Creeping Death

[arcturus]

I created a thread and several people said its most likely fine to put it in without sterilizing as I had no way of doing so.

The biofilm on the wood is a bacterial and/or fungal bloom caused by organisms feeding on the wood nutrients. "Sterilizing" the wood (i.e. boiling it) can remove a part of these nutrients, but not all. The goal of boiling the wood is not to eliminate this biofilm.

Then when I got this fungi most people seem to say just leave it and it will take care of itself but I am now diligently removing any trace of it.

Yes, it will disappear in due time. That does not mean you should skip maintenance and ignore the film. Moreover, nano bowls with fish and without any active filtering are not usual setups. You cannot and should not extrapolate guidelines that apply to tanks with hundreds of litres of water, external filters with high flow, along with plenty of water circulation and surface agitation to your tank.

Thanks I'm beginning to suspect it'd the fungi too as it doesn't obviously look like a common algae and I had a lot of fluff growing on the wood.

The fish seem fine tbh they've been in there for 3 weeks, no deaths, no weird behaviour and they stick to the bottom of the tank so not gasping for air. I will continue to do water changes every other day until the bowl is well established.

I am not sure you will be able to skip the frequent water changes in such setup if you decide to keep fish in it. You can certainly keep shrimp in a similar tank, but the bioload resulting from the fish can be too high.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

but I did use overdoses of bacterial starter (for what it's worth) ......... In my defence MD Fishtanks says you need the fish in to cycle which is why I did it, he says without the fish the bacteria will starve.

You hear this a lot, but it <"just isn't true for planted tanks">. If you want to add a <"lot of Mbuna"> in one hit? you need a cycled filter, <"as soon as you have plants?"> You don't.

Have a look at our <"thread with Tim Hovanec">

I've got a 25w led 6500k bulb about 3 inches above the surface.........lack of light isn't the problem.

OK, as you say that should be plenty of light.

cheers Darrel

 

[ZeeDeveel]

I am not sure you will be able to skip the frequent water changes in such setup if you decide to keep fish in it. You can certainly keep shrimp in a similar tank, but the bioload resulting from the fish can be too high.

I don't mind doing regular water changes. It takes 2 mins on a bowl.

When the tank is established I will monitor ammonia levels and see if I'm able to do them less frequently. I have come across several experienced aquarists who keep Nano fish in bowls without issue...but we shall see. Rest assured I will make sure the water conditions are appropriate.