# fungus on food?



## sephnroth (Jul 30, 2013)

In one of my three tanks i've discovered if I add any food (pellet, freeze dried blood worm) then anything that isnt immediately eaten has a ball of white fungus/mold stuff on it /the very next day/

The same food in one of my other tanks seems fine, they are heavier eaters so I don't know if they are just finishing everything but i've never ever noticed this fungus before - but in this one tank it takes less than 24 hrs for a sizable ball of white fuzzyness to appear and the one fish (betta) in the tank really isnt eating 

Opinions?


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## chenowethpm (Jan 8, 2014)

Uneaten food should be removed as it will rot and cause problems as it breaks down. Any food that is not eaten in 2 minutes should be removed. Over feeding can cause cloudy tanks and cycle issues.


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## sephnroth (Jul 30, 2013)

yeah i'm with you on that - I guess its because one of my other tanks contain shrimp which gobble everything in sight and the other has a very greedy gourami and a plec - I was just shocked that this fungusy stuff grew SO FAST and wondered if that was normal or if something in the water of that particular tank was encouraging it?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I've seen food go to rot very quickly.I feed my breeders heavy so sometimes food is left over.I've seen "good quality" flake go "fungas like" in 1 day.Sometimes the extra food can encourage an infusoria growth(food for fry) ,but when you see the fungas crap you got to get it out.It's not hard to overfeed when you only have 2 fish in a 20/29g tank loaded with live plants.


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## sephnroth (Jul 30, 2013)

thanks coral, now I know its not some weird water disease doing it I feel alot better!

not completely though. this is happening in the tank i've moved my betta to. she was bullied in community by pearl gourami so she now has her very own tank, plants and that. but her stress lines havnt gone away yet (i think its been a week?) and she doesnt seem interested in food. otherwise shes fine swimming around, although if i come near the tank she instantly hides in the plants whereas in old tank she used to stare at me curious! :/


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## arenaranger (Jun 5, 2011)

I have the exact same issue if I have uneaten mini pellets left over. It is immediately noticed when vacuuming the tank with my python. 

I researched it just like you and basically found the same thing. It is just the uneaten food and not a major issue. 

If I may offer a tip.....I changed the way I feed the fish. instead of feeding them a bunch of pellets all at once and some of it falling to the tank substrate and getting fuzzy, I basically feed small amounts of pellets in multiple doses within 2-3 minutes. You can quickly see that pretty much, none of the food gets to the bottom as it is all eaten. Once it looks like it is all eaten I will feed again. Kind of like "slow and steady wins the race". I used to add all the food to a little glass bowl and dump it all in at once. Looking back, I was clearly overfeeding.

I just completed a vacuuming on my tank and did not have any of the fungus pellets getting sucked up. I did every single time prior to changing my feeding habits. 

Hope this helps.


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