# Algae or something worse?



## Jodah (Dec 8, 2011)

Apparently no one knows what this could be. great.


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## gomesj (Dec 11, 2008)

Don't look like any algae I've ever seen.


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## rocketdude1234 (Apr 8, 2010)

I'm currently dealing with this junk too. I had a thread but I forgot to add pics, so, I'll post mine here and see if we can get more traffic and insight.

I have been cleaning this filter 2x a week because its clogged within 3 days after wc. 

The same stuff grows on the intake, the filter floss, and the blue plastic parts of the Aqueon HOBs. Again, these filters are needing to be cleaned 2x a week because they get clogged within days of a water change.

The stuff doesn't look like any algae I've seen, it seems more like bacteria. 

Stats:

36gallon
2xAqueon HOB (20 and 30)
2x 5-10g submersible powerheads
38w t5 on for 10hrs

Dosing:
N - 15ppm weekly
P - 1ppm weekly (sometimes less)
K - ~15ppm weekly
CSM-B 1/4tsp weekly.

CO2: diy 3x3L run through 2 powerheads set under the HOB filters.


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## Jodah (Dec 8, 2011)

wow, yours is even worse looking than mine. I just pulled the whole filter out. I have an aquatop if-450 that was running for 2 days alongside the whisper, so hopefully that can clean up the water. I may still just break the tank down completely.

I wanted this 5.5 to be turned into a planted anywho. So, I suppose here is my chance.

Do you rinse it off in the tank or just in a bucket with tank water?


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## ElodeaC (Jan 4, 2012)

I had the same crap in my tank, white and mostly in my intake tube and inside the filter. I rinsed the filters and and cleaned the tubing. I also removed my bubble wand since I didn't know if it could be related, since it had massive amount of that crap in and on it...


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## dmagerl (Feb 2, 2010)

It most definitely is the cause of cloudy water. For the past several weeks, I've had cloudy water. Nothing I did cleared it up until I noticed that same stuff growing in my filter. I nuked the entire filter with bleach and the next day the water was as clear as its ever been.

I too am of the opinion it's bacterial.


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

You nuked your filter, which houses bacteria, with bleach to kill the bacteria?...Excessive bacteria and bacteria associated cloudy water is a sign of too many nutrients in the water for the bacteria to chow down on. Water changes, removing large amounts of dead plant matter if present, and reducing overfeeding, combat this. Hitting your filter with bleach, does not help anything. In fact, your bacteria bloom will just come back a few weeks later as your tank has to recycle now.


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## dmagerl (Feb 2, 2010)

Relax, I didnt nuke the BB.

I use a HOB filter to oxygenate the tank. I hate noisy air pumps and bubblestones. It had no filter media in it. A canister filter provides the main filtering.

The point is, this gunk was growing in the HOB non-filter and I had cloudy water. I nuked the HOB and killed the gunk, and cloudy water disappeared. Everything else is the same. It's been a week now and the water is crystal clear. I'd been plagued with cloudy water for months prior to this but never noticed the gunk in the HOB.


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## austinz33 (Nov 6, 2011)

Yeah but there has to be a reason it's growing, over feeding?


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## Jayme (Nov 27, 2011)

After I have just set up any of my tanks I get a white film that grows on everything rubber (suctions cups for airline, heater, etc.) but after a few weeks of cleaning it off or leaving it alone for the snails to clean it doesn't seem to come back. When I switched to a canister filter last month the white stuff started growing on the new rubber fittings for it also. It may sound dumb but I look at it like an organ transplant, takes time for things to be "accepted" by the environment in the tank. That's my only explanation, lol. I don't know how long your tank has been running with the same equipment but if it's newer maybe that will go away after some time. Hope things get worked out for you soon!


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## rocketdude1234 (Apr 8, 2010)

Mine seemed to be caused entirely by the diy co2. I ran an intermediate bubble counter to prefilter the co2 and it has resolved the issue in 2 weeks.


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## jccaclimber (Aug 29, 2011)

^Could it be yeast or something similar?


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