Milky Grey/White Substance in Gravel

[Bernie]

Hi Everyone,

I am fairly new to shrimp and brackish water, but I started my very small tank in February around Valentine's Day. Everyone has been doing well, I have the Opae and Brackish Snails in my tank with some MarcroAlgae. My shrimp have been molting and I have 2 baby snails born since they were shipped to me. I have a half gallon Betta tank with a square cup in the center for the gravel it came with. I rinsed the gravel well before I put it in the tank. The gravel is black, which I regret now. I even lose my snails in the gravel, as they seem to enjoy hiding in it. The only other thing in my little tank is a seashell on the side (not even touching the cup that has the gravel in it), which I also rinsed well before placing it in my tank. That is my basic background of the tank, I would be happy to answer any other questions... but now to my problem...

Just the beginning of the week, I notice in the bottom of the cup of gravel, there is this milky gel looking substance that seems to be suddenly growing. The substance is milky grey/white in color, and it's only at the very bottom of the cup of gravel and is visible on 2 sides of the square. This does not seem to be affecting anyone in the tank, thankfully, but I do not want there to be any problems either. Does anyone know what this is, and what I need to do about it? Thank you very much for your time!

Bernie

PS, If a photo would help, to visualize the tank, I would be happy to do that. Also, can be looked up, it's a "MARINA" "Betta Aquarium Kit." They seem to be a cute new thing for the Betta fish, and I though this 1/2 gallon tank would work out good for the shrimpies too. The tank is a little cube that has a built in cup for the gravel at the center of the bottom, as well as they can be mounted (which I could never do, seems like an ornament then, rather than beloved creatures of our Earth). Love these guys, they are all so fun!!! Thank you Mustafa for doing such great work with these guys, I am very impressed and found a new little hobby that doesn't take up much time!!

[tooth]

I get the same thing in my tank. I noticed the shrimp would never go into it or beyond it. It would rise up in the tank until the shrimp were crowding in the top half of the water. I siphoned it out--major ammonia! The shrimp were 'happy' to see it go. They began to use the entire water column. The tank is now cycling. There must have been organic material in the substrate, thus causing the ammonia problem. I still change out water if the milky white stuff appears, but it is becoming much less of a problem as the tank cycles.

[MelWong]

Just the beginning of the week, I notice in the bottom of the cup of gravel, there is this milky gel looking substance that seems to be suddenly growing. The substance is milky grey/white in color, and it's only at the very bottom of the cup of gravel and is visible on 2 sides of the square. This does not seem to be affecting anyone in the tank, thankfully, but I do not want there to be any problems either. Does anyone know what this is, and what I need to do about it? Thank you very much for your time!

I get the same thing in my tank. I noticed the shrimp would never go into it or beyond it. It would rise up in the tank until the shrimp were crowding in the top half of the water. I siphoned it out--major ammonia! The shrimp were 'happy' to see it go. They began to use the entire water column. The tank is now cycling. There must have been organic material in the substrate, thus causing the ammonia problem. I still change out water if the milky white stuff appears, but it is becoming much less of a problem as the tank cycles.

I didn't have that problem with my tank, but seeing your tank is so small, you might want to siphon the stuff out with a turkey baster. I use one to clean up the food my shrimps don't finish. Well, bought one in anticipation of that, but they finish everything I've given them so far. (Twice, since I've had them a bit less than a month.)

[Bernie]

Tooth, I'm very glad you found your problem and fixed it!
MelWong, thank you for your input as well! I appreciate both of you taking the time to answer.
I agree that there is a possibility of Ammonia in the bottom. I can try siphoning it out, the tank is just so very small that I do not want to suck anyone in either. The substance is starting to be visible in the front of the cup, but they are going down to feed on the gravel too. There is only maybe about 1/2 - 1 inch of gravel there. Thank you guys again for the input, I'll see what I can do here.