# Help! White slime!



## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

There is this nasty white/translucent slime all over my tank. Now, when i say all over... i literally mean ALL OVER. I did a water change today to see if that made a difference before i posted but it remains the same. Is this some sort of weird algae? how do i get rid of it. its all over my substrate, it has covered my HC cuba, and has made my tank VERY unappealing. Everything on it is the same. My filter was CAKED with this stuff so while i was doing the water change, i cleaned it in tank water. all exposed roots (anubias and java fern) have the thickest slime on them. My fish seem fine but I am scared if it is affecting them in anyway. The water seems murky. Is this the dreaded algae bloom? how do i get rid of this


----------



## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

The 'dreaded algae bloom' is typically green, so I doubt that's the problem.

A pic would help. How old is the tank and did you do any water tests ? If not, it would be helpful to know what the water parameters are, including temp, pH, nitrate,nitrite,ammonia. Also GH/KH if possible.

I have seen a whitish coating on new pieces of wood, but it appears to be harmless, self limiting and I've never seen it go on to coat every surface. You say the filter was caked with it, and was cleaned in tank water. What media do you have in the filter and did you replace any of it ? Did all the slime come off when you cleaned the filter media?

What size is the tank ? How many fish or other livestock are in it and what kind of fish or livestock do you have ? How often do you feed, how much at one feeding and what food do you feed ? I'm wondering if perhaps over feeding has caused some kind of bacterial growth that's gotten out of hand.

Answers to these questions might help narrow down a cause, but in the mean time, what happens if you try to wash some of this slime off, say off a rock ? Does it come off easily or stick like glue ? Do you have to scrub to get it off ? Can it be easily scraped off the glass, and is it covering the glass as well as the plants and other decor in the tank ?

Hard to offer much advice until some of the questions are answered.


----------



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

My first thought was the fungus that grows on new driftwood, but that is only on the wood that I have ever seen.

pics would be great, I have no idea what is going on, I'm guessing its a fungus similar to what is on new driftwood but being all over is concerning.


----------



## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

pyrrolin said:


> My first thought was the fungus that grows on new driftwood, but that is only on the wood that I have ever seen.
> 
> pics would be great, I have no idea what is going on, I'm guessing its a fungus similar to what is on new driftwood but being all over is concerning.


it is similar to that but it is everywhere. I'll get a pic soon. My water temp is always 75-82 degrees F, i have yet to check my water parameters, ill do with while i take a picture and i have one juvi angelfish and 5 neon tetras + a couple cherry shrimp. thats in my 33 gallon wide


----------



## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

For that size tank you don't have much livestock, and you really don't have any critters that would be likely to eat this sort of thing. It does sound like it might be fungal, and if so, my first move would be to get some Nerite type snails, because chances are high they'd eat it. 

Most of the common aquarium snails and shrimp will consume that white film that shows up on new wood, but fish don't seem to be very interested in it. But a couple of cherry shrimp aren't enough to make a difference to the amount of slime you're describing. 

I would think it's worth getting at least a couple of Nerite snails. The Zebra type is larger and thus will eat more than the small Thorny or Horned nerites can, but they'll all eat darn near anything. They love many algaes, especially the brown kind as well as that wood fungus. But they never, ever eat live plants, though they will happily clean algae or other detritus off plant leaves. Very hard working, very useful critters to have in any FW tank, unless you keep large snail eating fish of course. 

Btw, nerites do lay eggs on wood, but the eggs cannot hatch in fresh water. Some folks are bothered by the appearance of eggs on wood, which I can understand, though they don't bother me. I find the eggs disappear with time. I think they slowly dissolve, but it takes awhile.


----------



## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

ok so an update:

The tank was completely shut down because the insurance company is helping out with damages with out basement. unfortunately, none of that goes to me or my fish tanks. So... im still stuck with a massive bill. besides that, we are doing renovations so i had to move all the tanks. I decided to tear down the 33 gallon and stick the livestock in a ten gallon temp. I hope when i put it back together this wont be a problem


----------



## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

That's too bad, but I hope all goes well once you get set up again.


----------

