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Substance ID: Growing on Suction Cups

mark4785

Member
Joined
4 Jan 2011
Messages
451
Location
Derbyshire, UK.
I have 4 suction cups in an open-top aquarium and I have just noticed that they are covered in a white slimy substance (it has a very slight yellow tinge to it too). To the touch it resembles a cream that say you'd apply to the skin/face.

There's also a bit growing on the output pipe.

Take a look:

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The aquarium receives little light as it is currently not stocked.
The aquarium is also undergoing a fishless cycle.

Any ideas on what it could be? Thanks.


Edit: Slightly dreading that the aquarium growth described here: Help! - Orange Slimy Matter Growing On All Surfaces | UK Aquatic Plant Society is returning again.
 
I had this on my latest bit of new equipment. Seems entirely harmless, and some fish even like to graze on it. At the suggestion of someone on here, I found a good rinse and rub with thumbs under very hot water got rid of most of it. Pretty unsightly though I'll agree.
 
Yeah. When I do my weekly clean I take the section cups and just put them aside in boiling water.
Brings them back to life and would kill any algae on there. A good scrub also helps.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Is the substance something that will only crop up in a new aquarium or does it keep recurring no matter what?

I have a separate tank and all the suction cups in there do not have this growth.
 
From personal experience and also various posts on the net of people having the same mystery issue, I think it's just something that happens with new suction cups - maybe it's a residue from something? I know a few people have that view and it certainly seems logical.
 
From personal experience and also various posts on the net of people having the same mystery issue, I think it's just something that happens with new suction cups - maybe it's a residue from something? I know a few people have that view and it certainly seems logical.

Ok hopefully this proves to be true as it's unsightly and it has grown very quickly. I'm on edge when it comes to anything mysteriously growing in this aquarium as a few months ago I had a substance in the same tank that covered almost all surfaces and consumed all the dissolved oxygen; see here: Help! - Orange Slimy Matter Growing On All Surfaces | UK Aquatic Plant Society

The stuff on the suction cups looks many shades lighter compared to the stuff that I previously had growing in the aquarium as described in the thread I've linked to above.
 
For me, the most important thing I've picked up over the last year from ukaps is cleanliness is essential to run a planted tank efficiently, if I see plant waste, algae, fish waste, mould, fungus, anything I'm not happy with, remove it clean it and follow that up with water changes and then try to resolve the issues. Helps run a happy tank, hope this helps, good luck with it mate.
 
For me, the most important thing I've picked up over the last year from ukaps is cleanliness is essential to run a planted tank efficiently, if I see plant waste, algae, fish waste, mould, fungus, anything I'm not happy with, remove it clean it and follow that up with water changes and then try to resolve the issues. Helps run a happy tank, hope this helps, good luck with it mate.

Definitely. I can definitely remove/clean it but as for dealing with causation, I'm very clueless :confused:
 
I'm 5 days into a fish-less cycle and one of two pieces of bog wood has developed a growth of white mold/fungus. I've looked at many forums and there are varied opinions on whether it's detrimental to plants and/or fish. Many views ranging from "leave it as it will go away it will go away eventually" - "brush it off and then boil it". All appear to be speculation as to what it is and what to do to get rid of it. Is there anyone out there who actually knows what it is?, Is it harmful to fish?, is it harmful to plants?, what causes it? and how do you get rid of it?. No speculation please there's already enough of that about. .
 
I'm 5 days into a fish-less cycle and one of two pieces of bog wood has developed a growth of white mold/fungus. I've looked at many forums and there are varied opinions on whether it's detrimental to plants and/or fish. Many views ranging from "leave it as it will go away it will go away eventually" - "brush it off and then boil it". All appear to be speculation as to what it is and what to do to get rid of it. Is there anyone out there who actually knows what it is?, Is it harmful to fish?, is it harmful to plants?, what causes it? and how do you get rid of it?. No speculation please there's already enough of that about. .

I've had this occur before and it is currently growing on a small segment of bog wood in my established aquarium (not the one discussed here). It's a fungus that is completely harmless. The fungus is usually a grey coloured fuzz and grows a few cm away from where it was seeded. The stuff growing on my suction cups is a thin slime.

Perhaps get a swab of the growth and inspect it under a microscope? Once you get a general idea of what it looks like you could probably source a book which helps you to identify different micro-organisms and which you can rely on for cross-referencing. Without inspecting it in this way you won't be able to precisely identify it.
 
Are they brand new mark? This is fairly normal, and I'd expect that its from silicates present from the manufacturing process. It will go away if you remove and wash a couple of times.

The 'clear' suction cups form a powdery substance on the surface too, sometimes with red spots too.

Cheers,
 
I get this on suction cups in my tank and its been set up for more than a year, also appears on areas of hose and on airline/co2 pipe under the water, basically any soft plastics/rubber but never on the hard plastics.
Sometimes more sometimes less over time, gets cleaned off once a month with filter/reactor maintenance.
Makes a hell of a mess if dislodged in the tank though.
 
Are they brand new mark? This is fairly normal, and I'd expect that its from silicates present from the manufacturing process. It will go away if you remove and wash a couple of times.

The 'clear' suction cups form a powdery substance on the surface too, sometimes with red spots too.

Cheers,

They are brand new. The spare ones I have smell of plastic and do have what feels like a powder on them; pretty sure if I wiped them on a white t-shirt it would become marked.

Should I take the suction cups out and boil them in salt water? Salt seems to get rid of a lot of nasties. I do my water changes on a Sunday so I'm not sure whether to wait until next Sunday or get them out and clean them now if there is a risk that the stuff may spread and grow elsewhere.
 
They are brand new. The spare ones I have smell of plastic and do have what feels like a powder on them; pretty sure if I wiped them on a white t-shirt it would become marked.

Should I take the suction cups out and boil them in salt water? Salt seems to get rid of a lot of nasties. I do my water changes on a Sunday so I'm not sure whether to wait until next Sunday or get them out and clean them now if there is a risk that the stuff may spread and grow elsewhere.

Hi mark,
Salt or boiling isn't really necessary, hot water will suffice.
There is no risk of this spreading either as its the residue left on from manufacture. This will go away with a rinse or two in hot water id imagine .
Cheers,
 
I've had that before in newly setup tanks, particularly on the heater suction cups. I normally just end up cleaning it when I am sick of looking at it and it doesn't seem to appear again. I've noticed fish do like nibbling on it.

Yes, it's not new to me either. I was just very scared that it was the recurrence of the previous growth that I had in the aquarium which was impossible to get rid of up until I chucked 4-5kg of salt in and 25ml of bleach. It was a dark orange skin particle that stuck to the glass, filter media, filtration unit walls, walls of the pipes etc. It also came to the surface and resembled a white film with bubbles in it. The water had no oxygen in it; fish would die 5 minutes after introduction.

I was just terrified that it was the above growing on the suction cups. I hate not knowing where from and how things come to fruition.
 
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