Jell-o water?

[r20crazy]

posting this on here as most people on here been around a long time and dont want bs newb replys on other forums....

Back story:

setup a 2.5g pico.. started cycling my dry (for over 4 years) fiji rock in a closed bucket with water from my over 10 year old tank. the rock was pulled/dryed to eliminate a massive hydroid problem in my 10g tank... rock had 3 100% wc in bucket from established tank over 2 months... no light, heated with powerhead.

rock added to pico mid march... indoor, heated, zero livestock, no cuc, no light, for another 2.5 months and added about an inch of reef grade LS. water changes 100% every week with an 80-20 mixture of new sw and other tank sw. no skimmer, no sump, no reverse light cycle, no macro algae

chemistry and chit:

water is rodi 7 stage with regular and chloramine carbon blocks, color changing resin, zero tds out of unit. tank only has marineland blue/white bonded filter floss in a 80gph hang on back and a 60gph tiny power head. (tank is less than 2g water volume with rock and sand in it) 50w titanium heater set at 80. titanium grounding probe. 30w LED aqua knight at 40% blue and 10% white (for last month at 9hrs/day) temp stable 79-80. salt mix is 60% red sea coral pro, 40% red sea blue bucket. this pico and my 10+ year old tank are 5 feet from eachother. feeding was ONE ocean nutrition pellet small size once every other day with nothing in tank... now one once a day with 4 zoa frags in tank and 2 certh snails (no other cuc as no algae). do not dose or add anything to pico.

Problem:

I do 100% wc once a week (same water as use in my 10+ year old tank with no issues at all).. all is awesome after 100% wc which always happens on sundays, by thursday a clear slime starts to develop on tank glass, friday its on the rocks and i can see it moving in the current and can blow it off with turkey baster, saturday the entire tank looks slightly cloudy with all above still present and zoas unhappy.... sunday the tank water is thick.... like clear jell-o thats been in fridge for about an hour (think consistency of hand sanatizer since we all know what thats like atm). you can feel the thickness with hands in tank. I do my water change as its sunday.... it all goes away 100%, zoas open instantly, and repeat... every week for the past month same weekly thing.

water appears milky with brown tint in WC bucket after 100% removal. (I can give a pic of that if needed). I have NOT tested the removed water perameters as i ASSume the water color and thickness would mess with results....

any ideas? anyone? something I'm missing? thanks. this only happens in the pico tank.

 

[gumbii]

wtf you serious...? sounds like a bacterial bloom... have you checked it under a microscope...? have you tried to have the tank without as much light...? maybe it's an algae... but honestly, sounds crazy gross... lol...

 

[r20crazy]

happened for 2 weeks b4 tank had light... every week like clockwork... thought bacterial bloom... idk. was gonna run some poly filter to see if it changed color or anything.... but i dont trust my 5 year old stash so ordered more. seriously, if there was a fish in there i doubt it would get enough o2 its that thick by sunday... I can pull sandbed out as I painted bottom and its only a pico.... i doubt its still dieoff from rocks and hydroids after this long... im at a loss... 5 different tanks i have had and this is first time for this... its so wierd... let me load the WC bucket pic I just did today... the gravel i put in bottom of bucket and its unclear due to thick water.... white dirty floor clear in pic.... its like hand santizer.... or ky lube... thickness... does not smell.

its nasty... no girly sprays/candles/lotions (single guy).... i"ll get another sample next sunday if polyfilter doesnt help and order a microscope.

 

[r20crazy]

 

[gumbii]

single...????


tell me more...

 

[r20crazy]

no thanks.... this is about my tank setup for my nephew to learn the hobby, not your life choices.

 

[OGFrenchHorn]

I agree, sounds like a bacteria issue. Take all live stock out and let the tank cycle. Do small weekly water changes insted of 100% until the tank balances out

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[r20crazy]

tank was setup early march... rock was in a tub for almost 2 months b4 that as stated, and livestock wasnt added until 2 weeks ago now. tank is only 2.5g. i also am fairly certain its bacterial, I just dont know why. I have a feeling its the LS even thou it was in date and looked/smelled fine and I rinsed it well. gonna check perams today.

 

[r20crazy]

so did water tests today.... much to my surprise no slime on glass since WC on sunday, but it is on rocks again and surface scum present even with overflow for hob... so I expect on glass tomorrow.

temp: 79-80C
salinity 34-36ppm (small tank, 1-2 cups per day rodi topoff so varies) [rodi is 0 tds]
PH 7.7 (hand held Amazon tester, calibrated b4 testing)
8.2 alk
480 Ca
0 Phos (useless api test kit)
Nitrate 0-5 (API test, color blind so a best guess) closer to zero by my eyes
Mg 1350

dont have any other kits.... dont like testing... chasing numbers causes more problems.
no media other than floss still... poly filter not here yet.

 

[moondoggy4]

Use Dr Tims Waste Away, I had that on two of my tanks super bad.

 

[r20crazy]

I have vibrant.... same? also have biodigest by prodibio. I can order no problem.

 

[moondoggy4]

You could use what you have and see if that works.

 

[r20crazy]

well added 0.15ml of vibrant yesterday at 4pm to the 2g pico after a weekly 100% WC... light just turned on and the tank is slimy already 18hrs later... so that was a BAD idea... adding more bacteria to a probable bacterial bloom= weeks worth of slime overnite.

Next idea welcome...

 

[OGFrenchHorn]

Leave it alone. Let it balance out on its own.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[r20crazy]

 

[gumbii]

why are you doing 100% water changes...??????

 

[r20crazy]

only 2 gallon tank, no sump, no filtration, no skimmer no additives (only rock and sand with a powerhead). thats how its usually done in picos to keep perams in check as they change very rapidly in small water volumes

now given that may be part of the issue since nothing else is helping, gonna leave it alone as long as possible and see what happens. if it starts to smell that plans out the window as its next to my bed. figured after almost 4 months this issue would have fixed itself... wrong

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

Sorry I’m just gonna give you a “bs newb” reply so I won’t even try for you.

But I would genuinely love to watch your jello tank water problem unfold.

You know that’s kinda foolish because newbies may have just went through that and may have the key you need. But if I was a newb with the 100% correct answer, I’d scroll past. Stop limiting yourself and your tank.

 

[pledosophy]

You are experiencing a bacterial bloom. Your bloom is continuing for a prolonged period because of your diligent tank maintenance. You can go the easy way and let the bloom crash, and then do a water change, or the harder more expensive way of increasing your water changes and adding a UV filter of some type.


Once the nutrients balance themselves out, this problem will go away. It is not that uncommon in newer tanks or in tanks that carbon/vodka/vinegar/sugar/ethanol dose.

If you wanted to try an OTC soultion I would recommend Brightwell's Bacteria 7,

HTH.

 

[r20crazy]

woke up to a milk tank just now.... (working nights).... pump is making a horid noise and woke me up. idk if the pico size pump can handle the water thickness (3w 50gph). I gotta do a wc b4 i go to work... may just take it down if doesn't stop. I dose nothing until vibrant at someones idea as I have for my larger tank. pic if i have time to upload b4 i gotta go to work.