Black Mold on Silicone

[Fishdisease]

Hey Everyone,

Ok, so I have a new tank, it's been cycling for about 6 weeks now with nothing but some added bacteria and the occasion flaked food to keep the cycle going. I went away for 1o days and just got back today. I walked into the tank room and immediately got hit with the smell of mold. After investigation I found it's coming from the tank, and the silicone has developed quite the black mold growth.

I know you're going to say, it's diatoms or algae and part of the cycle. That's what I was hoping, but it smells like mold. I ran my finger over it and scraped some off and the smell of that basement type mold was overpowering. If I'm wrong, I welcome it.

The tank was a used tank I bought 8 years ago and it was re-siliconed with GE Silicone I clear. It sat un-used and dry for the next 7 years and I just started it up a couple of months ago. I've never experienced this in my tank history and I can't find much online. What should I do? What caused this? Just want to know how to move forward.

Thanks

 

[TheAquarian]

I’m pretty sure mold is a fungi that needs air to live I dont think there is an aquatic form of mold. It does look like algae.