Fishless cycle, baking soda, tank cleanup??

[gali]

I'm on day 15 of my cycle, things look OK. Ammonia reading is 0, Nitrite coming down.

Due to low KH and pH crashes I've been adding a daily dosage of baking soda for the last few days - 2-4 teespoons, raising KH to 3-4 dH.

Today I noticed a white film covering my decorations (plastic plants + driftwood) . I touched it and it turned out to be a slimy coating that covers everything. It came off easily, but now I have small pieces of it floating in the water.

I checked the filter (penguin 350) - the inserts are pretty blocked with the same white thing which feels a little sticky, so the filter now overflows and unfiltered water spills back to the tank.
And - there's white foam on the water surface.

My guess is either baking soda overdose, or some that wasn't properly dissolved. Does this sound reasonable? Also, should it be cleaned up? I don't want to inerfere the cycle, but think that I need to at least unclog the filter. I also wonder whether a water change is also a good idea, and if so, how much?
And, assuming it is the baking soda, can I keep adding it?

TIA.

 

[daveedka]

It's most ikely a mystery fungus that shows up in a lot of new tanks. If it's the stuff I had, it will clean off fairly easy and go away on t's own. Baking soda dissolves 100% and will not leave a residue or film.
dave

 

[gali]

thanks, daveedka. now i wonder whether adding baking soda helped this fungus, or if there is no connection between the two. i expected algae, but nothing like this...
i washed the filter inserts - everything was so clogged i doubt it worked properly. i'll run the tests tonight, and hopefully nothing has gotten wrong with the cycle.

-g

 

[TrickyD119]

i washed the filter inserts - everything was so clogged i doubt it worked properly. i'll run the tests tonight, and hopefully nothing has gotten wrong with the cycle.

-g

how did you wash those? In the tank water? In treated tap water? Or straight tap water? Please don't say the last one!

 

[gali]

how did you wash those? In the tank water? In treated tap water? Or straight tap water? Please don't say the last one!

tank water. just rinsed them a little to get rid of the gooey stuff. the filter does work properly now. no spills.
but - would it make a difference otherwise? the bacteria grows on the biowheels, right? i could have changed the inserts and it wouldn't have made much difference. or am i missing something here?