Sticky oily deposit on indoor pond liner

[D. J]

Hi,

I have a 1000G indoor pond in my basement, I keep cichlids in it, it has
some rocks as decoration and a very thin layer of gravel, I feed fish Hikari
gold pellets, I have a layer of thick sticky oily deposit on all sides of
pond surface, this thing glues to rubber liner very well, I am sure that it
is not algea, it feels none organic and like very fine cream, the color is
very light red (similar to the color of the pellets), if contacts with
fingers, I have to use soap with get rid of it, so it appears to be some
kind of fat, it has no smell.

It is extremely difficult to clean, I have to drain my pond every other
month, and scrape it off with a scraper. Any idea of what is the cause of
the deposit and how to solve the problem?

Thanks.

DJ

[Reel Mckoi]

"D. J" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I have a 1000G indoor pond in my basement, I keep cichlids in it, it has
> some rocks as decoration and a very thin layer of gravel, I feed fish
> Hikari gold pellets, I have a layer of thick sticky oily deposit on all
> sides of pond surface, this thing glues to rubber liner very well, I am
> sure that it is not algea, it feels none organic and like very fine cream,
> the color is very light red (similar to the color of the pellets), if
> contacts with fingers, I have to use soap with get rid of it, so it
> appears to be some kind of fat, it has no smell.
>
> It is extremely difficult to clean, I have to drain my pond every other
> month, and scrape it off with a scraper. Any idea of what is the cause of
> the deposit and how to solve the problem?
=======================
It sounds like a combination of LOW-LIGHT algae and a bacterial coating. I
had something similar in a fish tank some years ago. It was solved by
increasing the amount of light and more partial water changes. You may also
need a bigger filter. You may have too many fish in your pond. What about
plant filtration? Do you have plants? You may be feeding them a little too
much for the amount of *partial* water changes you're doing.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>

[Gale Pearce]

> I have a 1000G indoor pond in my basement, I keep cichlids in it, it has
> some rocks as decoration and a very thin layer of gravel, I feed fish
Hikari
> gold pellets, I have a layer of thick sticky oily deposit on all sides of
> pond surface, this thing glues to rubber liner very well, I am sure that
it
> is not algea, it feels none organic and like very fine cream, the color is
> very light red (similar to the color of the pellets), if contacts with
> fingers, I have to use soap with get rid of it, so it appears to be some
> kind of fat, it has no smell.
>
> It is extremely difficult to clean, I have to drain my pond every other
> month, and scrape it off with a scraper. Any idea of what is the cause of
> the deposit and how to solve the problem?

Hi DJ - Is your pump oil filled? - If so it may be leaking, but it is
probably a "vegetable" oil in it and will not be toxic to your fish,
although your pump will burn out eventually from a lack of oil to cool it -
other than that it is just a pain to keep cleaning up the mess it creates
Gale :~)

[D. J]

> It sounds like a combination of LOW-LIGHT algae and a bacterial coating. I
> had something similar in a fish tank some years ago. It was solved by
> increasing the amount of light and more partial water changes. You may
> also need a bigger filter. You may have too many fish in your pond. What
> about plant filtration? Do you have plants? You may be feeding them a
> little too much for the amount of *partial* water changes you're doing.
> --
> McKoi.... the frugal ponder...

Thanks for the comments, and Yes, I do have very low light for the pond, I
only turn on the 160 watts light when I want to see the fish, it's in the
basement, so I only run a 23 watt energy saving light when nobody is in the
basement. I have 30 cichlids range from 4" to 12", my filter is 2400GPH
wet/dry, my nitrite and ammonia is always 0 though, no plants, change 1/3
water every week, and feed them 3 times a day as much as they can consume in
5 minutes.

I will turn the primary light on for a few week and see if it improves.

DJ

[D. J]

> Hi DJ - Is your pump oil filled? - If so it may be leaking, but it is
> probably a "vegetable" oil in it and will not be toxic to your fish,
> although your pump will burn out eventually from a lack of oil to cool
> it -
> other than that it is just a pain to keep cleaning up the mess it creates
> Gale :~)
Thanks Gale, My pump is not oil filled, even if it was, it wouldn't have
been able to create such a big mess, the light red sludge layer can be 1/8"
thick arround the whole 1000G pond.

DJ

[Reel Mckoi]

"D. J" > wrote in message
...
>> It sounds like a combination of LOW-LIGHT algae and a bacterial coating.
>> I had something similar in a fish tank some years ago. It was solved by
>> increasing the amount of light and more partial water changes. You may
>> also need a bigger filter. You may have too many fish in your pond.
>> What about plant filtration? Do you have plants? You may be feeding
>> them a little too much for the amount of *partial* water changes you're
>> doing.
>> --
>> McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
========================
> Thanks for the comments, and Yes, I do have very low light for the pond, I
> only turn on the 160 watts light when I want to see the fish, it's in the
> basement, so I only run a 23 watt energy saving light when nobody is in
> the basement.

** This is not enough light. Not only that, but your fish are living in
semi-darkness which doesn't seem healthy for them. Cichlids aren't cave
fish. Did you ever look in a toilet tank? You know that reddish slimy
stuff that lives in the darkness there....? This is the same stuff growing
on your liner, plus some bacteria for sure.

I have 30 cichlids range from 4" to 12", my filter is 2400GPH
> wet/dry, my nitrite and ammonia is always 0 though, no plants, change 1/3
> water every week, and feed them 3 times a day as much as they can consume
> in 5 minutes.

** That sounds fine - you do need to get some good lighting in your
basement and leave it on at least 10 to 12 hours a day. How high is your
phosphate and *nitrate* levels? Not nitrite, but nitrate? I don't see
where anything is removing these two pollutants.

> I will turn the primary light on for a few week and see if it improves.

** 160 watts is not much light. You may want to consider those natural
daylight fluorescent lights and hang them as close the water surface as
possible. I also had indoor chchlids (lake Malawi) in a 55 gallon indoor
tank with 160 watts of natural daylight fluorescent tubes a few inches over
the surface. Nice green algae grew that they nibbled on constantly. I left
the lights on 12 hours a day. The tank was also in a very bright room that
got sunlight from a nearby large window most of the afternoon.

Are you breeding them? What type are they?

--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>
http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk/killfile/anti_troll_faq.htm

[D. J]

"Reel Mckoi" > wrote in message
...
>
> "D. J" > wrote in message
> ...
>>> It sounds like a combination of LOW-LIGHT algae and a bacterial coating.
>>> I had something similar in a fish tank some years ago. It was solved by
>>> increasing the amount of light and more partial water changes. You may
>>> also need a bigger filter. You may have too many fish in your pond.
>>> What about plant filtration? Do you have plants? You may be feeding
>>> them a little too much for the amount of *partial* water changes you're
>>> doing.
>>> --
>>> McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
> ========================
>> Thanks for the comments, and Yes, I do have very low light for the pond,
>> I only turn on the 160 watts light when I want to see the fish, it's in
>> the basement, so I only run a 23 watt energy saving light when nobody is
>> in the basement.
>
> ** This is not enough light. Not only that, but your fish are living in
> semi-darkness which doesn't seem healthy for them. Cichlids aren't cave
> fish. Did you ever look in a toilet tank? You know that reddish slimy
> stuff that lives in the darkness there....? This is the same stuff
> growing on your liner, plus some bacteria for sure.
>
> I have 30 cichlids range from 4" to 12", my filter is 2400GPH
>> wet/dry, my nitrite and ammonia is always 0 though, no plants, change 1/3
>> water every week, and feed them 3 times a day as much as they can consume
>> in 5 minutes.
>
> ** That sounds fine - you do need to get some good lighting in your
> basement and leave it on at least 10 to 12 hours a day. How high is your
> phosphate and *nitrate* levels? Not nitrite, but nitrate? I don't see
> where anything is removing these two pollutants.
>
>> I will turn the primary light on for a few week and see if it improves.
>
> ** 160 watts is not much light. You may want to consider those natural
> daylight fluorescent lights and hang them as close the water surface as
> possible. I also had indoor chchlids (lake Malawi) in a 55 gallon indoor
> tank with 160 watts of natural daylight fluorescent tubes a few inches
> over the surface. Nice green algae grew that they nibbled on constantly.
> I left the lights on 12 hours a day. The tank was also in a very bright
> room that got sunlight from a nearby large window most of the afternoon.
>
> Are you breeding them? What type are they?
>
> --
> McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
> EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
> before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
> My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b
> ~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>
> http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk/killfile/anti_troll_faq.htm
>

Thanks for the great insight, today I thoroughly clean the pond again, upon
examining the sludge carefully, I found it feels very close to the silicon
paste that plumbers use to seal the water pipes, it is extremely water
repelling, so when you say LOW-LIGHT algae, do you actually mean Diatom? I
will try to add more light to the pond and see.

I don't breed them, they are all large Central American and South American
cichlid, mostly Parachromis and Amphilophus..

DJ

[D. J]

"D. J" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Reel Mckoi" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "D. J" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>> It sounds like a combination of LOW-LIGHT algae and a bacterial
>>>> coating. I had something similar in a fish tank some years ago. It was
>>>> solved by increasing the amount of light and more partial water
>>>> changes. You may also need a bigger filter. You may have too many
>>>> fish in your pond. What about plant filtration? Do you have plants?
>>>> You may be feeding them a little too much for the amount of *partial*
>>>> water changes you're doing.
>>>> --
>>>> McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
>> ========================
>>> Thanks for the comments, and Yes, I do have very low light for the pond,
>>> I only turn on the 160 watts light when I want to see the fish, it's in
>>> the basement, so I only run a 23 watt energy saving light when nobody is
>>> in the basement.
>>
>> ** This is not enough light. Not only that, but your fish are living in
>> semi-darkness which doesn't seem healthy for them. Cichlids aren't cave
>> fish. Did you ever look in a toilet tank? You know that reddish slimy
>> stuff that lives in the darkness there....? This is the same stuff
>> growing on your liner, plus some bacteria for sure.
>>
>> I have 30 cichlids range from 4" to 12", my filter is 2400GPH
>>> wet/dry, my nitrite and ammonia is always 0 though, no plants, change
>>> 1/3 water every week, and feed them 3 times a day as much as they can
>>> consume in 5 minutes.
>>
>> ** That sounds fine - you do need to get some good lighting in your
>> basement and leave it on at least 10 to 12 hours a day. How high is your
>> phosphate and *nitrate* levels? Not nitrite, but nitrate? I don't see
>> where anything is removing these two pollutants.
>>
>>> I will turn the primary light on for a few week and see if it improves.
>>
>> ** 160 watts is not much light. You may want to consider those natural
>> daylight fluorescent lights and hang them as close the water surface as
>> possible. I also had indoor chchlids (lake Malawi) in a 55 gallon indoor
>> tank with 160 watts of natural daylight fluorescent tubes a few inches
>> over the surface. Nice green algae grew that they nibbled on constantly.
>> I left the lights on 12 hours a day. The tank was also in a very bright
>> room that got sunlight from a nearby large window most of the afternoon.
>>
>> Are you breeding them? What type are they?
>>
>> --
>> McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
>> EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
>> before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
>> My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b
>> ~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>
>> http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk/killfile/anti_troll_faq.htm
>>
>
> Thanks for the great insight, today I thoroughly clean the pond again,
> upon examining the sludge carefully, I found it feels very close to the
> silicon paste that plumbers use to seal the water pipes, it is extremely
> water repelling, so when you say LOW-LIGHT algae, do you actually mean
> Diatom? I will try to add more light to the pond and see.
>
> I don't breed them, they are all large Central American and South American
> cichlid, mostly Parachromis and Amphilophus..
>
> DJ
Forgot to mention my Nitrate level is 10-20 ppm usually, and I don't measure
Phosphate.

[Reel Mckoi]

"D. J" > wrote in message
...
>
> Thanks for the great insight, today I thoroughly clean the pond again,
> upon examining the sludge carefully, I found it feels very close to the
> silicon paste that plumbers use to seal the water pipes, it is extremely
> water repelling, so when you say LOW-LIGHT algae, do you actually mean
> Diatom? I will try to add more light to the pond and see.

$$ Yes, I would assume that's what they are. But there are also some types
of algae that grow in low-light conditions that are also reddish in color,
globby, slimy - probably a mix of bacteria, diatoms and algae.....
:-( Perhaps you can have your local Aquarium Store have a look at some
of this stuff. I do know that more intense light and larger water changes
got rid of mine. In my opinion this stuff was pretty disgusting and very
unattractive when "growing" on things.

> I don't breed them, they are all large Central American and South American
> cichlid, mostly Parachromis and Amphilophus..

$$ I"m not quite as familiar with the SAs as I am with the Africans. I
chose the African Cichlids because of their bright colors and markings.
They were also easy to breed mouth-brooders.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>