White slime in the water

[Loosir]

I've been working on my 55gal tank with a 20 gal sump for awhile and the tank is completely cured, no discus yet, just neons. As it was cycling I would get a lot of build up of this white slime, especially on my vinyl tubes that were in water. I scrubbed the whole tank (except the foam that has the BB) and did a 100% water change and introduced neons to see if I could keep them alive before I moved on to Discus. Its been a month but the tubes are still growing white slime and it breaks off from the inside of the tube and gets into the tank. I've pinched the tubes a few time to loosen it do I could take a photo to post on this site.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/geoffloo/063_zps549c459a.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/user/geoffloo/media/063_zps549c459a.jpg.html)

Here you can see the tube in the water is growing slime, out of the water its grows it at a slower rate.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/geoffloo/065_zpsf9ce9136.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/user/geoffloo/media/065_zpsf9ce9136.jpg.html)

What can I do to stop this? I thought the slime was supposed to not grow after the tank cycled. Am I using the wrong type of tube? its just the airline tubing from Lowes. Should I buy the expensive green Eheim tubing?

Thanks all!
Geoff

[rickztahone]

It just looks like regular buildup to me. If you had some of the Eheim tubing, you wouldn't see it, but it would still be there.

[Loosir]

Thanks,
Is this perfectly normal to see white floating bits in the tank now and then?

[kenvu07]

Uv light will do it


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[Champion Discus]

It could be white algae or some type of algae that grows on wood. As I notice you have manzanita branches in your tank. And basically that algae sticks to the tubing which causes build ups which makes them visible. This is my personal experiences dealing with drift wood in my own tank.

[Loosir]

Thanks,
This was definitely happening before I add the manzanita. I'll look in to UV.

[OC Discus]

That is probably the nitrifying bacteria. The same stuff you want in your bio filter. It just settles and colonizes anywhere that a food source is present. The wood is likely providing a food source. It's normal for it to colonize the hoses. If you leave the canister off too long, it will die and come out into your tank. It's not hurting anything in the hoses- actually helping unless it builds up enough to clog the hoses. You might want to periodically disconnect the hoses and soak them overnight in a bleach solution. Within 10-24 hours in the bleach it should completely come loose so you can rinse it out and then soak the hoses in clean water.

This is not usually necessary, but if it is, it might help to pick up another set of hoses to pop on while the others are soaking.

The fact that you have so much in the tank indicates that it is multiplying to try and handle the bio load of the tank. A few large water changes- 75-80% after wiping down all surfaces with a sponge/bottle brush should remove it from the tank and allow it to colonize the filters.

What kind of bio filter media do you have? Filling out the questionnaire and some full tank pictures would help in diagnosing the situation.

[Loosir]

Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?
So the nitrifying bacteria (white slime) just keeps growing in large quantities everywhere and breaks off often and floats around the tank. It's all over the tubes, its on the suction cups, it not so much on the Manzanita branch. My question is am I using the wrong type of tubing? Is there a special type of tube that does not act as a food source?


2. Symptoms (i.e. turning dark, excess slime, not eating, clamped fins, flashing, darting, clamped gills, white/yellow/green poop, hiding, headstanding or tailstanding, white on tips of fins, rotting or fungus, blisters/white zits on fish, bloated, cloudy eyes, wounds).
excess slime on the vinyl tubes


3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
None yet, just a lot of cleaning



Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
55 gallon display with a 20 gallon sump below. (35) 1" neons. The sump has three Poret dividers which are about 13"x13", a bunch of plants and a light shining on it for about 12 hours. No sign of algae. The flow from the display to the sump is about 80gal/hour which was calculated to be slow enough that the sump acts as a Hamberg Matten Filter.

5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
25-30 gallons daily, so 50% of display or 40% of the system?


6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
Bare bottom, started curing in may, took about 7 weeks. I was dosing with ammonia doing a fishless cycle. I had nothing in the tank, no manzanita or plants. the only thing for the nitrifying bacteria to grow on was the Poret, glass and tubes. I tried to clean the glass and tubes often so that a colony big enough to handle the load would grow on the Poret. I even had a post awhile back about cycling with the branch. I decided to keep it out.

7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
I do not age the water, tap water plus prime


8. Parameters and water source; Tap water


Note: Water Parameters are important in diagnosing problems within a tank. If you don't own test kits for the following information, you can purchase them, test your parameters and post this info as soon as possible.



- temp 84F

- ph 7.8

- ammonia reading 0

- nitrite reading 0

- nitrate reading 5-10 with the plants in the sump

What type of water or combinations of water sources do you use? If it is an RO/tap/well water mix, please list percentages in the mix.

- well water ____

- municipal water 100%

- RO water ____


9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
A Manzanita branch Neons, hornwart, anacharis and java moss all in the last 4 weeks



10. Include any pictures or videos you have which shows the symptoms. If you can't add them to this post, please provide a link to them.
I'll add some in a bit, at work right now


Thanks so much for all of the feed back so far. This site is great!

[OC Discus]

It multiplies to handle the waste load in the tank. When the load is under control it stops multiplying as fast. You remove it through your filters and large water changes. With proper filters enough will grow in the filter to help maintain a healthy tank.


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[OC Discus]

Of course it could be something else, so If anyone can identify it please jump in.

As a test you might remove the wood, wipe down the tank, and do a large 80% water change. Check the floss in your filters to see if they are clogged. If it stops something in the wood is causing it. The plants could also be a factor. Really can't see the whole tank. If you have a holding tank for the plants you might remove them too before the large water change.

A whole tank pic would help.


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[Loosir]

Thanks,
I'll clean and keep up with the water changes, but stay the course. I wont replace the tubes with any thing else yet. Thanks so much. Here's a few pics of the set up. Again the filter meadia is only three pieces of Poret foam. FYI the water is clear, except for the occasional white floater of course.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/geoffloo/aquarium001_zps045f9889.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/user/geoffloo/media/aquarium001_zps045f9889.jpg.html)
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/geoffloo/aquarium002_zpsc7b967b0.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/user/geoffloo/media/aquarium002_zpsc7b967b0.jpg.html)
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/geoffloo/aquarium003_zpsd58b19bc.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/user/geoffloo/media/aquarium003_zpsd58b19bc.jpg.html)