding them too much. There are not natural plants in my tank and there are just a few fake plants and some lava rock, which doesn't seem to get much of the "gunk". Also, I've had this tank for close to a year now, so I doubt it's the silicone. The one that was sick 24 hours ago is still alive and is actually doing a little better, so maybe whatever is wrong is going away? I sure hope so.
Got some pictures. The gunk gets in the filter quick so it's easy to find there. Also got some pics of it in the gravel. Like I said before there's a lot less of it than there was a few days ago. Water levels are still good but I lost another fish this afternoon and I suspect another will die tonight 
I also took some pics of the latest fish to get sick. If you notice he's kind of...twisted..I guess would be the right word?
Like I said, this is primarily effecting the GloFish. I haven't lost a tetra in several months and I haven't lost any during this outbreak.
I also took some pics of the latest fish to get sick. If you notice he's kind of...twisted..I guess would be the right word?
Like I said, this is primarily effecting the GloFish. I haven't lost a tetra in several months and I haven't lost any during this outbreak.
OK... I'm gonna GUESS that the "gunk" is just that ... harmless gunk... probably from decomposing food alowing for some sort of slimey gunk to form as bacteria break it down... the slime itself could be a bacterial colony. That stuff is normal... it's what the mechanical filtration is there for... but if it gets out of hand... perhaps you are overfeeding?... like I said, I'm GUESSING.
As for the glowfish... I had the same problem recently... lost ALL the GlowFish, but not the "normal" Zebra Danios... they just wasted away... during the last couple days of each one's life, they got "warped" or "twisted" (I think that was a symptom of the malnutrition though... not part of the cause... I never did figure out WHY they quit eating.) GUESSING again... (water parameters were good in my tank, all other fish were and still are just fine... it was GloFish specific)... guessing that it was a disease of some sort, or possibly an internal bacterial infection. The fish were several months in the tank before it started though... so I really have no idea "where" it came from.
As for the glowfish... I had the same problem recently... lost ALL the GlowFish, but not the "normal" Zebra Danios... they just wasted away... during the last couple days of each one's life, they got "warped" or "twisted" (I think that was a symptom of the malnutrition though... not part of the cause... I never did figure out WHY they quit eating.) GUESSING again... (water parameters were good in my tank, all other fish were and still are just fine... it was GloFish specific)... guessing that it was a disease of some sort, or possibly an internal bacterial infection. The fish were several months in the tank before it started though... so I really have no idea "where" it came from.
one thing i did notice about my glofish are the red ones seem MUCH larger than the green/yellow ones. Also the body shape is different, where the green/yellow is very slim stick like, the red ones are more molly shaped and about 2x its size.
All are healthy and active, just seems different, maybe from two separate species of zebra danio?
All are healthy and active, just seems different, maybe from two separate species of zebra danio?
Wow. It sounds like the exact same thing happened to you. Weird isn't it? That's probably why so much excess food built up then, they're not eating it. I don't want to say this without basis, but it sounds like something is up with GloFish maybe? I don't think it has anything to do with the genetic engineering, more likely it's shoddy breeding by the company that makes them.
