How to Remove Mold From a Fish Tank

Molds can become a severe problem in your fish tank. While mold can grow on the side of a fish aquarium, “mold” on submerged tank decorations or floating is more typically algae or fungus.

You can quickly remove mold with a thorough cleaning but must resolve any water chemistry problems to keep it from returning.

Here’s a step by step process on how to remove mold from a fish tank!

Step #1

First, you need to wash your hands thoroughly. Get everything off of them so that you don’t put any contaminants into the fish that could potentially hurt or kill your fish.

Step #2

Remove the gravel and plants. If you are trying to avoid replacing the water, which can dramatically upset your fish’s living conditions and make them sick or worst, kill them.

For this not to happen, you will need to remove the gravel to clean it. With the use of your hands, you can scoop it out and place it in the colander in the sink. You can also remove any aquarium decorations or plants.

Step #3

To thoroughly cleanse the gravel, soak them in a bleach and water solution. The usual way of doing this is to leave the gravel in the sink, plug the drain and fill it with water. Then add 1/4 cup of bleach. This solution will kill and remove the mold from the gravel. Leave the gravel to soak for about 15 minutes while you wipe down the plants.

Step #4

With a paper towel, you should wipe down the plants. Then mold should slide off the plastic and onto the paper towel. Repeat this step with a new paper towel, so you don’t smear the mold around. (But if you wanna get a bit fancy with it, microfiber cloths work too!) To make sure that there is no mold left, use your fingers to push the paper towel into every decoration.

Thoroughly rinse the plants with clean water. While holding them under running water, you may want to wipe them down again with a clean paper towel. Don’t use any cleanser or soap, but only water and pressure from the paper towels. Once you’ve finished, your plants are ready to be replaced in the aquarium.

Step #5

Under hot running water, you need to drain the sink then rinse the gravel for at least ten minutes. If there are any traces of bleach on the gravel, it will kill your fish. Stir and shake the gravel in the colander to make sure that all of the bleach is gone.

Wash away any residue with the toothbrush. The gravel/pebbles can be stirred around by the toothbrush to dislodge fungal particles. Rinse the items using hot water. Repeat this process with freshly-hot water again if the pieces seemed particularly infested.

Step #6

Go over the sides of your aquarium twice once they appear to be clean. This technique will remove any residues of your aquarium mold and also eliminate any smearing that remains. Try not to slosh the water around.

Gently replace the plants and gravels, while trying not to disturb the fish tank more than you already have. Rather than dumping it in, return the gravel in handfuls near the bottom and position the plants so that the gravel holds them in place.

Bonus Tip:

Add a suckerfish or snails to your aquarium. They will keep the mold and algae under control. Suckerfish like tropical aquariums and snails like freshwater aquariums.

But, if the problem has taken over the entire aquarium, you may have a more significant dilemma on your hands and need to clean the plants and gravel as well to resolve it. If the water inside is growing globs of mold, then you are required to change the water in the fish tank.