HELP!! Black mold/fungus growing in my aquarium

Hey Professor I noticed that a black mold or fungus is invading the silicone in my aquarium from pipes to the corners of my aquarium, this stuff is growing below and above the water level..It isn't slimy, doesn't smell. If a little piece gets transferred to another aquarium it starts growing on the silicone at the water level, moves up and then down toe random areas. And its impossible to remove. It grows on the silicone like its penetrating it and between the glass and silicone. I wonder why and how to remove it?

 

Hi SCP,

the type of algae that can attach itself to silicon is brush algae, but it cannot penetrate the silicon unless there is something drastically wrong, such as cracks in the silicon or if the silicon is starting to come loose. Are you sure that it is not just growing on the silicon? If it is growing in the silicon then you have a problem and I would think that you silicon is starting to perish and needs replacing. If you use a poor quality silicon rubber then this can happen. If you search the forum you will find comments that I have made before about the different grades of silicon rubber and what you should use. If I look closely at this aquarium, I think that it has been resealed with silicon and it needs complete replacement. If it has that white colour then there is something wrong.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thank you for the reply professor, the only two things that is bothering me is that this "algae" has no actual hair,, and it doesn't grow on anything else than silicone.. It won't grow on plastic or even filter media.. And the fact that it starts above the water level and then moves down below.. Its not slimy like algae.. And it will even grow in the cap of my ph probe.

 

Hi ACP,

No, I have not heard of this mold or algae problem that you describe that grows in the silicon. The bottom line is that this stuff is going to weaken your joints. What I do notice is that you have this mass of silicon that has been pasted into the gaps where the glass panes meet. This is completely unnecessary as the only silicon that is actually holding the glass together is the thin layer between the glass itself. I would never use so much silicon at the joints. So you could just simply cut away this silicon, but I still think that someone has put all this silicon in after the tank started leaking and the whole tank does not look good, I mean it could fall apart from what I can see.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Sounds to me like Prof is right - the tank was probably "fixed" by adding a second beading over old silicon. Now you have the ideal growing place for something like Aspergillus Niger .. same stuff you get in grubby showers.
see http://www.robertsdesigns.com.au/howto/mould-fungus-sealants.html

Later Ferdie

 

It sound right to me as well does this stuff require light to grow? I see it in my sump filters as well, and they are installed into the stands where there are no light,, some of my tanks that I have built has got new layer of silicone and this stuff grows on that.. How can I stop it from spreading? "I use bostik marine silicone"

 

Perhaps strip the entire tanks down and redo with good quality aquarium safe silicon.

 

I read the artical you posted for me and it said that the mold does have the potential to break down the sealant.. But if its not gonna do that I dont mind it in my breeding and "grow on" tanks,, I can always hide it in my display tanks. If I may ask what silicone do you guys use?

 

Search for the silicon rubber thread, all the advice about which brand you need is there.

Kind regards,

Dirk