Weird translucent slime after dosing Cupramine

[Psari]

Hello all,

I have a 52L QT tank that has been running successfully the last month with a pair of clownfish. The water and tank are crystal clear as I am cleaning it once a week and also do the bubbling method by feeding the return pump bubbles using a wooden air block for a few hours every day.
I have so far done treatment with GDEX which is like Prazi for flukes and worms, and after two big water changes I started dosing Copper.
Now the thing is, everything was running smoothly until a few days later, I started to notice a translucent film gathering up on the filter as there isn't a lot of flow on the surface there.
In the beginning I didn't think much of it but even after 2 weeks that have now passed, I have noticed a slight increase of Nitrate and Nitrite, while ammonia still being at 0.
I would like to note that I never over feed and if there is food left in the tank after the feeding, I scoop it up with a net.
The fish are doing fantastic, and I can see that the treatment with copper is working as they are both more energetic and accept food like crazy.
In the video below you will be able to see that weird slime as it attaches to the bubbles and also at the back where the overflow is.
Does anyone ever seen something like this, as I cannot find anything online regarding this particular issue.

Thank you all for the replies in advance

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hello all,

I have a 52L QT tank that has been running successfully the last month with a pair of clownfish. The water and tank are crystal clear as I am cleaning it once a week and also do the bubbling method by feeding the return pump bubbles using a wooden air block for a few hours every day.
I have so far done treatment with GDEX which is like Prazi for flukes and worms, and after two big water changes I started dosing Copper.
Now the thing is, everything was running smoothly until a few days later, I started to notice a translucent film gathering up on the filter as there isn't a lot of flow on the surface there.
In the beginning I didn't think much of it but even after 2 weeks that have now passed, I have noticed a slight increase of Nitrate and Nitrite, while ammonia still being at 0.
I would like to note that I never over feed and if there is food left in the tank after the feeding, I scoop it up with a net.
The fish are doing fantastic, and I can see that the treatment with copper is working as they are both more energetic and accept food like crazy.
In the video below you will be able to see that weird slime as it attaches to the bubbles and also at the back where the overflow is.
Does anyone ever seen something like this, as I cannot find anything online regarding this particular issue.

Thank you all for the replies in advance

I'm not exactly sure what I'm seeing here, but sometimes, food being fed to a tank can cause a surface scum to form in still areas of the tank. One thing I've done is to submerge a container in the tank, and let the lip drop just below the water's surface, to skim off the slime. In other cases, I've tried using a paper towel to soak up the surface material and then I discard it.

Jay

 

[Psari]

I'm not exactly sure what I'm seeing here, but sometimes, food being fed to a tank can cause a surface scum to form in still areas of the tank. One thing I've done is to submerge a container in the tank, and let the lip drop just below the water's surface, to skim off the slime. In other cases, I've tried using a paper towel to soak up the surface material and then I discard it.

Jay

Thank you for your reply Jay, and this is what I've been doing. I am trying to scoop it up with a paper towel but it isn't only on the surface, as the rest of the equipment when I clean it, feels like there is a slimy coat on top of it.
What is weird, is that this appeared a few days after I started dosing Cupramine, and right now the surface of the water looks like this:

And behind where the overflow and filter is, looks like this.

As you can see there is this weird thing that is gathering up on the surface and as much as I try to clean my QT, it keeps gathering up after a few hours.

Since this doesn't affect the fish, I don't really mind, but it annoys me so much that I am not able to get rid of it.
What I was thinking, is that when I am about to place the fish in DT after the QT is done, after acclimating them, I was thinking maybe doing a quick FW bath and then transfer them, so that I know, none of the bacteria that might be causing this slime are transferred over to the DT.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you for your reply Jay, and this is what I've been doing. I am trying to scoop it up with a paper towel but it isn't only on the surface, as the rest of the equipment when I clean it, feels like there is a slimy coat on top of it.
What is weird, is that this appeared a few days after I started dosing Cupramine, and right now the surface of the water looks like this:

And behind where the overflow and filter is, looks like this.

As you can see there is this weird thing that is gathering up on the surface and as much as I try to clean my QT, it keeps gathering up after a few hours.

Since this doesn't affect the fish, I don't really mind, but it annoys me so much that I am not able to get rid of it.
What I was thinking, is that when I am about to place the fish in DT after the QT is done, after acclimating them, I was thinking maybe doing a quick FW bath and then transfer them, so that I know, none of the bacteria that might be causing this slime are transferred over to the DT.

I think the cupramine is coincidental to this, but I don't use that very often, so can't say 100%

Tanks can develop bacterial slime...but what would it be feeding on? There needs to be a food source. I wouldn't worry about transferring this bacteria to your DT (it is going to be a species that is already there) but you *could* see the same issue if your DT develops the same food source that the bacteria can grow from.

Jay

 

[Psari]

I think the cupramine is coincidental to this, but I don't use that very often, so can't say 100%

Tanks can develop bacterial slime...but what would it be feeding on? There needs to be a food source. I wouldn't worry about transferring this bacteria to your DT (it is going to be a species that is already there) but you *could* see the same issue if your DT develops the same food source that the bacteria can grow from.

Jay

To be honest I can't find out what the food source is since I haven't really changed anything, (from were the tank was running perfectly well and now that it has developed this) but I will run a few experiments and if I find anything interesting I will post it here

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

To be honest I can't find out what the food source is since I haven't really changed anything, (from were the tank was running perfectly well and now that it has developed this) but I will run a few experiments and if I find anything interesting I will post it here

You also have to consider that things can enter the tank from the air... Unless you have a lid that I missed. Probably an unlikely answer, but something to think about.

 

[Psari]

You also have to consider that things can enter the tank from the air... Unless you have a lid that I missed. Probably an unlikely answer, but something to think about.

Indeed that is also true, and I do have a lid but it isn't 100% sealed as it has two large wholes for feeding and a place for a skimmer. I am using the Fluval SEA Evo 52 Litre Marine Aquarium