I am brand new to the aquarium world and am now seeing a white slime build up in my tank.I am concerned that it may be something dangerous to my fish. I have only had the tank up and running for a week and 5 days and now am seeing this stuff in my tank. I have tested the water 3 times in the last 12 days. The last time my ammonia spiked from 0ppm to .25. I did a 25% water change and rinsed the filters and the slime came right back. Does any one have any ideas?

several questions Hun....

Do you have any fish in the tank?
when you say you rinsed the filters how did you rinse them?
and can you possibly post your water readings for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and PH?
And possibly a pic???

slimy material is normally develop in any tank.... and smetimes,
they can develop in the glass wall or any ornament inside....

along with the above questions i would like to ask did you buy the tank brand new or second hand? has it been used for salt water fish if second hand? please don't wash the filter until we advise you further as washing the filter can damage the bacteria cycle you are trying to produce.

Dont clean the filter until the tank is cycled!!!!!

Can you get a pic of the slime please

If you are cycling with oscar in the tank then its daily 25% water changes until cycled (ammonia and nitrite 0 and nitrate rising)

Nicki--Sue

Yes all 6 fish are currently in the tank. I rinsed the filters by taking them out and rinsing them off with the hose. my current water readings as of today are:
PH 7.6
High PH 8.2
Ammonia .50ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm

I cleaned the slime off the glass yesterday so I do not have any pics now. Any thoughts?

Marcus

I purchased the tank brand new from pet supermarket. As a matter fact everything was brand new except the 2 ruins ornaments and the artificial driftwood which came from on craigslist but i scrubbed them with a brand new toothbrush as clean as possible before putting them in the tank.

Ok I see what your problem is now. your tanks isn't cycled. i will post a link at the bottom for you to read, please take time to understand the cycle process in the link.

you need to change 50% of your tank water ASAP and then 25% every day until the ammonia reads 0. your PH being 8.2 and ammonia readings of 0.5 means the ammonia is very toxic to your fish. try to keep your ammonia readings at the lowest on the chart by changing water daily. don't clean the filter anymore. you need to treat any new water you put into your tank with a water conditioner. i recommend an product called PRIME.
did you use a water conditioner when you first filled the tank? do you know how to treat and fill your tank with new water?
by the way don't worry its a common mistake you have made that a lot of new fish hobbists do.


cycling your tank link
www.oscarfishlover.com/helpful-articles/cycling-an-aquarium

Marcus,

thanks for the reply. I will do the 50% change asap and not rinse the filters any time soon. I did condition the water before any of the fish were added to the tank. I used Aqua safe, stress zyme, and stress coat. I will treat the water again on change. I really appreciate the help. I hope my tank gets better soon.

hey there, the guys got you covered allready.
Hang in there, it may take some more weeks of waterchanges , but the tank will cycle eventually ,if you stick with the advice given!

Noddy,

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I have followed Marcus advise and have done a 50%, 25%, and 25% water change and will be doing another 25% again today until the ammonia level drops to 0. I really hope I am not hurting my fish

I am curious. I am no Chemist but if I am doing a water change everyday until my ammonia reaches 0ppm and the nitrite and nitrate at 0ppm how does the good bacteria grow to cycle the tank. It seems as if I am taking all of the stuff out that would help make the bacteria grow and adding in conditioned tap water that has no bacteria at all.Then the good bacteria will not grow. Can some one help me understand this process.