jeffareid

My fish tank has had this beige colored goo in the gravel, and under the gravel. It's just one fish in a 55 gallon tank, so I can't figure out what the source of "food" for the goo is.

Worse yet, the undergravel pumps (well submerged) started occasionally emitting bubbles, and when I looked underneath, there was a bit of very dark goo. Not knowing what type of gas was being generated, I cycled the entire tank (steps below).

What is the biege goo, and how do I control or eliminate it?

My wife decided years ago to stop getting new fish for the tank and then get rid of the tank when the last fish died. However, we now have a Clown Loach that's doing just fine at over 10 years old (she named him Lucky).

The tank is a 55 gallon show plastic tank. There are two AquaClear 50 undergravel pumps, an Eheim Ecco 2232 external cannister filter, a Neptune tube type water heater, and an air pump driving two air stones. There are plastic trays connected across the tank under the gravel to provide a path for the water to circulate downwards through the gravel and out the pumps.

This is the procedure I used to cycle the tank:

Syphoned water from the main tank to fill a 5 gallon tank.
Transferred the external filter, heater, and air stones to the 5 gallon tank.
Transferred the fish to the 5 gallon tank.
Drained the main tank.
Removed the gravel, and undertrays.
Disposed of the old gravel.
Cleaned out the tank and gravel undertrays.
Cleaned out the underwater pumps.
Re-installed the gravel undertrays.
Rinsed out new gravel (50 lbs), and installed it into main tank.
Filled the tank with new water, monitoring temperature.
Installed the underwater pumps and started them.
Added Amquel and NovAqua (6 teaspoons each).
Waited 45 minutes.
Removed external filter from 5 gallon tank.
Cleaned external filter, and installed new filter floss and ammo carb.
Rinsed out the ammo carb section.
Reinstalled external filter back to main tank.
Transferred heater and air stones back to main tank.
Verified heater cycled to confirm water temp was correct.
Transferred fish back to main tank.
Transferred 1/2 gallon of the old water to main tank.

Jay

IMHO this is not a cycle but a through cleaning.

My opinion is that with that much cleaning and purging you surely did away with your bio filter. The tank will go into a new cycle and probably will take up to 4-5 weeks to re-establish the bacteria colonies.

The goo you referred to was probably what is called CyanoBacteria, although I can not be certain without seeing it. Photo? Cyano is a photosynthesing entity which requires very little (you could not even measure it on a test kit) nutrients.

There are two ways to do it in

The antibiotic erythromycin.
A 72 hour complete blackout of the tank.

The goo you referred to buried under the gravel and away from light I am less sure of other than it was probably bacteria of some type. I make it a point to stir and deep vacuum my gravel at least twice a year to prevent that kind of thing.

Hope that helps

Regards,
Jay

jeffareid

Thanks for the response.

Which is why I put 1/2 gallon of the old tank water back into the tank.

No pics, and it's all cleaned up now.

I don't use a light on the tank. It's near a north facing window and I only let some of the light in. The fish (even when there was more than one) seem to prefer it not so bright.

55 gallon - one clown loach.

Tommy Gun

I have had this same problem in the recent past, cynobacteria, or blue/green algea, correct? My problem was having the tank too close to the window and the 'goo' grew in my filter media like crazy. However, i do not use an UG fitler, but two HOB filters, so it was noticed quickly.

I would referr to Jay on this one, but I used a mild anti-biotic on the tank and it wiped out the problem quickly. If I understand correctly, cynobacteria is assumed (scientifically, so maybe assumed is not the right word...) to be the first life form on earth and at one time covered everything on the planet.

Again, I would referr to Jay because I know many people, including myself, would be hesitant to use a medication on a tank, but erythromyacin based medication worked wonders in my tank for this problem. The only 'catch' to this is that it made quite a mess and I had to clean my filter media more than usual to get the 'goo' out of the tank for good. It is my understanding that once it is gone, it is gone unless you find another source or inhibit it's growth again. I simply hung a thicker curtain on the side of the window that allowed light to get to the tank, and I have had no problems since.

jeffareid

I looked this up. The beige goo is beige / tan, not blue-green or red, so it's probably not cyano bacteria. It could be brown slime algae, but the color is more like "tan / light brown" than "dark brown". I'm trying to find pictures so I can maybe figure out what it was. I found some pictures, but it's shows algae on the tank and plants. In my case, this tannish slimy goo is not on any exposed surfaces as the fish eats it off. It only shows up in the gravel, and in external filter. The new undergravel pumps move water too fast for anything to build up there.

I did have some green algae on the tank sides once every couple of months, but it's easily cleaned off.

The clown loach will eat this stuff, but obviously, the fish can only get what's on the surface.

55 gallon - one clown loach.

jeffareid

I found some product called "Algone" that you put in an external filter. What does this do that regular Ammo-Carb doesn't?

55 gallon - one clown loach.

Tommy Gun

From what I read in one of this month's or last month's issues of the aquaria mags I get, blue green algea does not need to be blue, green, or any color for that matter. I will try to look back and find the article for you to reference.

Clown loaches will also do much better in a group, so maybe some more friends will not only help your sole inhabitant, but help eat more of your goo, if they happen to do so. Clown loaches are also what I have heard referred to as 'micro-eaters', meaning they are only going to eat small amounts at a time, but most likely eat more often throughout the day.

jeffareid

There was never any goo on any surface, even with just the one clown loach (which is relatively large at 10+ years old). The goo is only in the gravel and the external filter. It was extremly slimey.

I'll try and convince my wife to let me get a few more clown loaches. What happens if they breed? I don't want the babies getting sucked into the filter. We had mollies a very long time ago and they breed like crazy (we got rid of the males). I bought 3 of those breeding tanks that float near the surface with a slotted tray to let the babies fall through. Then it was a few weeks of feeding them baby fish food that looked like grains of pepper (very small), before they got big enough to take back to the pet store and place in a baby fish aquarium.

Tommy Gun

"There are very few documented cases of clown loaches breeding in captivity. As a result very little information is known about their breeding needs" (Clown Loach (Botia macracanthus)) I do not think this is a major concern for you, in my opinion.

From everything you describe, you have the same problem I had just about two weeks ago. The change in my tank took place when I moved from an apartment into my house and had little choice to put my 55 gallon tank next to a big sliding patio door (window type). My problem occurred mostly in my HOB filter's bio 'pad' and was extremely slimey. So much in fact that I could not pick it up out of the filter, even though there were 'globs' of it that I could reach. It simply 'slimed' through my fingers. The same goo was noticed in my gravel substrate and on my plastic plants (haven't tried real plants as of yet).

The medicine I used is also used for bacterial infections and fungal infections on fish. All I had to do was take out the carbon filters and I dosed at half the recommended dosage, and I only dosed twice (with a 50% water change before the second dose). Some of these medicines can dye items in your tank like clear air hoses, so I took some tank water and placed it in a clean cup and let the tablets dissolve and most of the dye stuck to the cup or faded enough that there was no noticable changes in color in my tank.

Again, this is just one method I used and I was leery about adding un-needed meds into my fish's water. This is why I went very light on my doses. Others on this site may have different, more natural, 'cures' for your problem. If that is an option, you may look into using non-med methods just to be sure.

I also had a livebearer tank for a long time until my recent move. Mollies are VERY quick to breed and even if you remove the males, females can store sperm for up to 7 (I believe) 'litters' of fry, so this may not be the quick solution one would think.

I wish you luck on your tank and hope you can get to the bottom of your problem quickly.

jeffareid

Well the problem is solved for now (new gravel, cleaned every thing else. The last time I cleaned the tank (years ago), I cleaned the gravel instead of replacing it. I was thinking that exposesure to chlorinated (tap) water would have done the trick on the gravel, but apparently it didn't. This time I didn't take any chances.

Now that there are sludge removers (I plan on getting the Eheim one), it should be eaiser to stay ahead of the goo build up.

I took a look at "Lucky", and the edges of his side and rear fins are reddish, but if it's a virus there's not much I can do, and I don't want to medicate such an old fish. "Lucky" seems to be healthy. Lucky's peak activity time seems to be in the morning (swimming around a lot), don't know if this means anything.