Mold?

[Windy Elliott]

I was just down feeding my fish and noticed that there is some mold around a couple of my plants with the clay balls. The bed is filled to the top now, but when I first started cycling the system it used to float the pellets. But the top should be staying dry now unless I pour water down into the bed from above. What should I do? I was just beginning to get some strawberries and peas to produce fruit and I don't want to start all over again.

[TCLynx]

How bout some pictures.  Is it really mold or might it be a moist area of media that is managing to grow a little algae.

 

A small amount of algae isn't that big a problem.

[Windy Elliott]

Not sure how well it will show up...

[Windy Elliott]

Shoot. Did the pictures not get uploaded?

 

[Windy Elliott]

It is white and fuzzy and it looks like it is growing on the media and it is spreading. I tried to upload pictures last night and apparently it didn't go up. I will try again later. The question is, if it is mold, what do I do?

TCLynx said:

How bout some pictures.  Is it really mold or might it be a moist area of media that is managing to grow a little algae.

 

A small amount of algae isn't that big a problem.

[TCLynx]

Hum.  If it is something like downy mold, a little bit of baking soda mixed with water and sprayed on it from a spray bottle might help and hopefully you don't have to use enough to affect the sodium or pH of the system but I would keep it away from the strawberries as they won't like a pH shift or salt either.

 

Otherwise you might need more air movement in the area, do you have an oscillating fan you can run nearby?

[Windy Elliott]

No. No fan nearby. I also read that some vinegar could help kill it. But I don't want to swing the pH if I can avoid it. Sylvia recommended shortening my overflow pipe and thinks if things dry a little it will die off naturally.

[TCLynx]

Yea, a vinegar spray could probably be as good as the baking soda (just a mist on the surface where the mold is, try to avoid getting it on the plants or using enough to run into the system.)

 

And yes, Sylvia's recommendation is spot on.  If you are getting excess moisture on the surface you may continue to have problems so if you can lower the flood height a touch it may fix the issue.

[Windy Elliott]

Ok. I took off a bit. I'm going to give it a day or two and if that doesn't help, I will try a very weak vinegar solution. I want those strawberries to ripen darnit!

[Andrea]

Windy: vinegar will lower the pH.  Since you're already running a bit high, a light vinegar solution won't hurt.

(Oh, and hi! :P )

[Windy Elliott]

Ok. I just did a 10 gallon water replacement in the system, so I think I will wait a day and retest before I add any vinegar. I don't want to shock the fish by swinging the pH too quickly. If it is still high tomorrow, I will make up a vinegar spray.

[Windy Elliott]

Still having trouble with mold. I have been spraying the media with a water vinegar mix, but today I noticed that the strawberries I was hoping were going to ripen soon were covered in mold. I don't know what to do. At this point I have removed all fruit and I am just trying to get the plants healthy. But I can tell the lower water level is having an impact on the plants. The tomatoes have curled and wilted a bit. I have removed the damaged limbs and I am keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Windy Elliott]

Andrea,

 

Here are some pictures. I'm not sure the vinegar is working and my plants look stressed.

Andrea said:

Windy: vinegar will lower the pH.  Since you're already running a bit high, a light vinegar solution won't hurt.

(Oh, and hi! :P )