Habitat - Indoor :: ugh nasty smelling white fungus everywhere!

[LeslieMW]

so my water was very clean, but i decided to clean the decoration in my turtles tank, and when i moved it, this foul smelling whitish fungus completely filled up the tank!! it smelled so horrible!!

so i cleaned all the pieces of fungus out and did a partial water change and cleaned the filter...but what should i do for this fungus?

is it harmful? i'm going to petco tomorrow..is there anything i can get? any drops? i don't exactly mind cleaning the fungus out, but i just don't want it to harm my turtle!

[Rexamus]

I may not be able to help you but where are you finding this white fungus? Is it on the decorations only? When was the last time you cleaned the decor in your tank?

[LeslieMW]

yes it was only on the decorations. i cleaned the decorations probably like a week and a half ago.

[LeslieMW]

oh and it might not be a fungus but maybe algae?

has any one has like algae grow on suction cups? i think it might be the same as that stuff but in a larger quantity

[mat012]

You can treat a lot of unwanted tank organisms by raising the temp to about 80* for a while and adding aquarium salt as per the cartons directions (1 tsp per 5 gallons - I think). You can also take out the decorations and wash them in a very diluted solution of bleach and water. Rinse very well before you return them to the tank. Also take out any uneaten food so that it doesnt sit at the bottom of the tank uneaten. Sometime rotting food promotes tank problems.

I wouldnt panic just yet. I would not get a chemical to treat the tank just yet either. They might give you quick cure (methylene blue) or some other treatment at the lfs but these are really for fish diseases and can wreak havoc on establish bacteria in your filter. I had a fish with a fungal disease not too long ago and couldnt verify that these treatments would not harm the turtle. I didnt use them in the turtle tank and will not in the future. The salt should help a lot and it wont hurt your little guy.

There is a product called Pimafix. I have not seen it discussed much here - probably because it is for fish. But it is supposed to be a "natural" product. Again I probably wouldnt use it in a turtle tank without verification from the company (aquarium pharmaceuticals) that it would be safe. But of all of the anti-fungals out there this is the only one I would ever consider - and then only if a problem was very serious and couldnt be tackled through other means. (In fact I would strip the tank and clean everything out before I used it).

All that said - I wouldnt get too worried yet. It was just a small case and localized to your decorations (were they wood?). It should clear up by just keeping the water clean and well filtered. Hopefully too someone else has a similar experience to help as well.

[LeslieMW]

oh alright thankyou. i cleaned everything out and added some of that reptisafe stuff.

so if i put the salt in there will the salt just dissolve eventually or shoould i change the water after a few days?

[mat012]

Dissolve the salt in water before you add it to the tank. I use a little bit of hot water. You can keep it in there as you do regular water changes. You can replenish the salt if you want to. Say you take five gallons out in a water change then only put as much salt as needed for five gallons. But I usually only put some in about every other water change so the concentration doesnt get too high.