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What is the white slime around my heater ?


BikBok

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I don't have any pics but it looks just like slightly cooked egg white! - slimy white opaque goo that seems to grow around the suction cups of my heaters.

I noticed it in one of my tanks first and i wipe it off but it just returns ... and the BN seems to want to eat it!! but now he has a blister under one of his fins so not entirely sure he should be eating it!

I set up a hospital tank and within two days it was growing on the rubber and suction cups of that too!

I have another tank that is clear of this goo .. BUT the guppys are always pecking at the rubbery bits so maybe it has slime too and they're eating it.

I have been meticulous with my water changes and cleaning so can anybody tell em what this is if it's safe for the fishies to eat!

Seeing as it's occurring in all three thanks, and the parameters will all be slightly different, I'm not sure if they are relevant or not .. but here are the ranges accross all three tanks:

pH is 7.0 - 7.4, water temp 25-28oC

ammonia 0 (the hospital tank still cyclign and shows slight ammonia)

Nitrates less than 40 . I don't have a nitrite test.

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I have had the same thing happen myself.

I dont know what it is and what causes it.

I am on rain water, are you?.

I have always had problems with fish health when this stuff is in the tank.

I'm sure that it has only happened on new suction cups in tanks that I had just set up.

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i have no idea what you guys are talking about as i don't think i have never seen it. but as i imagine it (and i have a livid imagination) it sounds like some kind of protein that denatures cause of the heat from the heater and then goes white - much like an egg.

do you have a pic? :o

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well I will keep persevering with wiping it away, and hopefully it will just disappear.

I wonder what it actually is. I did google initially but didn't turn up anything useful, but will try again with "new heater" added to the search.

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well I will keep persevering with wiping it away, and hopefully it will just disappear.

I wonder what it actually is. I did google initially but didn't turn up anything useful, but will try again with "new heater" added to the search.

Both my small tanks had it soon after I set up - I left it and it went away by itself - perhaps if you left it for nature to deal with it might go away for ever as mine did??

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Can I ask, Why are you waiting for your Hospital Tank to Cycle??

If you take water from an Exsisting Tank you wont need to wait for a Hospital Tank it to cycle, I do this all the time if I'm in need for an Emergency Tank, I take water out of the Tank the Fish has come out of and put tht into the Hospital Tank, then it's ready to used straight away.

I have no idea what this White Slimy Stuff is that you and several other people are talking about, seems abit strange, maybe do as Jazzyjeff said and just leave it, see what happens then.

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are there any plants in the tank?

there are plants in the two main tanks but not the hospital tank.

Can I ask, Why are you waiting for your Hospital Tank to Cycle??

I started off with tank water but then saw the little BN with a blister/bubble under his fin and thought better of it in case there was something wrong with the water. Seeing as most of the good bacteria resided in the filter media itself and on surfaces I decided to start with fresh clean water.. add filter start bacteria and feed it fish flakes for a few days.

Then I put the BN in there and he is currently being dosed with Furan2 which was recommended to me by a LFS.

Incidentally , this is day 4 and the blister is still there.. it looks full of air or perhaps clear fluid and is bulging out from under his fin. . Is it something I should attempt to "pop" with a sterilised needle ... or should I just leave him be and see what happens.

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Also if you are treating meds in your hospital tank, most of the time they destroy your biofilter, thus rendering the cycle a waste of time.

That is why you must do large water changes and not feed during treatment of meds.

Yes, Furan-2 , i took out the filter cartridge and just put plain wool in there. Once meds are complete I will do a big water change and put new media in there with more filter start bacteria.

Furan-2 packaging says it won't harm the filter but if it's broad spectrum antibiotic I can't see how it won't harm it!

Anyway, I guess I will have to start the cycling process all over again. The poor littler BN is going to have to help me with this until he's better.

When I started the hospital tank it was with a view to Quarantine some platy from a LFS because I'm wary of adding livebearers straight into my tank after being sold a worm infested guppy from a LFS. Then the BN got sick so he got put in there instead.

No-one seems to have red wagtails anyway!

N

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Are the heaters or suction cups new?

I posted a query about this a few years ago and was told that it was possibly some sort residue leeching from the plastic used to make the suction cups. It went away eventually and I also saw my fish eating or pecking at it and from memory caused no harm.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=13859.

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bik bok i wouldnt worry about cycling tank for one fish

personally breeding killies n guppies in 10-20l or so tanks i never had a filter, most killie tanks having 3-5 fish in them and guppies having up to 40 per tank i never had any problems.

all tanks were bare except a bit of sand in the bottom

i just done regular water changes

even in my african fry grow out tank i do not have a filter and its approx 30l

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Hi All

I have had it happen to me as well.

It appears on the end cap of the heater and on the suction cups..

AND, it has only ever happened with "AQ** ON*" heaters.

From my experiences as a "Master Scuba Diver" it is a well known fact that silicone rubbers and rubbers which incorporate silicon are prone to growing this type of slime on them.

It is a caused by a chemical reaction to fresh water, but it does go away after several washes.

The problem with it forming on heaters is that the slime quickly invades the tank and coats the fishes gills thereby suffocating them.

"WASH & RINSE ALL HEATERS BEFORE PUTTING THEM INTO A TANK".

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ok, well two out of the three heaters have now settled down.

I did rinse them all before use.. but clearly not enough... and yes they are Aq-1's !

I've also noticed a little bit on the silicone sealing but wiped it off and it didn't return.

Is it possible it could have made my BN sick.. he kept hanging around in it .?

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Hi All

This is a copy of a post I did some time back, 5th May 2008.

What is the white slime around my heater ?There is a photo attached to that post.

Hi All

Even though I have a very well insulated fish room I still have a small heater in every tank with the exception of WCMM, Killies and Leopards.

They are ALL Aqua One and I have never had one fail yet.

Ive dropped one and it broke the tube, but I replaced that and it still goes very well.

The only problem I have with the Aqua One is when they are new.

The Silicon Rubber they use to make them is a "Bacteria Food" and they grow a slime over them which I found suffocated the fry by covering their gills and killed them.

I dont use new Aqua Ones near Fry any longer but place the new heater in an established tank to age the Rubber.

The slime is extremely apparent on the suction cups and the top of the heater.

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  • 2 weeks later...

ok sorry about the late reply, only just reading these now after setting up my betta display tank with a new aq 1 heater and finding the white slime in the bottom of the filter/pump area(where the heater is) after cleaning it off a few times i have now found that it is blocking the taps (these are usually constantly running into each separate tank) any ideas on how to get rid of it??? at first i thought it had some thing to do with ph levels but after reading the comments atleast i now know whats causing it! :(

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