Newbie tank owner - is this water concerning?
Hey everyone, this is my first aquarium and I decided to make a 2.5 gallon cherry shrimp tank. A little info about the tank is that substrate is a layer of garden compost with sand on top. It’s a planted tank so all the plants are real. I realized this is a mistake but I poured tap water into the tank to fill it up without any conditioner. The tank is only 5 days old and I added a sponge filter yesterday. I plan on adding in the shrimp in about 2 weeks from now so in total the tank will have had 3 weeks to cycle.
My concerns are that the water is very murky with lots of stuff that I can’t tell if it is biofilm or mold under the water. Also, the spider wood that is exposed has mold growing on the out of water portion. Is this normal and should naturally go away or should I do something about it? Also any general advice to a new aquarium owner would be helpful! Thanks