# White Slime/Filmaments/Strings on plants?



## HSA1255 (Apr 2, 2013)

Can you post pictures? It is hard to know what your are dealing with... I've seen white slime/bacteria on new wood or stones, which goes away after some time. Do you have snails, pleco or shrimp? Do they steer clear of it or mess with it? It's concerning that your fish are gasping...

this link talked about clear goo in tanks and possible causes...
http://www.myaquariumclub.com/my-aq...-gel-like-stuff-all-over-the-b...-445354.html


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

HSA1255 said:


> Can you post pictures? It is hard to know what your are dealing with... I've seen white slime/bacteria on new wood or stones, which goes away after some time. Do you have snails, pleco or shrimp? Do they steer clear of it or mess with it? It's concerning that your fish are gasping...
> 
> this link talked about clear goo in tanks and possible causes...
> http://www.myaquariumclub.com/my-aq...-gel-like-stuff-all-over-the-b...-445354.html


The couple times I've seen them gasping I've given a big WC on the spot and it corrects their breathing. For now just because it's been such a pest. I've lowered the water level so the Eheim spray bar is also spraying from above the water surface making a lot of agitation and hopefully plenty of air. 

Hopefully this water really just needed to be cleaned out. I will work on getting a pic of it up. Hopefully it's even less tomorrow. I'm worried that the stress from lack of oxygen is going to cause some secondary issue with my fish.


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## jeepguy (Jul 24, 2013)

U mention ammonia levels but what about nitrite, which interferes with oxygen transport in the blood. Perhaps you have high nitrite levels. I find it strange that with so much surface agitation to have a lack of oxygen unless your tank is extremely overcrowded, but even then with what u describe it is a water quality issue. 
A picture would help for the white slime. How long has the tank been set up? If the white slime was algae dying off you would have an ammonia spike, and then a nitrite spike. If the tank has been set up for months, have you done any extensive cleaning that could have nuked the bio filter? 
You have plenty of oxygen, there is a toxin that is causing the breathing problems, I vote for nitrite or residual cleaner that was not rinsed enough and is leaching into the water and causing gill damage or breathing problems.
A good dose of seachems prime helps a lot of water issues btw. I would start dosing it until the problem resolves.


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

jeepguy said:


> U mention ammonia levels but what about nitrite, which interferes with oxygen transport in the blood. Perhaps you have high nitrite levels. I find it strange that with so much surface agitation to have a lack of oxygen unless your tank is extremely overcrowded, but even then with what u describe it is a water quality issue.
> A picture would help for the white slime. How long has the tank been set up? If the white slime was algae dying off you would have an ammonia spike, and then a nitrite spike. If the tank has been set up for months, have you done any extensive cleaning that could have nuked the bio filter?
> You have plenty of oxygen, there is a toxin that is causing the breathing problems, I vote for nitrite or residual cleaner that was not rinsed enough and is leaching into the water and causing gill damage or breathing problems.
> A good dose of seachems prime helps a lot of water issues btw. I would start dosing it until the problem resolves.



I have done a lot of cleaning that could have nuked teh bio filter... That was my third suspect in this. But what exactly would be the result of killing my bio filter by mistake? The tank is not majorly over crowded. I'll need to test for nitrites. I'm careful to rinse filter media in tank water only... But as many WCs as I have given lately and changing the filter I can easily imagine having killed my Eheim. How long does it take to come back into shape? So I may need to look into some Seachem Prime. Btw this tank has been set up for a bit over 2 years now. What can I do to help with Nitrites if I find that is the problem. What is a residual cleaner? Does that just have something to do with me killing my bio filter? Thanks for your help

It's not heavily over crowded. This sort of slimy stuff had been forming what wasn't a completely visible but you could kind of see it a filmy area that was preventing the exchange of oxygen I believe at the surface. All Surface film and stuff has been completely removed. However there are still filaments and stuff on my plants a bit, which is decreasing due to my spot cleaning by the day. However despite the lack of soupy stuff at the water line, a couple fish still looked a little out of breath yesterday. 

However, my lastest move to lower the water level to just below the Eheim spray bar has made it so there's plenty of oxygen and fish are breathing fine. Of course I would like to have the water level back to normal. I also noticed now that my airpump/airstone was working but I shifted it around a little and it started producing bubbles/agitation at about 3x the rate..... So I think it was a combination of several things.

I am going to keep the water level below the spraybar for a second consecutive day just incase. I'm sure everytime the fish go through the experience of gasping it's potentially sending them on the road to passing. But I will see if this situation has corrected itself soon. Hopefully the WCs have cleared most of hte issue and the airstone at 100% helps as well. I will look into the possibility of nitrites, hopefully the lfs has seachem prime! Thanks again!


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

DrewWoodside said:


> I have done a lot of cleaning that could have nuked teh bio filter... That was my third suspect in this. But what exactly would be the result of killing my bio filter by mistake? The tank is not majorly over crowded. I'll need to test for nitrites. I'm careful to rinse filter media in tank water only... But as many WCs as I have given lately and changing the filter I can easily imagine having killed my Eheim. How long does it take to come back into shape? So I may need to look into some Seachem Prime. Btw this tank has been set up for a bit over 2 years now. What can I do to help with Nitrites if I find that is the problem. What is a residual cleaner? Does that just have something to do with me killing my bio filter? Thanks for your help
> 
> It's not heavily over crowded. This sort of slimy stuff had been forming what wasn't a completely visible but you could kind of see it a filmy area that was preventing the exchange of oxygen I believe at the surface. All Surface film and stuff has been completely removed. However there are still filaments and stuff on my plants a bit, which is decreasing due to my spot cleaning by the day. However despite the lack of soupy stuff at the water line, a couple fish still looked a little out of breath yesterday.
> 
> ...


So it looks like I have issues with nitrite levels that need to be fixed. I purchased some Stress Zyme which is supposed to help with the bacteria. Also I am going to add some aquarium salt and keep the water as oxygenated as possible. I read the salt will help with the negative effects of the high nitrites. Beyond that I'm thinking daily WCs and limit feedings. 

Also I'm concerned one of my rams may be flashing a bit now.. the fish appears super healthy and is eating and moving confidently but I'm concerned he may have picked up a bacterial issues with his gills as a result of the oxygen/nitrite situation. Would it be bad to simultaneously add the stress zyme, aquarium salt and treat for bacterial infection? Hopefully geting closer to resolution, thanks for the help everyone!


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## jeepguy (Jul 24, 2013)

High salt levels will damage ur plants so read up on levels to use. Methylene blue dips will help heal the fish and assist in the nitrite poisoning. Also using prime on a bi-daily dose will detoxify your high nitrite levels. You can restore your water levels to where they were if you can just angle your spray bar up to agitate the surface, that should also help with the protein film build up at the surface. 
Just dose prime until your filters cycle again. Water changes will help but will slow the cycle process. People have had success using tetra safe start to speed up the cycle process to. But prime will be your best friend right now.


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

jeepguy said:


> High salt levels will damage ur plants so read up on levels to use. Methylene blue dips will help heal the fish and assist in the nitrite poisoning. Also using prime on a bi-daily dose will detoxify your high nitrite levels. You can restore your water levels to where they were if you can just angle your spray bar up to agitate the surface, that should also help with the protein film build up at the surface.
> Just dose prime until your filters cycle again. Water changes will help but will slow the cycle process. People have had success using tetra safe start to speed up the cycle process to. But prime will be your best friend right now.


I purchased stress Zyme by API. It says it contains live bacteria to consume sludge and help with the cycle. Is this the same stuff as dosing prime? The bottle references a once weekly dose. However from what I'm reading it may be okay to double the dose and go every other day with a WC? This is the product which I am assuming is similar to the prime: 

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754033

I've been doing daily WCs which has probably been really slowing my cycle down. Would it be okay to do daily partial say 20% WCs? Or would this still be hampering my cycle too much?


Is there anything else I should do to help with the nitrite effects on fish? I put the bare minimum of salt in and won't add any more till i've siphoned the substrate. I noticed one of my rams had a touch of red/blood at the base of her fin. The fish still looks incredibly healthy and is eating well and actually laid eggs last week. However I saw it flashing briefly and it was definitely gasping the other day the last time I had the issue. I worry he may have developed some secondary issues resulting from the depleted oxygen and nitrites. 

Would it be advisable to look into treating for a potential bacterial infection possibly something that has affected his gills as a result of all this? His condition appears to have stabilized but if its no difference to the tank maybe I should treat for bacteria? I know it might not be helpful to be adding 2 or 3 different things to my water simultaneously so not sure. 

Thanks for all your help, real bummer that I did something incorrectly and caused these spikes in my water. Feeling like a noob!


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## jeepguy (Jul 24, 2013)

The description for stress zyme says it will work, although I have never used it, so I dont know if it can be doses as frequently as prime. 
The red fin you describe sounds like a blood infection which is not good. 
Smaller water changes are fine as long as u keep using a product to detoxify ammonia and nitrite. 
The bacteria in stresszyme does not sound like the same bacteria u need to help cycle your filter. Tetra safe start as mentioned is better and proven successful. Maybe others have a better recommendation for treatment, but I would use a product for septicimia, get the tetra safe start, and dose prime as much as I can in relation to ur fish bio load(how much they poop). Again, if it were me I would do methylene blue dips, once a day, but catching a bunch of fish can become real tiresome and cause more stress, so, that's your choice.


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

jeepguy said:


> The description for stress zyme says it will work, although I have never used it, so I dont know if it can be doses as frequently as prime.
> The red fin you describe sounds like a blood infection which is not good.
> Smaller water changes are fine as long as u keep using a product to detoxify ammonia and nitrite.
> The bacteria in stresszyme does not sound like the same bacteria u need to help cycle your filter. Tetra safe start as mentioned is better and proven successful. Maybe others have a better recommendation for treatment, but I would use a product for septicimia, get the tetra safe start, and dose prime as much as I can in relation to ur fish bio load(how much they poop). Again, if it were me I would do methylene blue dips, once a day, but catching a bunch of fish can become real tiresome and cause more stress, so, that's your choice.


Thanks for your help. So I'll look into getting the prime stuff and in the meantime I will dose cautiously with Stress Zyme. Anything you can suggest for the blood at base of fin ram? Or is your treatment for that the blue dips?

Also I'll get the tetra safe. Would I use both the tetra safe AND the Prime? The ram is super lively, so I'm hoping the properly oxygenated water and my hopefully moving past the Nitrite issue will result in him possibly being able to overcome whatever his issue is naturally? Either way thanks again


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

jeepguy said:


> The description for stress zyme says it will work, although I have never used it, so I dont know if it can be doses as frequently as prime.
> The red fin you describe sounds like a blood infection which is not good.
> Smaller water changes are fine as long as u keep using a product to detoxify ammonia and nitrite.
> The bacteria in stresszyme does not sound like the same bacteria u need to help cycle your filter. Tetra safe start as mentioned is better and proven successful. Maybe others have a better recommendation for treatment, but I would use a product for septicimia, get the tetra safe start, and dose prime as much as I can in relation to ur fish bio load(how much they poop). Again, if it were me I would do methylene blue dips, once a day, but catching a bunch of fish can become real tiresome and cause more stress, so, that's your choice.


Okay so I've now purchased the API equivalents of Seachem. Apparently Stress Coat is the API equivalent of Seachem Prime and Quick Start is the same as Tetra safe start for all intents and purposes. I've reduced my WCs and have added these products in hopes of bolstering my fish, beneficial bacteria and hopefully moved towards reducing Nitrites!

Question. I'm concerned one of my rams may have a bacterial issue affecting him. I was going to treat with TC Tetracycline just incase. However I'm wondering, if I were to use this treatment which is designed for going against bacteria. Would I potentially be killing off my beneficial bacteria? In which case, I would obviously prefer to stabilize the tank before any bacteria treatments. Thanks for any info!


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