My tank makes slime monsters; do you know why?

[Cliff717]

OK hopefully I can get a hand with the problem I’m having with my tank. So here is some backstory of the tank it is a 250 gallon tank with a 50 gallon sump and 40 gallon Frag tank all plumbed together.

It all started over a year ago when I was running bio pellets. The pellets were working great to keep my nitrates down; but I had so many issues with biomass clogging up the screens and the pellets that I had to change to a different form of carbon dosing.

In my past thanks I have been using vinegar so I shut down the bio pellet reactor and started to dose vinegar about eight months ago. I had a problem with my idip not reading correctly and I lost a lot of SPS because my no3 was actually at 60 when the idip said it was at five (but that’s a rant for another time). I have been fighting to get my nitrate down and I have successfully dropped them to about 10. But I am still experiencing SPS loss! I don’t know what’s happening! I have ordered a triton test and the results should be back at the end of this week so hopefully that will give me some insight.

But my immediate problem is I am getting this huge biomass building up in my sump

And I mean huge and disgusting. 3 cups a day of this clear slimy guck. I am dosing 150 mL of vinegar a day just to get the nitrates down. Is this normal? Could this be a sign of what’s causing my other tank problems? How do I get rid of this biomass? Would red slime remover (it’s a anti-biotic no?) clear some of this up? I will post some pictures of the sludge I am picking up my tank

 

[DLHDesign]

I am dosing 150 mL of vinegar a day just to get the nitrates down. Is this normal?

That would be on the high side, but not totally out of the park. I've heard around 15mL per 100gal is a good place to start, capping out around 45mL per 100gal - which is right about where you are running. I don't know if that has anything to with the stuff you're getting - it sounds like this kind of thing predates your switch to vinegar if it was the same thing that was clogging your reactor?
Do you use kalk in your ATO? I've heard that a dirty ATO with kalk residue in it could trigger such a thing, but am not sure that is either true nor relevant to you.
Are any of your corals close enough to each other that they would conflict and release a slime-coat? I'd think this would be something you would have noticed before, but just checking...

Might need some more #reefsquad help on this.

 

[Cliff717]

This is a slightly different bio-mass than what I was getting with the pellets. Pellet snot was yellow. This is clear. I don’t think this is slime coat there is too much lol

 

[DLHDesign]

I don’t think this is slime coat there is too much lol

Yeah; I agree. Let's see what others have to say; I'm interested in finding out myself...

 

[Newb73]

Well the carbon dosing produces bacterial blooms and bacterial blooms produces slime so.....

 

[JimWelsh]

I've made that clear snot before when my vodka dosing tube ended up in a corner of the sump behind the skimmer with very little flow.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yea bacteria from carbon dosing.

 

[jsker]

My suggestion would be to stop dosing the vinegar. I had some like this when I was dosing Nopox. @Lasse might know.

Look at bio media in you sump to control nutrients especially nitrates really works well for me after trying carbon dosing, the bio pellets.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Organic carbon dosing drives some sort of bacteria, and you seem to have gotten an unsightly type.

Switching to vodka might help, or you could dose some bacteria like MB7 to try to get some other species to take over.

 

[Lasse]

IMO an overdosing of organic carbon. Switch of organic carbon source can help for just these bacteria (it seem like different organic carbon sources will promote different types of microorganisms. For me it is a lot of organic carbon. My dose is normally around 3 ml for 90 gallons, (300 l). What type of nitrate tester do you use?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Cliff717]

So my wife does you Seneat air candles in the house. But not in my fish room and the tank is pretty much sealed from the rest of the house do you think that would be causing an issue? And Would this bacteria problem because in my SPS issues I’m having?

 

[Cliff717]

IMO an overdosing of organic carbon. Switch of organic carbon source can help for just these bacteria (it seem like different organic carbon sources will promote different types of microorganisms. For me it is a lot of organic carbon. My dose is normally around 3 ml for 90 gallons, (300 l). What type of nitrate tester do you use?

Sincerely Lasse

I am currently using Red Sea pro n03 test kit

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So my wife does you Seneat air candles in the house. But not in my fish room and the tank is pretty much sealed from the rest of the house do you think that would be causing an issue? And Would this bacteria problem because in my SPS issues I’m having?

Some folks have reported this issue from scented candles. I don't know if that is impacting your tank or not.

 

[Lasse]

If you can smell something - its a gas in the air. Gas in the air together with a effective skimmer - can easy be gas in the water - if toxic it will affect your aquarium. In this case - I do not know. The easiest way for you to partly solve this problem and get some ideas if this create your problems is to take your air to the skimmer from the outside. If this scented candles affect your aquarium - the most important pathway is by the skimmer. My wife use a lot of candles in our livingroom but she does not like candles with a smell - lucky for me (and the aquarium)

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Lasse]

I am currently using Red Sea pro n03 test kit

I do the same but it can be tricky between 4 - 64. For me - its rather difficult to read the scales in that intervall. However - 0-4 works well.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Heather w]

OK hopefully I can get a hand with the problem I’m having with my tank. So here is some backstory of the tank it is a 250 gallon tank with a 50 gallon sump and 40 gallon Frag tank all plumbed together.

It all started over a year ago when I was running bio pellets. The pellets were working great to keep my nitrates down; but I had so many issues with biomass clogging up the screens and the pellets that I had to change to a different form of carbon dosing.

In my past thanks I have been using vinegar so I shut down the bio pellet reactor and started to dose vinegar about eight months ago. I had a problem with my idip not reading correctly and I lost a lot of SPS because my no3 was actually at 60 when the idip said it was at five (but that’s a rant for another time). I have been fighting to get my nitrate down and I have successfully dropped them to about 10. But I am still experiencing SPS loss! I don’t know what’s happening! I have ordered a triton test and the results should be back at the end of this week so hopefully that will give me some insight.

But my immediate problem is I am getting this huge biomass building up in my sump

And I mean huge and disgusting. 3 cups a day of this clear slimy guck. I am dosing 150 mL of vinegar a day just to get the nitrates down. Is this normal? Could this be a sign of what’s causing my other tank problems? How do I get rid of this biomass? Would red slime remover (it’s a anti-biotic no?) clear some of this up? I will post some pictures of the sludge I am picking up my tank

FIRST-The slime. See White Slime disease in my threads. I had it SOOO bad. I did some research...went to Dr. Tim. Also there is a short synopsis of the issue in my thread, another asked and i was late in my reply, much to my chagrin. People post here seeking answers. I let her down. All I did was Google "white slime in aquarium" there it was. White Slime Disease". It was the only post that perfectly described the issue and offered a remedy. I ordered Dr. Tim's 2 products. Followed the instructions and weeks later, dozens of washed filters, in the beginning, several a DAY, that's how thoroughly it begins to destroy the slime and flush it out.

Second- that membrane of funk...I also discovered this in my refugium. Upon very close attention, I discovered that it was actually being CREATED by one of the additives from my doses. I have to clear out the tubing regularly or they clog, especially in the calcium one, I couldn't tell which one. At the time I posted and asked just like you are. Got nothing.
Good luck

 

[Heather w]

I see several have mentioned candles, sprays...ect. this is dead on. ADD ANYTHING in the air that you can smell! It's root cause is Cfc's in the air. Could be anything. All the way down to carpet cleaner, mopping soaps, oil based cleaners...pledge, orange oil. If you can smell it it's a contributes. This also includes where you put your tank change buckets, if you have to prepare them like I do, where your salt bucket is kept....search through EVERY aspect of your tanks contributors. You'd be surprised at what you find. Make sure you are washing in vinegar or 10/1 bleach.

All this being said...I'm sure I'm gonna get slammed by someone...I usually do. I WELCOME advice...NOT degradation. I would like to hear any thoughts on reducing nitrates besides nopox? I adopted some fish that increased my bio-load unfavorably. I am doing weekly water changes, but I'm still not satisfied. Any suggestions? Besides losing the fish of course, I made a promise to do all I could.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FIRST-The slime. See White Slime disease in my threads. I had it SOOO bad. I did some research...went to Dr. Tim. Also there is a short synopsis of the issue in my thread, another asked and i was late in my reply, much to my chagrin. People post here seeking answers. I let her down. All I did was Google "white slime in aquarium" there it was. White Slime Disease". It was the only post that perfectly described the issue and offered a remedy. I ordered Dr. Tim's 2 products. Followed the instructions and weeks later, dozens of washed filters, in the beginning, several a DAY, that's how thoroughly it begins to destroy the slime and flush it out.

Second- that membrane of funk...I also discovered this in my refugium. Upon very close attention, I discovered that it was actually being CREATED by one of the additives from my doses. I have to clear out the tubing regularly or they clog, especially in the calcium one, I couldn't tell which one. At the time I posted and asked just like you are. Got nothing.
Good luck

I'm not sure I follow everything you are saying, but doser tips should be above the water line. If not, they will clog, especially the alk part.

Assuming you are properly dosing to a high flow area, normal dosing of any inorganic chemical should not cause slime problems. Organic dosing can.

I'm not sure why you mean by "disease". The slime in this thread is not the same as what is usually referred to as a slime disease of fish.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I see several have mentioned candles, sprays...ect. this is dead on. ADD ANYTHING in the air that you can smell! It's root cause is Cfc's in the air. Could be anything. All the way down to carpet cleaner, mopping soaps, oil based cleaners...pledge, orange oil. If you can smell it it's a contributes. This also includes where you put your tank change buckets, if you have to prepare them like I do, where your salt bucket is kept....search through EVERY aspect of your tanks contributors. You'd be surprised at what you find. Make sure you are washing in vinegar or 10/1 bleach.

All this being said...I'm sure I'm gonna get slammed by someone...I usually do. I WELCOME advice...NOT degradation. I would like to hear any thoughts on reducing nitrates besides nopox? I adopted some fish that increased my bio-load unfavorably. I am doing weekly water changes, but I'm still not satisfied. Any suggestions? Besides losing the fish of course, I made a promise to do all I could.

OK, since you expected to be slammed, I will, but gently (I hope).

I think what you wrote is just a little too extreme.

Not everything that smells can cause bacterial growth or slime. But many things could.

CFC (if you mean chlorofluorocarbon) won't likely cause a bacterial bloom.

There are tons of great ways to reduce nitrate. How high is yours?

 

[Heather w]

I'm not sure I follow everything you are saying, but doser tips should be above the water line. If not, they will clog, especially the alk part.

Assuming you are properly dosing to a high flow area, normal dosing of any inorganic chemical should not cause slime problems. Organic dosing can.

I'm not sure why you mean by "disease". The slime in this thread is not the same as what is usually referred to as a slime disease of fish.

No....not of fish. This is what I Googled to get the results I got.

So where is the best place to leave the ends of the tubes? I thought they had to be submerged? Right now they are in my refugium with my green macro algae.