White slime

[Paul O.]

Wondering if anyone has dealt with stuff before. It is whitish or opaque and
seems to be (growing) in my intake tube and sponge filters of my hang on
filter. It clogs up the tube and the sponge filter. It's almost like a gel
it gets so thick. I have a 40 g with co2 and 96 watts of lite. I fertilize
with TMG and potassium. Have had this aquarium set up for a couple years now
and this started a few months ago. I clean everything on Sunday and do a
water change and by wed the filter is putting out just a trickle. Hope
someone can shed a little light on what I'm dealing with here. Thanks.

--
Paul O.

[Ozdude]

"Paul O." > wrote in message
...
> Wondering if anyone has dealt with stuff before. It is whitish or opaque
> and seems to be (growing) in my intake tube and sponge filters of my hang
> on filter. It clogs up the tube and the sponge filter. It's almost like a
> gel it gets so thick. I have a 40 g with co2 and 96 watts of lite. I
> fertilize with TMG and potassium. Have had this aquarium set up for a
> couple years now and this started a few months ago. I clean everything on
> Sunday and do a water change and by wed the filter is putting out just a
> trickle. Hope someone can shed a little light on what I'm dealing with
> here. Thanks.

This is one of the side effects of CO2 injection. No-one I've read or talked
to knows what it is. It's apparently harmless and is best dealt with by
cleaning it off manually.

My personal theory is that it's a reaction to carbonic acid in the water.

fwiw, I get it on my suckers, outpipe from the CO2 and on most pipes in the
water. It seems to be quite attracted to plastic (PVC), so it could be the
reaction between carbonic acid and PVC.

Sorry, I can't be more help than that, but it is harmless, and more a hassle
than a danger ;)

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

[Paul O.]

"Ozdude" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Paul O." > wrote in message
> ...
>> Wondering if anyone has dealt with stuff before. It is whitish or opaque
>> and seems to be (growing) in my intake tube and sponge filters of my hang
>> on filter. Thanks.
>
> This is one of the side effects of CO2 injection. No-one I've read or
> talked to knows what it is. It's apparently harmless and is best dealt
> with by cleaning it off manually.
>
Oz
>
> --
> My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith
>
>
Thanks OZ. It is a pain for sure.
--
Paul O.

[Margolis]

Sounds like you have some sort of fungus infection in the tank. I have
never seen anything like that in any 100% healthy tank.

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Ozdude]

"Paul O." > wrote in message
t...

> Thanks OZ. It is a pain for sure.

Not really for me - ymmv - I find algae and diatom explosions much, much
more of a hassle than a white slippery film on things ;)

I cleaned my tank thoroughly today (glass inside and out) and noticed that
all the rubber and PVC suckers had not only the white stuff on them but old
diatom infestation on top of that. I took all affected parts out (heaters,
filter heads, thermometers and the silicone pipe CO2 feed) and scrubbed the
lot in a bucket of chlorinated/chlomomined water.

Then, I cleaned the inside of the glass with an old credit card and it got
the glass the cleanest I've ever seen it - far better than any algae
scrubber or even plastic scourers (which I have a feeling, add to the white
gunk/diatom problem even though they are supposed to just be plastic and
nothing else). The advantage of the credit card method is that you can clean
down below the substrate level without disturbing the substrate, which is a
bonus in my situation.

I then gravel vacced the bottom thoroughly (sorry plants!) and did a 50%
water change, after cleaning all the filter sponges and media (in tank
water). So I have a white gunk/diatom/green algae free tank for now and to
be honest it only took about an hour all up and wasn't that hard to do. I
was more worried about the bacteria dying off in the stopped filters than
the fish starving for oxygen.

I must add too, that I've noticed the white film seems to appear when the
yeast mixtures are first building up and the whole thing seems to go away as
the mixture winds down, as mine is today. I'll change to new yeast mixtures
in two days and I'll get back to you and the group about whether the tank
gets the "whites" again.

I still think it's a carbonic acid reaction btw, but I am also a little
suspicious it may also be some sort of benign bacteria which comes from the
yeast through the gas going into the tank, and it's conditions are right to
make the skin when the gas levels are ramping up and hold at the peak.

Tell me, do you agitate your bottles every second day or so? I do and I'm
wondering if this has something to do with it, as I add baking soda to the
recipe to stop the yeast getting a head on it (basically).

Regards,

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

[Ozdude]

"Margolis" > wrote in message
...
> Sounds like you have some sort of fungus infection in the tank. I have
> never seen anything like that in any 100% healthy tank.

It usually starts out very thin and almost transparent. As it ages it goes
white. To touch, it's slippery like bio film.

Only some tanks using CO2 get it, not all. Everything I've read, and I've
read a lot about it, states that it's not harmful, or doesn't appear to be.

I too thought it was a bacteria when I first saw it in my tank but I have
doubts about that. It doesn't seem to "grow" - it just builds up until it
flakes off the surface it's on.

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

[David C. Stone]

In article >, Ozdude
> wrote:

> "Paul O." > wrote in message
> ...
> > Wondering if anyone has dealt with stuff before. It is whitish or opaque
> > and seems to be (growing) in my intake tube and sponge filters of my hang
> > on filter.
[snip]
>
> My personal theory is that it's a reaction to carbonic acid in the water.
>
> fwiw, I get it on my suckers, outpipe from the CO2 and on most pipes in the
> water. It seems to be quite attracted to plastic (PVC), so it could be the
> reaction between carbonic acid and PVC.

I don't know what it is, but it definitely would _not_ be the result of
a reaction between carbonic acid and PVC - you'd need something a lot
stronger than carbonic acid. The attraction to the plastic is probably
a physical adsorption, a bit like the "like dissolves like" solvent
rule.

I had a similar white slime in a 10 g. tank which messed up the intake
and sponge in the AquaClear filter. No CO2 on that one, but both the
phosphates and nitrates were high at the time.

[Paul O.]

"Ozdude" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Paul O." > wrote in message
> t...
>
>> Thanks OZ. It is a pain for sure.
>
> Not really for me - ymmv - I find algae and diatom explosions much, much
> more of a hassle than a white slippery film on things ;)
>
> > Tell me, do you agitate your bottles every second day or so? I do and
> > I'm
> wondering if this has something to do with it, as I add baking soda to the
> recipe to stop the yeast getting a head on it (basically).
>
> Regards,
>
> Oz
>
> --
> My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith
>
>

I use pressurized co2, no yeast.
--
Paul O.

[Ozdude]

"Paul O." > wrote in message
...
> I use pressurized co2, no yeast.

Oh well, in that case, then it must be carbonic acid, so I revert to my
original theory ;)

thanks,

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

[Margolis]

Sorry, but I don't think it has anything to do with carbonic acid. I still
say it is a bacteria of some sort ;op


--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Ozdude]

"Margolis" > wrote in message
...
> Sorry, but I don't think it has anything to do with carbonic acid. I
> still
> say it is a bacteria of some sort ;op

One of the great mysterys of aquariums. Perhaps we'll never know until a
biologist has a serious look at it ;)

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

[Vicki PS]

"Ozdude" > wrote in message
u...
>
> "Margolis" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Sounds like you have some sort of fungus infection in the tank. I have
> > never seen anything like that in any 100% healthy tank.
>
> It usually starts out very thin and almost transparent. As it ages it goes
> white. To touch, it's slippery like bio film.
>
> Only some tanks using CO2 get it, not all. Everything I've read, and I've
> read a lot about it, states that it's not harmful, or doesn't appear to
be.
>
> I too thought it was a bacteria when I first saw it in my tank but I have
> doubts about that. It doesn't seem to "grow" - it just builds up until it
> flakes off the surface it's on.

I don't use CO2 injection at all, but I get the same thing in a couple of my
tanks, always mostly on plastic bits.

I did suspect the water conditioner I was using, which contains aloe vera
extract, but I'm not so sure now. I wonder if it's an accumulation of
protein?

Vicki PS

[Ozdude]

"Vicki PS" > wrote in message
...

> I don't use CO2 injection at all, but I get the same thing in a couple of
> my
> tanks, always mostly on plastic bits.
>
> I did suspect the water conditioner I was using, which contains aloe vera
> extract, but I'm not so sure now. I wonder if it's an accumulation of
> protein?

Could be lots of things. We all have our hunches, but no-one knows for sure.

It has stopped depositing on my rubber bits and now only appears at the very
tip of a the silicon tube where to CO2 exits into the reactor. It's stringy
too.

It's interesting it's stopped in the main tank and it seems to have ceased
at about the time the green algae came on board, which is about the time I
started dosing weekly liquid fertilizer for the plants.

I have two lyretail swords now and when they get peckish they vacuum algae
and the white stuff, so if it hasn't abated from chemical rebalance, then
the biology is now taking care of it ;)

Oz

[David C. Stone]

In article >, Ozdude
> wrote:

> "Vicki PS" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> > I don't use CO2 injection at all, but I get the same thing in a couple of
> > my
> > tanks, always mostly on plastic bits.
> >
> > I did suspect the water conditioner I was using, which contains aloe vera
> > extract, but I'm not so sure now. I wonder if it's an accumulation of
> > protein?
>
> Could be lots of things. We all have our hunches, but no-one knows for sure.

I'm wondering if it's myxobacteria or a slime mold (which would both
appear similar):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxobacteria/ <= this would be my guess
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mold/

(I've had someone refer to that white gunk as a "slime mold", which has
been generically applied to both the above)

[Richard Sexton]

In article >,
David C. Stone > wrote:
>> Could be lots of things. We all have our hunches, but no-one knows for sure.
>
>I'm wondering if it's myxobacteria or a slime mold (which would both
>appear similar):
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxobacteria/ <= this would be my guess
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mold/
>
>(I've had someone refer to that white gunk as a "slime mold", which has
>been generically applied to both the above)

Here's a picture of a slime mould in one of my tanks. It didn't
last very long (water change killed it) and it moved!

http://images.aquaria.net/plants/algae/unknown/

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[Ozdude]

"Richard Sexton" > wrote in message
...
> Here's a picture of a slime mould in one of my tanks. It didn't
> last very long (water change killed it) and it moved!
>
> http://images.aquaria.net/plants/algae/unknown/

That looks like well developed Staghorn alage to me ;)

Mine is a slime.

I changed 10% water yesterday and noticed my water smells earthy at the tank
surface, like a milder version of a bacteria active filter. I am not sure if
this is indicative of bad or good tank health, to be honest.

The water is very clear. There is some green sheet algae on the back glass
and all fish appear to be okay. I leave the algae on the rear glass for the
4 SAE's, Mystery Snail and the Swordtails.

I did notice the two lyretail tuxedo Swords, at various times, yesterday,
dashing themselves against the substrate, which is a bit of a worry. I have
read around the 'net that it could be sign of a gill parasite or bacteria. I
am not sure because the male is bothering the female all the time for
sex/mating and it could just be a display of frustration. One of the 11
neons I have is hanging under some low growing difformis (Wisteria) most of
the time. It perks up to full colur when the water is changed and behaves
normally, then retreats to this spot. - they have been mating too (I think)
so that could also be a bothered female, or non competative male.

I've tested and everything is currently A 0, Ni 0, Na 0 - pH is 7.0 and KH
is 5dKH (CO2 is 15ppm), so there isn't anything measurably wrong, but this
smell I noticed smells like bacteria to me, and I am also wondering if the
white slime could be a reaction to a particular sort of bacteria, and is in
fact a bacterial mould of some sort?

Time will I guess. BTW. the female lyretail has a gravid spot, so I think I
should get a couple more females, so Mr. can leave her alone to have the
babies ;)

Oz

[Richard Sexton]

In article >,
Ozdude > wrote:
>
>"Richard Sexton" > wrote in message
...
>> Here's a picture of a slime mould in one of my tanks. It didn't
>> last very long (water change killed it) and it moved!
>>
>> http://images.aquaria.net/plants/algae/unknown/
>
>That looks like well developed Staghorn alage to me ;)

Well, save for the fact it's white and MOVES, just like any
self respecting plasmodium would.

>Mine is a slime.
>
>I changed 10% water yesterday and noticed my water smells earthy at the tank

Sounds like the procaryotic alga _Cyanobacteria_. The stuff stinks. Blackout
for 3 days, add nitrate after that, change water and it'll be gone.


--
Need Mercedes parts ? - http://parts.mbz.org
http://www.mbz.org | Mercedes Mailing lists: http://lists.mbz.org
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | Killies, killi.net, Crypts, aquaria.net
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Old wris****ches http://watches.list.mbz.org