Slime. Clear gelatin slime clogging my filter sock?

[ScottB]

Update... 6 clogged sock changes yesterday. It made it overnight with out sock clogging and overflowing.

Slime is pretty much gone but so is all of the Nitrate.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
PH 8.2
Alk 10.6

Were did the Nitrate go?

With no Nitrate am I going to have an Ammonia Bloom next? Thanks for input.

The bacteria bloom ate your nitrate. Probably your phosphate as well.

If you want to research how to properly dose those nutrients, there are dozens of good threads in the Reef Chemistry forum that @Randy Holmes-Farley moderates.

 

[Jeffcb]

First of all thank you everyone for your help and advise. Reef2Reef is really a cool place and I'm glad I found it. Its good to be back in this hobby. I'm sure there will bee a lot more challenges.

I just did a 15 % water change before I read this thread. To late on that,

I am wondering? I hit the LFS 3 times last week and had my hands and arms all over in the tank. Like many folks these Covid days I use hand sanitizer every time I get back in the truck and scrub really good with soap and water when I get home. The soap in the bath room is Dial and very scented. Just wondering if I didn't get it all off before diving in the tank? Need to be careful with that. Slime is mostly gone and no animal loss as of now, Again thank you.

 

[r20crazy]

..... Trying Aquarium Optimizer TLC. Hope it is safe for my softys?

The OP is not dosing carbon. Still puzzled about what could cause a bloom that severe.

I said a bacterial bloom, OP said they added BACTERIA (aka aquarium optimizer tlc). Blooms are not only caused by carbon dosing. Like an Overdose on Vibrant can make the slime too


OP:
did you add this before or after the issue? if before stop dosing it. if after stop as its a bacteria that either caused the issue OR can make it worse.

I am wondering? ... The soap in the bath room is Dial and very scented. Just wondering if I didn't get it all off before diving in the tank? Need to be careful with that.

Anything scented that gets in or near a saltwater tank could possibly cause issues, so it could be the soap fragrance you speak of if you dont wear gloves

 

[Jeffcb]

I said a bacterial bloom, OP said they added BACTERIA (aka aquarium optimizer tlc). Blooms are not only caused by carbon dosing. Like an Overdose on Vibrant can make the slime too


OP:
did you add this before or after the issue? if before stop dosing it. if after stop as its a bacteria that either caused the issue OR can make it worse.



Anything scented that gets in or near a saltwater tank could possibly cause issues, so it could be the soap fragrance you speak of if you dont wear gloves

Add Aquarium Optimizer after the bloom started. It seems as though it helped clear it up. LFS recommended it for slime sludge ect. It worked or at least didn't hurt.

 

[ScottB]

Add Aquarium Optimizer after the bloom started. It seems as though it helped clear it up. LFS recommended it for slime sludge ect. It worked or at least didn't hurt.

The mystery remains then.

 

[Chlorinated]

I have the sme issue in my Nuvo 20. Going on 4 months now. Filter floss cloggs in less than 24hrs.

I dosed vibrant for a few months last year to beat off some algae. Went super slow with it. Anyway, stopped 6mo ago and have this issue now, NOT when I was doing. Cloggs my carbon right away just wasting it.

Tank inhabitants happy. But the bacteria is very fustrating

 

[Crustaceon]

Just don’t run a filter sock for now and if your nitrates are under 5ppm and you’re running a skimmer, turn it off at least until the bacteria can find its own equilibrium in your system. Just make sure you have plenty of surface agitation in the display to keep the tank aerated. Stop adding either beneficial bacteria or food for bacteria and stop doing water changes for a few weeks and the problem should resolve itself.

 

[BlackGoldReefs]

STOP DOSING. you overdosed and caused a bacterial bloom. only thing that will make it go away is time, and reduced your feeding. keep changing the filter socks and run your skimmer wetter if you can, and use a turkey baster to blow off as much slime as you can. water changes will only temporarily help so DO NOT do WC either, as it just gives the bloom room to grow again. you just have to wait it out, then resume normal water changes. if you super overdosed could take as long as 2 weeks. this is about the 4th thread this week I have seen on this. if you are not dosing something was in the air or on you that got into the tank that caused the bloom. (like air fresheners, burning candles, hand lotion...)

With most systems, regular waterchanges of 10-20% keeps all parameters in check and you dont need to dose anything.

dont chase numbers... consistancy is more important. every tank is different. I havent dosed anything in 15 years, it just causes problems for most (especially those new to hobby)

Whew man I thought I was going to loose everything. I had my protein skimmer dump skim mate into my sump one say at work. It well over a weeks worth of skim. I immediately took skimmer out and deep cleaned it. 3 days later the snot looking slim is everywhere except on rocks thank you Jesus. I have been through 12 filter socks in 36 hours and at least that many poly filters. Is this the right course of action? I am hopping it just runs it’s course and dies on its own.