Help! Strange Problem

emilybear91

emilybear91

New member
When I woke up this morning my HOB filter was overflowing out the top and splashing water out of the tank and everywhere. Upon inspection I saw the filter pad covered in sticky goo off some kind, possibly coral mucus? I use very coarse pads and this one was just changed a few days ago. The sponge filter on my SeaClone skimmer was also completely clogged and the motor was straining to make the smallest drip come out the other end. Nothing is dead in my tank, and I don't see any of my corals actively expelling much mucus. Could this be a side effect of the disintegrating mushrooms? (http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17178) My other theory was that maybe the filter intake tube, since the end of it happened to be planted deep in a paly colony, was sucking up mucus directly... I shortened the tube just now with my sawzall. Could it possibly be chemical warfare between the acan I added yesterday and something else? My water parameters are stable as usual, nutrients barely detectable. The lights just came on and everything including the new acan looks very happy. Now that I changed the filter, my skimmer is producing lots of skimmate. My glass looks especially dirty overnight too. Anybody know what happened?

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Here are my kneejerk and unscientific thoughts:
  • any xenia in the tank? Angry xenia can soup a tank (been there)
  • if the intake was against corals the flow might have been stressing them and causing them to give off mucus.
  • could be allelopathy with a new coral in the tank for sure. drop some carbon maybe?
  • could you have any other random unintended contaminants? Bug bomb the attic? Just checking. . .


Terpenoid Compounds

Soft corals generally compete with the hard corals by conducting chemical warfare; they release terpenoid or sarcophine compounds into the water to injure or impede the growth of neighboring corals. Like their name implies, these compounds are similar to turpentine in chemical structure and in most instances, are just as toxic. These chemicals also prevent other unwanted organisms from settling on or near the corals that produce them. [e] By releasing these compounds, the soft coral injures neighboring stony corals and can thus grow above them, eventually blocking out the light that they are both dependent upon and thereby killing the underlying hard coral. The process of influencing the growth and development of other organisms through use of chemical compounds is called 'allelopathy.' [h] Like their name implies, these compounds are similar to turpentine in chemical structure and in most instances, are just as toxic. These chemicals also prevent other unwanted organisms from settling on or near the corals that produce them.

whaver it is you probably want that out of there and to stop. carbon in bags (rinsed) and water changes seem in order IMHO.
 
This is getting awful. I changed all the filters earlier today and hung a big bag of carbon next to my circulation pump. Already the filter pad is slimed up and it's probably only a couple hours from overflow. The skimmer gummed up and ceased being functional about an hour ago. Should I run it with no pre-filter? What else can I do? All my coral looks happy....

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Sure enough. Everything's all gummed up this morning. Would have overflowed for sure if I didn't install new filter pads before bed. This is getting very old...

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Ive never heard of this problem. Ive seen corals slime up but not enough to clog filters . Good luck sounds like u gonna need it
 
The only thing I can suggest is WCs until the "gumminess" stops. I've never seen filters gum up like you're describing. Good luck.
 
Clogged again this morning. Two water changes in three days. New filter pad every morning. Big sack of carbon. Parameters great . Corals look happy, even new ones, with nice polyp extension. I can't for the life of me figure out the source of my filter-clogging slime. How do I know if xenias are angry? They look same as ever. Anyways, any Chicago Reefers around Pilsen are invited to come look at my tank and scratch their heads with me over this problem.
su3yda7u.jpg


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can you pull the xenia and put it in QT or something? I once dipped xenia in peroxide for bryopsis it made my whole tank about like the inside of an aloe vera, but carbon and WCs fixed it pretty quick and it looked very angry when it was (no pulsing, retracted and stiff polyps). This is definitely a tough one. Can you maybe add a canister filter or an additional HOB to try to increase your filter/water contact. It's so weird that nothing is bothered by this except your filter pads. They aren't like FW amonia pads or anything, right? Maybe FW stuff reacts differently that SW stuff? Just trying to brainstorm.
 
Regular lime green coarse pads from Foster and Smith...
How many water changes can I safely keep doing? In a couple more days I will have changed almost all the water in the tank...

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that's not a problem. Your pro-biotics are congregated on the rock surfaces. as long as you match temp and sal you should not have a problem.
 
Joe5688 said:
I ran the green pad in my 8g and it didn't clog.
Click to expand...

there might be a correlation to the size of the HOB. You probably didn't have as much flow going through your 8g as that HOB has, but I agree that shouldn't be the cause of the problem. Just a potential work around so he doesn't flood it hourly.
 
Here's a shot of my crummy equipment. My light's still off for another hour, so the tank shots are from the last few days.
ze3u8age.jpg


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I have some standard white/blue pads too. They are not nearly as course as the green.
This slime is like clear mucus. It clogged the ultra-course black pad I use in the AC20. I can't even clear it from the pad by rinsing it in hot water. Even after rinsing it water still won't go through it and the mucus doesn't rinse off.

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I would clean the hob filater and intake and the skimmer completely including using vinegar. I would also try new pads and sponges after the cleaning.
 
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