Clear slime from alcohol vapors?

T

TampaSnooker

Active member
A large reef system (2 x 800 gal) I just took over care of has developed a clear snotty slime since the Dr switched from using an autoclave (heat sterilization) to a chemiclave (alcohol sterilization). The previous service made good headway by piping the skimmer's air intake through the roof to get fresh air and shutting the Deltec fan powered chillers off, but there is still residual snot. My understanding is that it is a metabolic byproduct from the bacteria that utilize the alcohol.

Because the tanks are in a surgery center, the heat and AC has to be flow through and cannot be recirculated within the building, so all rooms are positively pressurized. Also, the equipment closets have to be negatively pressurized to ensure the air from the aquariums doesn't enter the surgery areas. So I am left with air that contains alcohol vapors being constantly pulled into my systems. Would carbon help? I don't know if it will pull out alcohol.

I've not ventured into the world of vodka dosing but assume there may be similarities to overdosing vodka - except that I can't control the amount that enters the system - the tanks need some airflow for O2 / CO2 exchange. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
If I can't control the alcohol/carbon going in, perhaps I can add something to reduce it? I'm considering using Brightwell's microbacter7 as it claims rapid reduction of organic carbon, N's and P.

Anyone with experience dealing with this clear slime/snot from an external alcohol source please chime in. I remember reading in CORAL mag that it has also been traced to carpet cleaning that uses alcohol based products - an artical by Lance I, but that is all I've come across.
 
I wouldn't think the problem is related to the alcohol vapors. That is a very large tank and some people add a lot more vodka than that on purpose to much smaller tanks just trying to get their phosphates down.

I think the timing is likely a coincidence.
 
I tend to doubt the coincidence. Both 800 gal tanks started to show the slime within a couple of weeks of the chemiclave being installed. They were both running Ecocoolers from Deltec - fan cooled chillers that blow a lot air over the mesh media. Shutting down the fans and routing skimmer intakes eliminated most of the problem. That was before I took over their care, but the previous service is a very experienced friend who shared detailed notes both during the diagnosis and the after care. There is still an environmental cause to the slime. Thankfully, there is much less for me to deal with than during the initial onslaught.

Here's the Lance I. article I referenced to the phenomenon with ID of the causitive airborn bacteria thrives on alcohol: http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/mystery-white-reef-slime
 
alcohol vapors don't sound like a lot to me either, but when referring to an industry that uses them constantly rather then very sparingly, who knows what it could truly amount too.

unfortunately, do to the restrictions imposed by the working conditions there might not be an easy answer like reducing the carbon source. the only two things i can suggest are to remove the bacteria, or remove their food source. removeing the bacteria might be done by increasing the skimers output, posibly by giveing it a full maintanance sweep, but more likely by the additioon of a second skimmer. you may need to increase the water flows to these areas aswell to adjitate the bactirial grown.

as far as removing their food source you will have to eliminate nitrites and phosphates from the tank. from here on test kites will probably be of little use. if they measure detectable levels, then you know they are present, or they may register zero, in which case they may still be present, but used up by the bacteria, or other organizes in the tank already already. if you leave a half eaten box of pizza out overnight and the next morning it is cleaned spotless, it most defiantly does not mean you do not have a problem...unless you have a cleaning lady.

anyway, removing the bacterias food source would involve nitrate/phosphate control. i'm not sure if you mentioned the filtration setup somewhere that i missed, i only noted the mention of a skimmer from your post, but you may want to look into a phosphate reactor, and possibly a mud filter.
 
PO4 is 0.00 on Hanna photometer. Skimming is handled by a 4' unit powered by a hammerhead. Not a lot of room for upgrades there. Nutrient export is handled quite well by a macro algae refugium. My plan for erradication is to try an enzyme/bacterial solution like MB7. I agree on N and P control but think Carbon is what needs controlled. My understanding is the slime is the metabolic byproduct from an airborn bacteria that consumes alcohol vapors. The slime does not contain living organisms, nor is it a bacterial mat.

I'll think about the coffee. Normally I have 3 cups on the way. I'll consider 4, but I don't drink that much on Mondays and I see the tanks on Tuesdays... :)
 
from some of the things i have read online the bacteria is introduced via atmospheric air around the tank, but the slime itself should be a true bio-film. regaurdless, the solutions are the same. as you said carbon reduction would help, but honestly i have never tried removeing exess carbon from a tank. the solution most often pointed to is reduceing the doesage, which is not possible in this case.

my experiance with this is limited. when i messed around with vodka doseing with an aquarium at the store i used to work at it was just kind of out of curiousity...and a good excuse to get the owner to buy a large bottle of vodka to keep around in the store, lol. anyway, the artical i read, i believe from 'the reef aquarium' vol. 3, was short, mostly just a doseing chart. i started low as recomended then worked my way up quite a bit until i started to see the skimmer output noticabaly increase. basicly the skimmer is removing nitrates/phosphates via the bactiria that acumulate. if the skimmer isnt removing the bacteria, its not removeing the nit/pho.

basically your skimmer isn't removing enough bacteria and you are left with a bio-film. if the skimmer is more then sufficient then it may just be that the tank is being unwillingly overdosed. its possible that as the bacteria are exported from the tank slowly they will remove enough nutrients to hinder the growth of the next generation, and the problem may solve itself. this may tank a while though, and could do harm in the mean time with oxygen depletion among other things.

its possible that the skimmer is just not getting a chance to do its job do to water flow. increasing the flow to the area may help, but really in this case that's one of those grasping-at-straws kind of answers. if it were me i would make an effort to remove as much as you can manually for a few weeks and see how it plays out.

as far as the mb7 goes i have never used it and don't want to make any comments on it.
 
btw, i would like to remind you that serving alcohol to a fish under 5 months in age is illegal in the state of FL.
 
also, something someone should have pointed out before now is that rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) and vodka (ethanol) are slightly different. whats being used in your tank, and how it affects your situation i don't really know. i would think that if it were an inorganic toxin being added to your tank that it wouldn't result in a bacterial bloom, but instead a mass die out. i guess it's irrelevant at this point.
 
The reason I'm leaning towards MB7 is it's first claim is that it reduces organic carbon. It's not going to hurt anything to test.

To my knowledge the fish are all over 5 mo. But it's a Dr administering the alcohol vapors, so in FL, that's hunky dory. For that matter, he could administer pain pills legally here...
 
TampaSnooker said:
A large reef system (2 x 800 gal) I just took over care of has developed a clear snotty slime since the Dr switched from using an autoclave (heat sterilization) to a chemiclave (alcohol sterilization).
Click to expand...

My tank also developed a layer of "clear snotty slime" on the surface. This happened when my wave maker broke and I was slow to replace it. I was, and still am, dosing carbon - vinegar in my case. I fished out an amazing amount of the slime and then replaced the wave maker. My skimmer went crazy and for a day or two and then settled down again, no harm done.

I don't know what caused this, but my theory is that it was a combination of a bacterial bloom and insufficient flow. Anyway increasing the flow seemed to fix it for me.
 
I have white slime or clear in both on my tanks 1) tank 120 mixed reef with a Vodka based nitrate reactor 2) tank 33 gallon without a nitrate reactor or dosing
Both tanks got the clear or whtie slime just like snot I am on my 5th gallon of vingear cleaning ever pump and hose out.
I have good flow in both tanks about maxed for a mixed reef. This stuff grows on the glass and then breaks off and then gets suck in the pumps. You would be amazed of how much came out of each Tunze power head. This stuf is a PITA hopefully my 4 day run with it is over.
 
Moondoggy4 - did you get the carpets cleaned recently? Do you use fragrances in the house?

I started dosing MB7 on what will be a weekly schedule and will update as I see what happens.

I have flow from 3 Hamerheads going through the sump but it does tend to grow in between the baffles in one section with less surface turbulence within the sump. The other spot it collects is in the refugium (macros) - both areas have little surface agitation. It would be interesting to see what happens with a powerhead breaking up the surface in either spot.

Also, the Dr just informed me that they had discontinued use of the chemi-claves after the previous service discovered the cause. At that time, there was a big drop in production of the snot, but some persists. I haven't been able to do a thorough walk through of the surgery center to ID other sources of contamination but the fact that the snot started when the chemiclaves were installed and most went away when they were taken out of service links it very strongly to alcohol vapors or perhaps another airborn carbon source within the building.
 
Last edited:
No we did not have the carperts cleaned other than a vacuum, we use room fresheners in the bathroom that's about it. We may have a mold issue due to a roof leak, so other than the vodka based nitrate reactor in the large tank and a couple corals moved from the large tank to the small tank. I make my own RO/DI and salt for both tanks. The contanier are outside and it gets hot. So far it is going away will need to buy some more vineager to clean the last pumps.
 
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