Please help!!! Clear/whitish slime coating?

[pookstreet]

I have been battling with this clear/whitish slimy coat on both of my work tanks for the better part of a month now and it just won't go away. For the lack of a better description, it looks literally like snot. It covers the tank sides, powerheads, some rock surfaces. It doesn't seem to have a major effect on the livestock yet but I am afraid that it'll smother the corals soon. I have done many water changes and it goes away for a few days but comes back over the weekend. Can't get a good picture of this stuff. Does anyone know what this is and how to get rid of it? Thanks.

 

[gcarroll]

Sounds like some sort of Bacterial bloom. Is there a skimmer on the tank? When dosing vodka you get a very simular bloom and the key is to export the nutrient laden bacteria via the skimmer. Hope this helps. Since the issue is on both tanks I would also suspect a problem with something that is being added to the tank (ie: top-off water, overfeeding, heat in the building,...).

 

[pookstreet]

Greg,

Thanks for the input. I was thinking also that it was bacteria related.

I do have a skimmer on one of the tanks but the other one is skimmerless. You were right about having something in common. The skimmerless tank crashed about a month ago and I transferred a few pieces of surviving corals into the other tank. Unfortunately, this is where we are at right now.

Any ideas on how to solve the problem if there isn't a skimmer, besides doing lots of water changes?

 

[ezcompany]

its coat like? not string like? kind of like the stuff that happens when you break a tubeworm in half?

 

[pookstreet]

Just a slime coat. Now why would you break a tubeworm in half

 

[ezcompany]

by dropping live rock on it accidentally
so you're saying that you cannot pinpoint the source correct? its just "in the water column"?
Kenny if you want me to hold any of your corals let me know, i may have a hard time returning them though

 

[pookstreet]

Yeah right......

You are welcome to hold all the dead corals I got. If you are lucky enough, maybe you get some of my special slime for your tank. No need to return that tho.