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Last night, the tank looked perfectly clear and clean. This morning when I woke up and the water looked a little cloudy, but I had planned to do a partial water change this afternoon anyhow. When I got around to cleaning it, I opened the lid and there was mould growing around the edge. pics:




The first and third pics make it look worse than it was, it's reflecting the flash, but the second one shows about how much there was. It seemed to only be on the side that I open and close, and only on the top edge of the plastic. But it looked like cotton or something. I just wiped around the edge with a damp cloth, and did about a 1/2 water change.

I tested for ammonia (zero reading) and nitrates (very low reading) after I changed the water. I meant to do it before I changed the water but I have a short attention span and forgot xP
The only thing that I might have done different last night was that I gave Ralph some cooked carrots...

Has anyone else had some sort of mould pop up over night like this?
Should I do a complete water change?

wow, i've never seen anything like that. i don't know...

is it just on the edges? you could try soaking a rag w/ one part vinegar, two parts water, wring it out and wipe it off. hold one part firmly under the area, to catch any flyaways, and carefully wipe it, doing rinses between areas. then just one more quick wipedown with a rag soaked in just water.

I imagine with all the warmth and moisture a dark area like between the lid and tank must be prime mold growing territory. I don't have a lid cover so I haven't experienced this but I suppose I would clean the mold and watch to see if it comes back- it may require a hard core cleaning to get all the spores and whatnot gone...

Is there a way you could leave a little opening between the tank and lid to let the air circulate? Was the top of the tank wet at all when you put the lid on it? I'd clean it and see if it comes back.

Maybe tons of dust? lol

Lol @ DaddySkittles! Although my room's a bit dusty, I don't think that much mould could have accumlated in a day

It was just around the edges of the one half of the tank.
It's interesting though, because I've had the tank set up exactly as it is for 4+ months and this is the first time anything like this happend. I actually didn't think about mould spores when I wiped it up :S
It hasn't come back yet, and the water has cleared up completely, so fingers crossed.
That's a good idea marisa, I'll crack the lid open a bit for air. The top of the tank gets a bit wet from condensation on the lid, and I suppose if the lid was down tight it wouldn't dry out.

If I find it comes back, I will do a proper cleaning of it.