# Abundant white/cloudy, gooey, stringy growth in planted tank :(



## twenty3nyc (Nov 6, 2009)

Hello,

This is the first time I am posting here - my name is Jer and thanks in advance for any and all help you might be able to give me.

I have a 20 gallon long planted fish tank that houses one juvenile (approx. 2 1/2") musk turtle, a "Chinese" algae eater (not a pleco, the other kind) and a few guppies. It is planted with one Anubias, one Nymphaea rubra and one ruffle sword. The substrate is fine-grain black Eco-Complete, and the filter is a Fluval U2. The water temp is a steady 70 degrees.

The tank has been established for about six months now. Until a week ago, it was doing very well - the water was crystal-clear, odorless and algae-free, and the plants have continued to grow and expand. Fish and turtle seemed very happy.

Unfortunately, this past weekend, we hosted a Halloween party at my apartment, and someone managed to spill part of their drink into the fishtank (!!!). At the time they claimed it was a small amount, and it was mostly juice. I checked on the inhabitants afterwards and did a 30-35% water change, and things seemed fine.

I woke up on Sunday to a fishtank that was very cloudy and infested with a white/cloudy growth that had settled over EVERYTHING. It was literally overnight. I freaked out and did a 50% water change, and tried to vacuum up as much of the gunk as I could. I cleaned out the filter and replaced the charcoal/scrubber pads as well (not the filter media itself).

While the water has become a little clearer this week and the growth is not as bad, it is still lingering and I'm not sure what to do about it. I assume it has something to do with the accident at the party. I am very stressed out, given that it was doing so well before and that my fish seem sluggish now. I did buy some Ammo lock and have been doing daily 25% water changes, but to no avail.

Do you know what this crap is, and how to get rid of it? I am at a loss. I don't want to lose my fish/turtle, or the aquarium plants, but at this point I feel like I'll need to break everything down and replace it.

Can you help?

Thanks so much.


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