# Help! - Orange Slimy Matter Growing On All Surfaces



## mark4785 (17 Feb 2013)

For the past 3 months or so I've been trying to rid one of my open-top planted tanks of this orange slime that forms on the aquarium glass, inlet/outlet pipes and all other surfaces in the external filter. It usually forms 3-4 days after having cleaned it up with a sponge/cloth. At first I thought it was dirt that had separated from the play sand but it actually has a slimy feel to it (I cannot feel any sand or dirt particles) and it usually causes the entire length of all the aquarium glass panes to be covered in a orange haze.

2 months ago, prior to having disinfected the aquarium, all of the equipment that I used with the aquarium and having thrown away the initial external filter, this orange slimy growth was causing the following problems:

1. A white slimy film was floating on the water's surface which was flexible (like snot) and usually had several transparent semi-circle bubbles floating on the surface. They were about 4cm in length.

2. All surfaces were covered in a orange slimy hazy substance and the filtration system actually contained fleshy-like orange chunks which had infested the inlet/outlet tubes and all filtration media.

3. There was no oxygen in the water. Before I knew I had a dangerous 'orangey-growth' in the aquarium, I had added 3 black neon tetras which died of lack of oxygen within 5 minutes.


Zoom forward 2 months and I now have the same orange substance forming on all surfaces.

I need help identifying what the growth is. It looks and smells like sand but yet is lethal and chokes up the filter system which is thing that causes me a great deal of confusion.

*Pictures of the orange substance:*

_*(Ignore the sand grains)*_

*


*

_*(Orangey substance beginning to form - nothing like this forms on my other aquarium glass and this contains the SAME play sand)*_




_*(Again, ignore the sand grains; the substance is on the glass and on the side of the curved black pipe)*_




_*(This is the best picture; you can clearly see a yellow tinge to the all of the panes of glass. I have the SAME play sand in the aquarium to the left yet the glass remains crystal clear)*_




*Fish tank system contents:*
- Play sand which has been disinfected with bleach
- Blue sodalite-like rocks bought from Aqua-essentials *(see picture below)*
- Biological ceramic rings, white wool and biological filtration sponge.

*

*


Does anybody know the name of the rocks that I have?
Any body know what the orange substance is?
Anybody know HOW to get rid of the orange substance (bear in mind that I replaced an entire filtration system, old heater and disinfected the aquarium with strong bleach only to find that the orange-substance is now forming again!)

Thanks


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## O'Neil (17 Feb 2013)

I've never seen or heard of this, but I did find this for you, I hope it helps you get your tank sorted. I'll keep looking and ask around for you tho.

http://www.myaquariumclub.com/orange-algae-somehow-my-tank-has-been-contaminated-with-a...-531234.html


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (17 Feb 2013)

Isn't that just diatom? From too much light and too little co2?


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## mark4785 (17 Feb 2013)

Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> Isn't that just diatom? From too much light and too little co2?


 
No as the tank hasn't had any light over it and I'm pretty sure diatoms don't actually feel slimy and grow in the filtration system.


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## mark4785 (17 Feb 2013)

Porksword said:


> http://www.myaquariumclub.com/orange-algae-somehow-my-tank-has-been-contaminated-with-a...-531234.html


 
Thanks for the link. They are saying it is caused by food and light but the tank has not received any proper light or food. It has only been set up for around 6 days and was spotless on day 1.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (17 Feb 2013)

Vahlah! Seems me and the link agree. Whats best of all, Is that I haven't even looked at it.


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## mark4785 (18 Feb 2013)

Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> Vahlah! Seems me and the link agree. Whats best of all, Is that I haven't even looked at it.


 
How does this orange algae form? Its certainly not getting it's nutrients from aquarium food as the link suggests. Also, as already said, the tank receives little to no sun light.

I have found a forum thread that describes the problem I'm experiencing exactly. Here is the link:Unknown Substance in Filter - Aquarium Forum . They are describing it has a filter gunk. Where does it come from??


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## niru (18 Feb 2013)

take it to a local biology school with good microscope. If its something living, they will tell you. perhaps they can even culture it? (or you can try this?) But to me it does look like gunk either from filter, or open tank getting it from the room or even some stuff leaking from hardscape. you can do a control by using the same tank water outside the tank in a bottle and hoping for some residual gunk at bottom...

cheers,


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## mark4785 (18 Feb 2013)

niru said:


> take it to a local biology school with good microscope. If its something living, they will tell you. perhaps they can even culture it? (or you can try this?) But to me it does look like gunk either from filter, or open tank getting it from the room or even some stuff leaking from hardscape. you can do a control by using the same tank water outside the tank in a bottle and hoping for some residual gunk at bottom...
> 
> cheers,


 
Thanks for the suggestion. I've contacted the Biology department at Newcastle University and they are allowing me to mail a sample of the gunk to them. I'm going to bleach, yet again, the entire aquarium and all of it's equipment, then fill it up with water, with added salt (Wharf Aquatics advised I put salt in to dry up the gunk). 

This time I'm taking the play sand out as Wharf agreed that some sort of chemical may have been added to the sand which is causing oxygen absorption and the gunk.

Hopefully next time I post all will be well. I'm only giving it another 'shot'; if the gunk grows back I think i'll just hire a skip and throw everything away.


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## O'Neil (18 Feb 2013)

Let us know how it goes, I'm intrigued by this : )


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (18 Feb 2013)

Using bleach for a second time isnt going to 'cure' it. As its obviously something your doing thats to blame. 
I believe it is diatom buildup, but do as you will. People have tried to help you in the past, and it hasn't worked. Mostly because you ask for advice, then choose to ignore it, once given to you by members MUCH more capable and knowledgeable then myself.

As you were.


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## mark4785 (18 Feb 2013)

Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> Using bleach for a second time isnt going to 'cure' it. As its obviously something your doing thats to blame.
> I believe it is diatom buildup, but do as you will. People have tried to help you in the past, and it hasn't worked. Mostly because you ask for advice, then choose to ignore it, once given to you by members MUCH more capable and knowledgeable then myself.
> 
> As you were.


 
I appreciate all spectrums of advice given although I am able to filter out the advice which is not so plausible.

From experience, diatoms are blotchy and quite crusty to touch. What I'm dealing with doesn't have that texture.

With regards to me being to blame, first of all, I'd just like to say thank you very much. All I have done is filled an aquarium with water, rocks and play sand and applied an heater and filtration system.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (18 Feb 2013)

Okay, sorry for the outburst but I very much believe this is Diatom. I have the same algae in my tanks upon start up and get build up on pipes the same as this.

Please don't think that Im getting at you, but the disinfecting thing really isn't necessary. The only thing you should really need bleach for is for killing the algae buildup on an inline co2 diffuser, not for its 'killing' itself, but to remove the algae to allow co2 to pass through the ceramic unhindered. 

Is the tank relatively new set up? It can take some weeks to go, these diatoms.

Is it slippery? And like a jellyalmost?


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## mark4785 (18 Feb 2013)

Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> Okay, sorry for the outburst but I very much believe this is Diatom. I have the same algae in my tanks upon start up and get build up on pipes the same as this.
> 
> Please don't think that Im getting at you, but the disinfecting thing really isn't necessary. The only thing you should really need bleach for is for killing the algae buildup on an inline co2 diffuser, not for its 'killing' itself, but to remove the algae to allow co2 to pass through the ceramic unhindered.
> 
> ...


 
Its a dark orangey haze which is very slippery (not quite as bulky has jelly would be though). The water itself even has a slimy feel to it.

The tank up until yesterday had been running for 6 days.

I used to have a small 60 litre quarantine aquarium in place of the problem-tank and I only had diatoms appear on one pane of glass 3-4 weeks into a photoperiod routine. The stuff your calling diatoms is on every imaginable surface including the hosing and the inside of the filter.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (18 Feb 2013)

Hmm, it could be caused possibly by silica in the sand? 

In fact, completely against what I thought before, this is definitely a more likely cause in hindsight :

-Caused by excess silicates 
- caused by low light

Silica Algae - Causes and Cures for Silica Algae


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## O'Neil (18 Feb 2013)

It could be something biological in the play sand, personally i'd try boiling it, strip the tank and scrub everything, and fill up with chlorinated water and let it run for a few days, then start again. I still have no idea what it is your dealing with tho, i've never had it happen or seen it. Even google which i'm sure you've already tried returns similar results but nothing specific.


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## mark4785 (18 Feb 2013)

Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> Hmm, it could be caused possibly by silica in the sand?
> 
> In fact, completely against what I thought before, this is definitely a more likely cause in hindsight :
> 
> ...


 
Just had a look at the following link: Non-Toxic Kids: Safer Play Sand- . Within the fourth paragraph it does say silica is used in some play sands "and *is a known carcinogenic"*.

The play sand I bought has a slogan that reads something like "safe and fun for kids". So my educated guess is that the sand won't have a silicate in because how would the representatives of the sand company be able to sleep at night with the slogan "safe and fun for kids" knowing it had a cancer-causing silicate in? I bought the play sand from here:  Children's Playpit Sand Play 25kg Sandpit Play Pit Kids | eBay .

I actually contacted the company of the sand (its not a well known brand of sand like Unipac which places like Aqua Essentials endorse) earlier today and I am awaiting for them to tell me their sand composition.


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## NatureBoy (18 Feb 2013)

Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> Hmm, it could be caused possibly by silica in the sand?
> 
> In fact, completely against what I thought before, this is definitely a more likely cause in hindsight :
> 
> ...


Sounds plausible, I recall silicates are often associated with diatom algae.

Newcastle Uni will probably report back that a new Silica based life form has adpated to fill this niche environment, in place of the carbon based life forms that routinely get hammered with  ammonia and bleach.

This could be ground breaking...I look forward to their findings with great scientific interest


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## mark4785 (18 Feb 2013)

NatureBoy said:


> Sounds plausible, I recall silicates are often associated with diatom algae.
> 
> Newcastle Uni will probably report back that a new Silica based life form has adpated to fill this niche environment, in place of the carbon based life forms that routinely get hammered with ammonia and bleach.
> 
> This could be ground breaking...I look forward to their findings with great scientific interest


 
Please keep the conversation non-sarcastic if you can. Thank you mate.


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## mark4785 (18 Feb 2013)

Porksword said:


> It could be something biological in the play sand, personally i'd try boiling it, strip the tank and scrub everything, and fill up with chlorinated water and let it run for a few days, then start again. I still have no idea what it is your dealing with tho, i've never had it happen or seen it. Even google which i'm sure you've already tried returns similar results but nothing specific.


 
I will do something of this sort today and throughout tomorrow. I think I'll leave the bleach out of the situation and just use table salt to dry up the material. I'll report back how I get on.


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## mark4785 (20 Feb 2013)

Ok, I've filled up the aquarium with tap water (no de-chlorinator) and added some table salt to the water according to the LFS' advice.

I've mailed a sample of the orange slime off to Newcastle University as they kindly offered to give me feedback over what organism it is.

I accidentally switched the heater on after I had added the table salt and it began to glow orange. My guess is that salt particles should not make contact with heaters??


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## O'Neil (20 Feb 2013)

I wouldn't have thought that the salt would have an effect on the heater, unless it was undissolved salt.

Have you tried boiling the sand?


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## AndrewH (20 Feb 2013)

Salt improves water's conductivity, but not sure what you mean by the heater "glowing orange".
If it shorted out then it would have gone bang, and not glowed?

P.S. Mark, Im not trying to be insulting, but Im wondering how much you are actually helping by using these non-aquarium grade things. Ie. play sand, bleach and now table salt.
Im not very experienced but what some very smart guys have taught me (like Nate!) is that sometimes in an effort to fix things I make them worse by not doing the right thing. 
The only reason I say this is not to be discouraging, but maybe to encourage you to stop for now until you know exactly what you are dealing with.
If there are no fish in there, then at least no livestock are at risk and you have time.
Just a thought!


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## mark4785 (20 Feb 2013)

Porksword said:


> I wouldn't have thought that the salt would have an effect on the heater, unless it was undissolved salt.
> 
> Have you tried boiling the sand?


 
I've transferred all of the sand to a bucket which is all going to be thrown away. I do highly suspect that the sand is to blame here so I am intrigued to see whether the slime recurs when the sand is absent.

I have bought replacement Unipac sand which is very popular in the aquatic hobby. I will certainly boil this and rinse it well to remove particles.


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## mark4785 (20 Feb 2013)

AndrewH said:


> Salt improves water's conductivity, but not sure what you mean by the heater "glowing orange".
> If it shorted out then it would have gone bang, and not glowed?


 
The part of the heater that actually heats up was glowing orange (it has never glowed in this area before). I had turned it on seconds after adding salt which had not yet dissolved.


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## AndrewH (20 Feb 2013)

mark4785 said:


> The part of the heater that actually heats up was glowing orange (it has never glowed in this area before). I had turned it on seconds after adding salt which had not yet dissolved.



Im not sure I would be too worried about that. Its a sealed unit and the salt wouldnt have affected it.
It wasnt a short by the sounds of it, so Im guessing either its more of your orange friend on the heater or the water was quite cold and the heater kicked in on full beans and the orange you saw was just the element glowing.


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## mark4785 (20 Feb 2013)

AndrewH said:


> Im not sure I would be too worried about that. Its a sealed unit and the salt wouldnt have affected it.
> It wasnt a short by the sounds of it, so Im guessing either its more of your orange friend on the heater or the water was quite cold and the heater kicked in on full beans and the orange you saw was just the element glowing.


 
Oh! Phew! 

Believe me, the orange slime will be on the heater somewhere but it hasn't started glowing just yet lol.


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## O'Neil (20 Feb 2013)

AndrewH said:


> Im not sure I would be too worried about that. Its a sealed unit and the salt wouldnt have affected it.
> It wasnt a short by the sounds of it, so Im guessing either its more of your orange friend on the heater or the water was quite cold and the heater kicked in on full beans and the orange you saw was just the element glowing.


 Actually I think you got that bang on!


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## mark4785 (24 Feb 2013)

I just thought I'd provide a progress report today regarding the problem-tank; the following has happened:


The slime isn't spreading since adding 300 grams of salt (it was Wharf Aquatic's suggestion to add salt) but is still present.
Heater isn't broken! 
 
So, in light of this I've done the following:


Removed all of the play sand and thrown it away; _*never to be used in fish-keeping again.*_
Replaced 100% of the water with fresh tap water
Used some pond disinfectant bleach to remove the orange/yellow haze on the glass (glass is now crystal clear and should remain like this as my other planted tank would do if it was subjected to little light)
Added 25ml of Pond Disinfectant (Interpet Pond Disinfectant) to the tank
Added 750 grams of salt.
 
I will probably need to replace all of the filter media now that I've added the disinfectant as it will be problematic to remove from filter pads with many crevices.

I have not heard back from Newcastle University as of yet.


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## MrJames (28 Feb 2013)

Just thought I'd add something to this I had the same in my old tank and that was using unipac sand so don't think that is it. Mine really appeared when I played around with more light I cleaned the pipes and put the lighting back to normal and it didn't come back.


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## mark4785 (28 Feb 2013)

MrJames said:


> Just thought I'd add something to this I had the same in my old tank and that was using unipac sand so don't think that is it. Mine really appeared when I played around with more light I cleaned the pipes and put the lighting back to normal and it didn't come back.


 
There was next to no light on/over the tank so I'd be struggling if I said that whats growing in my tank is the same as what was growing in yours. 

Usually when a lot of light is over a tank, photosynthesising organisms grow like algae and plants, but, the slime I have described seems to suck (every bit of) oxygen rather than CO2 out of the water.

I'd like to ideally hear from the Biology dep of Newcastle University for a concrete diagnosis otherwise there will be many speculations made.


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## mark4785 (1 Mar 2013)

Ok, I have just spent the last 3 hours replacing all of the water in the tank to remove the disinfectant and 2kg of salt. I found no orange slime in the filter system which was great. However, when I wiped the dried glass with a hand towel, a orange substance was deposited onto the towel and it was then that I noticed a hazy orange slime on the glass.

So should I presume from the above that the salt / disinfectant has stopped it from spreading but hasn't removed it completely?

*Edit: Is it normal to get a orange deposit that is not algae from a new **squeaky clean aquarium? *It's not something I've come across before in my other aquarium or my pond.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (1 Mar 2013)

What are you  using as substrate?


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## mark4785 (1 Mar 2013)

Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> What are you using as substrate?


 
Hi,

There is no substrate in at the moment but I have a bag of Unipac sand ready to put in.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (1 Mar 2013)

mark4785 said:


> Hi,
> 
> There is no substrate in at the moment but I have a bag of Unipac sand ready to put in.



I would say the presence of silica  in the sand prior to removal will be the problem. 

Thats why its not 'growing' as the silica source has been removed.


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## mark4785 (1 Mar 2013)

Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> I would say the presence of silica in the sand prior to removal will be the problem.
> 
> Thats why its not 'growing' as the silica source has been removed.


 
Ahh I see. Should I just keep doing water changes over the next few days to dilute any remains of silica? 

I don't want to commit to putting substrate in, cycling the aquarium and putting plants until the slime is completely gone.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (1 Mar 2013)

mark4785 said:


> Ahh I see. Should I just keep doing water changes over the next few days to dilute any remains of silica?
> 
> I don't want to commit to putting substrate in, cycling the aquarium and putting plants until the slime is completely gone.



I would mate, Yes.

Bear in mind, i get some buildup in my pipes anyway, this is normal and is usually cleaned every few weeks.

But the 'thick slimy orange' substance shouldn't be  on the glass. Have a scrub with the water still in the tank, Just drop all the water out of her and refill. Should be good enough, if not just repeat. It should soon go


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## mark4785 (1 Mar 2013)

Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> I would mate, Yes.
> 
> Bear in mind, i get some buildup in my pipes anyway, this is normal and is usually cleaned every few weeks.
> 
> But the 'thick slimy orange' substance shouldn't be on the glass. Have a scrub with the water still in the tank, Just drop all the water out of her and refill. Should be good enough, if not just repeat. It should soon go


 
I'll empty the entire aquarium again tomorrow; a few hours before doing the w/c I'll drop the 1.5kg bag of cooking salt that I have into the tank as I have a suspicion it is helping; salt kills slugs which are slimy; why can't it remove slime in a tank?


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## mark4785 (2 Mar 2013)

Added 1.5kg of salt again at 6pm today. Will do the said 100% W/C tomorrow.


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