# What the hell is in my filter?



## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

First off ill say water params are fine, checked them when i did a 30% change on sunday. pH 6.3 Nitrite 0 nitrate like 30ppm So i've been peekin in my filter since i replaced the cartridges with my jerry rigged filter cartridges to make sure everythings alright. Recently i started noticing a white, almost crystal like, substance forming on the dry edges where the water runs then drys in the body of the filter. I've seen this so many times in filters so i didn't worry about it. It kinda looks like calcium build up or something along those lines. Then today I peeked in and a thick layer of mold had grown over all of the white areas. Any ideas what this is? It whipes off easy but it stinks and im worried might be unhealthy for my P's
Weekly cleaning tips for me or something?
Thanks for the help.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

got any pictures? also what color is the mold? and the other stuff sounds like minerals or something to me too because we all have that issue.


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

AS fan said:


> got any pictures? also what color is the mold? and the other stuff sounds like minerals or something to me too because we all have that issue.


I know what you mean by the mineral Deposits , calcium build up etc.... But mold ? I can't say I have ever had that problem...

now , I know mold needs moist , warm conditions to grow.. Perhaps there is sunlight Hitting Your Filter?
or perhaps Your tank is so tightly sealed there isnt enough room for moisture to escape properly.. What Temp is your tank sitting at ??

If there was a picture, that would probably be the easiest way to figure this out..
Good luck though..


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

I may not be mold if it's green it may just be algae surviving off spray from your filter output.. If it's any other colour dude unplug it and clean it out.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

CrazeeJon said:


> got any pictures? also what color is the mold? and the other stuff sounds like minerals or something to me too because we all have that issue.


I know what you mean by the mineral Deposits , calcium build up etc.... But mold ? I can't say I have ever had that problem...

now , I know mold needs moist , warm conditions to grow.. Perhaps there is sunlight Hitting Your Filter?
or perhaps Your tank is so tightly sealed there isnt enough room for moisture to escape properly.. What Temp is your tank sitting at ??

If there was a picture, that would probably be the easiest way to figure this out..
Good luck though..
[/quote]

im not sure if you intended on quoting me or the OP but if it was me i only intended to say that i have had the calcium problem not the mold one. thats why i asked to see a picture incase it is just algae as posted above because it algae comes in so many forms it may look like mold.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Have you added any salt to your water? It should like what saltwater aquariusts refer to as a salt creep, just much less as theres less salt. Ive got this whne i dose salt. If you arnt dosing salt and its some mineral then you probablly have pretty hard water.


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

No salts, the color is pure white, paper white mold. It's raised a fluffy just like mold. No sunlight hits my tank, i havn't had any big algae problems at all. Temp. i a constant 79. I have HOB filter and its inside the main body of the filter. I would get a pic but i wiped it all out as soon as a saw it, made me to nerous to leave it. What's odd is its only growing on teh mineral build up, no where else. I'd be surprised if we had hard water, we get out directly out of a river thats about a half mile from where I live. Whats odd is i've never had mineral buildup untill now, 6 months of running my tank.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

FretsOnFire00 said:


> No salts, the color is pure white, paper white mold. It's raised a fluffy just like mold. No sunlight hits my tank, i havn't had any big algae problems at all. Temp. i a constant 79. I have HOB filter and its inside the main body of the filter. I would get a pic but i wiped it all out as soon as a saw it, made me to nerous to leave it. What's odd is its only growing on teh mineral build up, no where else. I'd be surprised if we had hard water, we get out directly out of a river thats about a half mile from where I live. Whats odd is i've never had mineral buildup untill now, 6 months of running my tank.


is it a crystal or fluffy. Initially you described it as crystal like, but last post it seems liek its fluffy now


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

Again is was a crystal build up, then the fluffy mold began to grow on top of the crystal like buildup.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

FretsOnFire00 said:


> Again is was a crystal build up, then the fluffy mold began to grow on top of the crystal like buildup.


 soory i guess i mis read the first time. I would just keep wiping it off a couple times. If it keeps coming back do a good clean if the filter


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