will mold affect a reef tank?

Acshell

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I currently have a couple tanks setup in a seperate building from my house. I recently found out that there is quite a bit of airborne mold detected. I sent off for a mold analysis and have 4 types of mold Penicillium, Trichoderma, Fusarium, Basidiospores. I am currently trying to fix the mold issue which is mainly to do with high moisture under the building. I have been having issues with loss of color and zoas and shrooms randomly melt. When i add a healthy coral it stays looking good for 3-5 weeks then losses color and closes up most of day and sometime will eventually melt. I have sent off for icp 2 times and both times come back relativity good with just trace elements being slightly low. I have tried pretty much everything i know to try but wondering if since the mold sample taken was for airborne mold could the mold be affecting the corals negatively. Thank you
 

AC1211

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I currently have a couple tanks setup in a seperate building from my house. I recently found out that there is quite a bit of airborne mold detected. I sent off for a mold analysis and have 4 types of mold Penicillium, Trichoderma, Fusarium, Basidiospores. I am currently trying to fix the mold issue which is mainly to do with high moisture under the building. I have been having issues with loss of color and zoas and shrooms randomly melt. When i add a healthy coral it stays looking good for 3-5 weeks then losses color and closes up most of day and sometime will eventually melt. I have sent off for icp 2 times and both times come back relativity good with just trace elements being slightly low. I have tried pretty much everything i know to try but wondering if since the mold sample taken was for airborne mold could the mold be affecting the corals negatively. Thank you
I have been losing corals mostly due to my diamond watchman goby and coral beauty picking at corals but my other corals seem to just waste away even under good conditions. The humidity is high in my basement due to 2 fish tanks and a dog down there most of the time. I don't see mold as the problem. Usually there is something else for me it is fish likely.
 

Nanorock1970

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I guess my question is, how is your PH? My house, I have a mold issue that we are mitigating, I have high CO2 that I am being told is a byproduct of the mold. Though based on Randy's answer, maybe is it affecting us and not my tank as I have not had any issues with my PH since I increased my water flow helping out the gas exchange.
Just spitballing some stuff...not necessarily a helpful answer.
 

terraincognita

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IDk but was watching this video the other day:



And they were verifying with the Smoke in CA their Oxygen monitors dropped significantly, meaning the air in our homes and houses definitely impacts the tank.

If you have mold spores IN the air, I imagine they will be in your tank as well, whether they will stay alive, live, or be killed by tank bacteria who knows, Idk how mold responds to saltwater environments.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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I have a mold issue that we are mitigating, I have high CO2 that I am being told is a byproduct of the mold.

That part seems highly unlikely to me. I know some mold remediation companies online claim mold elevates CO2, but I don't believe it. Where would the carbon come from for the mold to make carbon dioxide? To cause as much CO2 as you, they need to consume as much organic matter as you do. Unlikely, unless your house is a festering dump of rotting food. lol

Much more likely, IMO, is that a tight home that causes elevated CO2 from you also causes elevated humidity and other conditions that mold likes.
 

Nanorock1970

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That part seems highly unlikely to me. I know some mold remediation companies online claim mold elevates CO2, but I don't believe it. Where would the carbon come from for the mold to make carbon dioxide? To cause as much CO2 as you, they need to consume as much organic matter as you do. Unlikely, unless your house is a festering dump of rotting food. lol

Much more likely, IMO, is that a tight home that causes elevated CO2 from you also causes elevated humidity and other conditions that mold likes.
This is the article I read on mold.....So I will concur that maybe it would be a lot of mold to elevate CO2 but maybe not out of the question? I am not a mold expert, I know I have a bunch of mold in my AC system that we are replaceing. I also know I have cheap single pane windows and gaps at my exterior doors, house is about 2000 sq' but I still get CO2 levels around 1500 PPM at times.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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This is the article I read on mold.....So I will concur that maybe it would be a lot of mold to elevate CO2 but maybe not out of the question? I am not a mold expert, I know I have a bunch of mold in my AC system that we are replaceing. I also know I have cheap single pane windows and gaps at my exterior doors, house is about 2000 sq' but I still get CO2 levels around 1500 PPM at times.

The studies quoted do not seem pertinent to a home with mold growing on a wall, for example. One quoted is from mold in a grain silo. Sure, lots of carbon there. Another is mold growing in soil. Carbon there too.

Lots of reefers have elevated CO2 without mold. It is a huge indoor air problem as homes get tighter.

Anyway, whether it is from you or the mold, it is worth eliminating mold for sure, and reducing CO2 if you can.
 

Marlon C

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IDk but was watching this video the other day:



And they were verifying with the Smoke in CA their Oxygen monitors dropped significantly, meaning the air in our homes and houses definitely impacts the tank.

If you have mold spores IN the air, I imagine they will be in your tank as well, whether they will stay alive, live, or be killed by tank bacteria who knows, Idk how mold responds to saltwater environments.


Yes right now it isn't so smokey here in sonoma County as it was during the last fire. My ph when windows where open would only drop to 8.05 at ita lowest when i had to close windows and only run AC it dipped to 7.6 so I've since then ran a line to skimmer with some carbon in the silencer to keep ph up and now with windows closed its hitting 7.9 at its lowest. So yes windoes closed is bad
 

jccaclimber

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Once many years ago I paid a visit to Inland Aquatics in Terre Haute, IN. While they had lots of cool coral and the staff was very friendly I realized that I always had to go to the front to find a staff member if I wanted to ask a question about something in the back warehouse/propagation space. Every time I let them out of my direct gaze they would vanish. Five minutes later when the headache hit me like a freight train I finally associated the smell in the air with mold. The employees were just smart enough not to stay back there too long.
There are many types of mold in the world, but whatever the had was in surplus, and didn’t seem to be impacting their many systems. For what it’s worth I no longer live anywhere near them, but hear from friends in the area that the ventilation issue has long since been resolved.
 

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