What have I done???

[oldbones]

Ok, holy cow, not sure what's up here. New tank has been up for two weeks. I have a herbie drain to my sump, and I used lengths of braided tygon tubing off the end of my pvc drains for the last 12", about 6" of each drain tube is under water in the sump.

Tonight, I noticed a funky smell from the tank, didn't like it at all. Not a fishy smell, but more of an earthy funk. I dumped and cleaned the skimmer cup, which had a good amount of tan colored sludge deposits, not typical of the skimmate pics I've seen from others. Then, I decided to pull off the filter sock, clean it and leave it off for a while. Nothing big there, but it didn't smell to great either.

When I pulled the filter sock, I could feel that the submerged portion of the drain line was VERY slimy, so before I thought it through, I cleaned the outside of both drain hoses off with my hand. When I stood up and looked in the DT, I saw the beginnings of a horrible snowstorm! The slime had come off in dime size white sheets and was blowing everywhere, the tank looked horrible!!!

Is this something I should be worried about? Did I use the wrong material for the drain hoses? The inside glass of the sump doesn't have but a very slight film on it, same as the skimmer body and return pump. The slime was MUCH heavier on the tygon tube...

Thanks for your insight!

 

[whosurcaddie]

This white slime was most likely bacteria. Its really nothing to worry about. It will form on any surface and sometimes it can build up to form white sheets just like you described.

Also that tubing is fine. A lot of reefers use that stuff including me.

 

[tennesseebob]

I've been using it for my return line, no ill effects

 

[oldbones]

So, after finding this mess last night, I did put the rinsed filter sock back in to try and remove as much as I could. I guess it's a bacteria growth of some kind, but that doesn't mean very much to me.

Is there anything I should do other than wait for it to go away?