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i also have two pieces of driftwood and sandstone looking rock in the tank.,. could either of these be causing a problem?

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Hi,
Yes it is normal with driftwood and if it is severe enough
the "slime" could spead to other places in the tank.
Take the wood out and scrub it under running water with
a good stiff brush. It's bacteria and I would just scrub
off the stuff from the ornaments and wood along with a
10-20% water change or two.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

i did a tank clean yesterday .. and there is no way of getn the leftover marble chip out its mixed in with the other gravel... i need a high ph anyway.. however the white stuff remains... it does come off though.. its kinda slimey stuff
i might take the tubes apart and clean them with some white vinegar and see how that goes...

also another thing i noticed with my driftwood (its the first time i have ever used it) its covered in some slimey growth as well (im having a bit of a slimey thing with this tank!) is this normal?

thanks for all your help!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

I learned my lesson about letting the water level get too low. I had a streak of calcium along the inside glass of my 55g that I couldn't do much about. Scrubbing it got nowhere and to use something like vinegar I would have had to take the tank apart. It took several months of keeping it filled to the plastic edge before the stuff dissolved back into the water again.
Even keeping the tanks filled doesn't stop it from collecting on filters, tank covers, and most importantly the impellers. I've had several stop working and no amount of scrubbing would fix the problem. A soak overnight in vinegar and they'd work fine for another 6months or so. All my filters get thick white coatings along the sides of the output and just above the water line. It's not visible from the front of the tank but if I leave it the stuff can get over 1/2" thick. Along with having to clean the glass covers every week or twice a week it's just another reason I switched to ro water.

Hi,
Actually I keep my aquariums all filled so that the water
touches or is slightly above the black plastic trim on the
tanks as viewed from the outside. No light escapes and
that still leaves me about a half to 3/4 of an inch on the
inside. With the water level that high, I never see the
mineral buildup that occurs, and frankly, I never mess
with it. I use the "white" vinegar and a plastic scrubby
to clean off the pane of glass that sits inside the
aquarium between the light canopy and the water.
The vinegar disolves the evaporite and gives me a sparkling
clean pane of glass.

It's amazing how much science and math can be involved in
this hobby! That is what makes it so great a learning
experiance.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

It depends. Do you want to keep fish that prefer a high ph and can you deal with the white deposits which are just a part of having hardwater? If you have had it with the white deposits and want to keep softer water fish instead of those that like a ph of 8.0 it would be better to pull all the marble out. Otherwise I suggest a bottle of vinegar. I just buy distilled white vinegar from the grocery store. Useful for dissolving calcium deposits and cleaning the outside of the glass. Nontoxic to fish but being an acid can lower ph if alot of residue is left behind on objects.

oh and should i be considering digging out the rest of that gravel somehow???

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Hi Frank

Thank you for your response.. im feeling as though all those hours spent in science classes at school were a complete waste of time!

I took the rock out just now it was very grainy..and i did the scraping and poured the vinegar on and it bubbled...
so the rock has now been relocated to the backyard!

there is only a very small amount of marble chip (which im starting to regret leaving in there!)is that causing the white stuff? which note is now growing black patches on my filter hoses!!!

and how do i remove this white plague from my tank?

---

Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Hi,
The white deposits around the hoses and such at, or above,
water level are Carbonates. Probably Calcium Carbonate
and is the mineral left as the water evaporates off.

The source is the marble chips that you have under
the gravel. Marble is a carbonate and will eventually
increase the KH and GH of the water. It will also
cause the pH to climb towards 8 and possibly go over 8.0.

Sandstones are grains of sand that have been cemented
together with either Silica (SiO2) or a carbonate (XCO3)
where "X" could be Calcium, or several other minerals.
If the "glue" holding the grains together is Silica,
then the sandstone will not affect the pH, GH, or KH of
the tank. However, if it is a carbonate, then all three
values will increase over time.

You test rocks for the aquarium by scraping a surface
of the rock with a knife exposing a fresh surface. Then
you drip a couple of drops of acid on the freshly exposed
surface. If the acid fizzes (bubbles) then the rock is
a carbonate and the fizzing you see is CO2 escaping.
If the acid does nothing, then it is not a carbonate and
it won't affect the water. The most common household acid
is vinegar. Or, you can drip a couple of drops of battery
acid on the rock.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Hi

Ive just started up a 55g with peacock cichlids. It has been running for about a month now and ive just noticed white stuff on all the filter tubing and the airstone tubes..

does anyone know what this is from and how i can get rid of it!

thanks!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Hi Sham

i have restested the ph and carbonate hardness again (i was never great at chemistry!) the ph has dropped to 7.3 and the Kh is still 40 (im hoping im reading it right.. it took 2 drops to change colour and then i had to mutliply it by 20 to get 40)

what should i do?

what vinegar did you use? just normal white vinegar from the supermarket?

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

You sure you tested kh right? That's not that high but your ph and the white deposits say otherwise. To get a ph of 8.0 my tapwater had a kh of 18(over 100ppm). The product I use to add carbonate hardness to the water says 40ppm should equal less than 7.0ph. I add enough for 80ppm to get slightly over 7.0ph. Of course there are other things that affect ph but it shouldn't be that far off. The tapwater leaves behind tons of residue and I had to soak heaters and impellers in vinegar solutions quite frequently to dissolve all the calcium.

ok tested the water and i actually got the carbonate hardness kit to work!
Kh-40ppm
nitrate - 50ppm
ammonia - 0ppm
ph 8.5
nitrite - 0ppm

I noticed the white bits are spreading!


Help!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

oh,,and i currently have 4 peacock cichlids in there...

as far as water parameters go... i have to retest the water tonite.. and will let you know!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Its on the parts in the water only. When i started the tank (before adding the fish) i had marble chip gravel in there which i changed becauase apparently it creates hard water . Beacuse i was putting cichlids in there i left a very small amount underneath my current natural gravel.

I need to get a new hardness test kit as the one i have doesnt seem to work properly..(i think its more user error though! )
Im from Sydney .. i dont really know what our water quality is like.

What should i do to get rid of it?

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

I agree it "could" be calicum deposits. What are your water peramiters? Also where in Aust are you as some parts have ver heavy calicum water?

It could also be something in your tank causing this biuld up. Give us a list of wht is in the tank this will also help.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
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Is it places that are not touching or in the water? If so it could very well be calcium deposits, do you have hard water?