Fishingpcola
New member
How long did it take from the slime to go away?
clear/white mucus/slime in tank help
- Thread starter noobtothereef
- Start date
How long did it take from the slime to go away?
Fishingpcola
New member
Thanks for the info.
Fishingpcola
New member
I'm done. Tearing it down again. The tank is a white fog with long white stringy bacteria growing 6 to 8 inches in a day.
Breakthecycle2
New member
So, I've had this problem for months now. I strongly believe it's due to carbon dosing. I've dosed NOPX for a long time now. I've stopped and starting using Waste Away to see if it helps. To those with this problem, do you carbon dose? What salt are you using?
Aquamechanic
Member
Excess bacteria from carbon dosing is a reasonable possibility for the slime however, I never have carbon dosed and have reduced organic input to a couple brine shrimp cubes per week for the past 3 months with no effect on slime production.
I'm dealing with this, in now my second tank. This isn't the normal white stuff that comes with carbon dosing (that goes away fairly quickly). It's almost fuzzy in appearance if you get real close to it (white/grey color).
Some things I've noticed in my tank and with others having the same problem:
1. No green algae growth, despite sufficient nitrate/phosphate. The slime out competes it? I've NEVER had an issue growing algae until now.
2. Lack of coralline growth.
3. Pale corals and little to no growth.
Very frustrating, wish I had some answers. I've changed salts, dosed peroxide, chemiclean, waste away, you name it. I'm curious about the candle theory as my wife does have one of those scentsy burners running in the evening for a few hours. Going to try and put a stop to that and see what happens.
Some things I've noticed in my tank and with others having the same problem:
1. No green algae growth, despite sufficient nitrate/phosphate. The slime out competes it? I've NEVER had an issue growing algae until now.
2. Lack of coralline growth.
3. Pale corals and little to no growth.
Very frustrating, wish I had some answers. I've changed salts, dosed peroxide, chemiclean, waste away, you name it. I'm curious about the candle theory as my wife does have one of those scentsy burners running in the evening for a few hours. Going to try and put a stop to that and see what happens.
Breakthecycle2
New member
So what do I do? I've been dosing Dr.Tim's Waste Away, but so far nothing.
StrangeDejavu
Member
I feel your pain, man. Going on 5 months here and I have finally made the decision to tear down and start over. The post on the last page about a bad membrane piqued my interest since I made a newbie mistake with my membrane in the beginning. But then I remembered that the stringy bacteria started 5 - 7 days after my cycled finished. I do not carbon dose, I never have. What I have narrowed it down to is 1) Dry rock. All marco rock, nothing live. 2) Silicone. I made the mistake of buying GE II Door and Window for the second half of my build. 3) Dr. Tim's One and Only. I've decided to tear down the the tank and start over with live rock this time, new sand and even bought Aqueon aquarium silicone this time. Planned on tearing out all the questionable silicone that I put in and replace it with the safe stuff, if only to remove a variable and have peace of mind.
What's weird is bacteria goes through an explosive growth spurt after each water change. This makes me question the idea that the problem is within the tank and rather something being introduced.
Some things worth noting about my build, maybe we can find something in common here and try to narrow it down.
40 breeder, 20 long sump. Both bought at $1/gal sale.
All plumbing bought from HD, bulkheads from BRS.
Eggcrate placed at the bottom of my tank, covered with Caribsea Fiji Pink and dry marco rock.
0 TDS DI water with Reef Crystals.
Dr. Tim's One and Only to cycle tank quickly. 18 days later, tank is cycled.
5 - 7 days after cycle completes, rock becomes covered in what looks like stringy spider web.
At some point, I add AlgaeBarn copepods and dose AlgaeBarn phyto two or three times. Stopped dosing phyto after someone on RC said to stop.
I upgrade my SpectraPure 90 GPD stock membrane to a SpectraPure 200 GPD membrane. Made the newb mistake of putting 90 GPD membrane in an opened bag and placed in closet. Didn't know at the time that letting membranes dry out could cause damage. Switch back to 90 GPD after a week or two.
Those are the only events worth mentioning. Since then, i've spent almost 5 months now doing damage control on this tank. I've gone through 4 large bottles of Waste Away with little improvement. Once a week, I get in the tank and spend anywhere from 2 to 4 hours removing all visible slime with a turkey baster and siphon. I take the skimmer cup off, clean it thoroughly, wipe off the inside of the neck and do anywhere from 10 to 30% water change. Using a 4 stage 90 GPD RODI, my water is 1 TDS post membrane and 0 TDS post DI. I mix either in a food grade white HD bucket or a Brute trash can with Reef Crystals. Immediately following a water change, there's usually a 2 - 3 day explosive growth spurt, then it slows down, as if it has burned through whatever food source it just received.
Also worth mentioning: I have 55 gallons worth of water volume, and only 1 fish currently. I feed that one fish a pencil eraser sized amount of frozen mysis shrimp once per day. My tank is also ultra low on nutrients, so much so that my macro completely died. No detectable NO3 or PO4.
That is 3 days worth of skimmate. Skimmer overflows so fast pulling the bacteria out that I had to rig it to drain into a gallon pitcher.
Skimmer every few hours. I have to create paper towel "hammocks" to prevent the skimmate from dripping back into the tank.
Needless to say, I am done. One can only do so much until it's time to jump ship. The bacteria is so plentiful, it will clog a filter sock in 45 minutes, causing it to overflow. One time it clogged a sock, sock fell over and like a pitcher, poured all water onto the carpet. I woke up to a wet floor and a salinity crash due to my ATO dumping freshwater. My Bangaii survived but the only other inhabitants (two hermits) died. Whatever this is, whatever causes it, it is absolutely brutal and it is the quickest way to kill ambition and passion for this hobby. It took a lot of persuasion from friends and family try again from a clean slate rather than jumping ship for good. I just hope I don't run into this again after tearing down, spending hundreds on LR and new sand.
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StrangeDejavu
Member
The good bit of reading i've done on this slime in the last 5 months suggests it only ever pops up in new tanks with dry rock or established tanks where a source of carbon enters the water (fumes, excessive vodka dosing, etc). I know not everyone that starts dry gets it, but any time I Google "stringy clear bacteria" it always takes me to marco rock threads. I was reading about a guy that pressure washed his marco rock and cooked it for 7 months in heated saltwater and as soon as he set up his tank, he got the slime. Another guy's tank had been up for 1.5 years and he still had it. Another guy had started 8 saltwater tanks in his life, all with LR and all good. His latest build he tried dry rock, poof he has the slime. Can't be a coincidence.
It's crazy because I have 55g worth of water volume with a single small Bangaii Cardinal. The amount of frozen mysis I feed him only once per day could fit on the head of a pencil eraser. 10 - 25% weekly WCs, running ROX carbon in a reactor, sump socks... you name it. It's unbelievable the amount of bacteria in the tank. I'm done losing sleep over it though, 5 months fighting it and i'm tapping out. Going to tear the tank down, bleach it and start over with new sand and live rock. I tried so hard to avoid pests and hitchikers through dry rock and additives that I created a roadblock for myself before I could even start the race. At least when you're fighting aiptasia you can still enjoy your fish, coral and reefing in general.
StrangeDejavu
Member
I've tried the neglect method with no WC, no carbon and no skimmer but it just grows and grows. I tore the tank down today and bleached everything so i'll be happy to move forward and actually have a saltwater tank I can enjoy.
Breakthecycle2
New member
The cure to this is in that coral magazine article. I had this stuff all over my rock, fuge, in my reactor, sump, everywhere. I did Dr. Tim's refresh at 5 ml's per 10 gallons, every other day for 14 days. In fact, I just did the 8th "just in case" dose. By the third, it was starting to disappear, by the fourth, most was gone. I would try this. It SHOULD work. Teh cause in my case was carbon dosing.
StrangeDejavu
Member
I went the Waste Away route, 3 entire bottles to be exact. No change. I wasn't carbon dosing either. I tore down the tank, bleached everything and let it dry out for days. Set it back up with live rock and dry sand and to my surprise, it came back again. As a last ditch effort, I switched salts. I found a thread on here from one of the brainiacs mentioning the organics and vitamins in Reef Crystals and how it can feed bacteria. As a test, I did a 60% WC with regular IO. A week later, I did another 60% WC with regular IO again. Bam, hit it dead in its tracks. 20% of the original RC still remained so I was getting some growth but it was extremely small, almost stagnant. I thought I was doing good doing frequent water changes, but really I was offering it food every few days. Hopefully this helps someone else who might be dealing with this.
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