Hi,

I have a 2 gallon UGF tank set up for my betta with a fake plant and betta bulb growing inside (http://www.geocities.com/mkasp73/Tank.jpg). The silk plant has begun to grow some icky black dots all over and I don't know what to do!

I left it in the care of my family 2 weeks ago when I had to move back to college and my 8 year old sister told me what was happening over the phone. Can anyone tell me how to clean it so I can relay the info back to my sis?

Yuck, my mom almost scrubbed it with soap... which I feel can't be so good considering all the info out there about how bad it is for the fish!

I wouldn't use any chemicals to clean it. Just get an old tooth brush and scrub it with water.

Thanks

Is there anyway I can prevent this from happening again? What caused it to begin with?

It just sounds like algae growing on it so I wouldnt worry about it. I have it growing on all my silk plants too because I dont have any algae eaters in that tank. I clean the algae off my plants during water changes. I use a piece of filter media (the kind you can cut to your own shape) as a little algae scrub brush and it works well. Stay away from the edges of the plant because they can fray.

thanks!

hehe, well, I had a shrimp and snail in there before, but my betta attacked them mercilessly.