A pink jelly like substance.

[Jim]

For the past month or so I've been getting a light pink jelly like substance (Think Ghostbuster 2) showing up in my sump the filter sock and in my fuge.

The worst part of it is that it's clogging up the sponges on my phos and carbon reactors.

My parameters are all good. Has anyone else experienced this and what do I do about it?

 

[KathyC]

Perplexing. :scratch:
Fish or inverts attempting to spawn?
Corals spawning ?

 

[Jim]

I don't think it's spawning. It has only been around for the last month or so. I don't see any in the display or frag tank. Only in the sump and fuge.

 

[NYreefNoob]

better let me come frags everything just in case lol is it clearish in color ?

 

[Jim]

better let me come frags everything just in case lol is it clearish in color ?

It's kind of clear but pinkish reddish. Not to sound gross but it's like light pink snot.

 

[polywise]

jim,
Do you think it could be a result of carbon dosing? and it's showing up in lower flow areas?
Jim C.

 

[Jhoehlein]

jim,
Do you think it could be a result of carbon dosing? and it's showing up in lower flow areas?
Jim C.

This. Persistent slime in the sump makes me think bacteria, which could be feeding off of excess carbon dosing.

 

[audiofile18]

Three months ago I had the same situcion, this is due to a poor squimmer.

 

[audiofile18]

I realized it only happened when fed with cyclop-eeze

 

[Jim]

jim,
Do you think it could be a result of carbon dosing? and it's showing up in lower flow areas?
Jim C.

I'll look into that. I am vodka dosing through a bubble magus doser. Maybe the dosing amount has changed. I really don't find that doser that reliable.

Thanks for the idea.

 

[Jim]

This. Persistent slime in the sump makes me think bacteria, which could be feeding off of excess carbon dosing.

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into that tonight.

 

[Jim]

Three months ago I had the same situcion, this is due to a poor squimmer.

I don't think it's the skimmer. The one I have is oversized and runs pretty efficiently. And I rarely feed cyclopeze.

 

[Elescher]

I am almost certain it has to do with your dosing. I would discontinue Biopellets if you are using/and or Vodka dosing. I had a similar problem several years ago. I did as many water changes as fast as I could make RO. Eventually cleared up but lots of collateral damage.

 

[Jim]

I am almost certain it has to do with your dosing. I would discontinue Biopellets if you are using/and or Vodka dosing. I had a similar problem several years ago. I did as many water changes as fast as I could make RO. Eventually cleared up but lots of collateral damage.

What kind if damage did you experience? I'll have to read up on it but isn't it dangerous to abruptly stop carbon dosing? From what I remember you are suppose to gradually reduce the dose but I could be wrong.

 

[Elescher]

First off nobody I consulted was familiar with this condition; dealers, LFS, manufacturers, etc. My filter socks needed to be changed daily or they would just overflow. A thick (disgusting) slime would find it's way into all filter media. Basically my tank crashed and I lost most of my corals and inverts. It's been a while so I can't remember all the details. Under normal circumstances I don't think stopping anything abruptly is a good thing so hopefully someone can make a better recommendation.

How much flow is actually going through your reactor? Are you relying on your supply pump to push the needed water pressure to move the pellets? If so, my first recommendation would be to modify your pellet reactor so that you can add a small pump that will recirculate the water going in. This will let you decrease the amount of water that is actually going through but still get the pellet movement required.

Like I said in previous post, I stopped my pellets immediately. Whether or not this was the best thing to do I can't say. If I remember correctly the pellets also had the 'slime' on them so it seemed like a no-brainer.

 

[duke62]

No you shouldn't stop the pellets right away. What you should have done was take the bio pellets out and rinsed them off and restarted them taking out a 1/4 at a time. Same with vodka dosing. You need to follow the directions on stopping the using the same formula as when you started it but in reverse. If it's all in your sump I would drain your sump and clean it out and wipe it all down. Same for your equipment.

 

[Jim]

No you shouldn't stop the pellets right away. What you should have done was take the bio pellets out and rinsed them off and restarted them taking out a 1/4 at a time. Same with vodka dosing. You need to follow the directions on stopping the using the same formula as when you started it but in reverse. If it's all in your sump I would drain your sump and clean it out and wipe it all down. Same for your equipment.

Just to clarify... I don't run bio pellets. I dose vodka through a doser. I will stop mechanically dosing tonight and start manually decreasing the dose.

Thank you all for the advise.

 

[NYreefNoob]

It will not hurt to just stop the vodka, forgot you was dosing that, you might have a slight bloom in algea when stopping more the likely diatoms, system might have finally dropped low enough on nutrients, ect, btw did this start around same time you noticed die off ?

 

[Jim]

It will not hurt to just stop the vodka, forgot you was dosing that, you might have a slight bloom in algea when stopping more the likely diatoms, system might have finally dropped low enough on nutrients, ect, btw did this start around same time you noticed die off ?

No the die off was recent and I only lost that 1 piece.

 

[KathyC]

I was at Atlantis on Saturday and oddly enough we saw a slightly pink tinted snot like substance on one of the pipes near the reef tank there and we (I was with qy7400 at the time) thought of you so we asked Joe Y about it.
He said it is due to carbon dosing..and when it starts to form, you need to back off slightly on the dosing. No need to stop, just back off a bit.
He also said it typically is more clear than pink tinged...he said the pinkness might be due to a little too much iron in the tank..just a heads up on that part.
I'd trust his advice any day