Strange White Stuff

K

kiddevo

AC Members
Sep 7, 2010
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Strange white crud building up on one of my heaters (50w) in my twenty gal. Also creating a film on top of the water. I took the heater out, fearing it had failed, did a 50% WC, and bingo, film gone. Anyone ever seen this before? I dont have hard water, so I doubt its mineral deposits. Especially since it created a film on top. Also had two fish die in the tank over the weekend prior to the WC. Not sure if its related. Nitrates were a little high (40), but thats not unusual for me. Tank has been runningwhite, film, for about 3 years I would guess, had 5 odessa barbs, now 3. :(

It was a back up heater in the tank, so no urgent need to figure this out. Just weird is all.
 
Not sure about the white stuff, but the film, was it kind of iridescent? Like oil in a parking lot after it rains?
 
Can you get a pic of the white stuff?

An oily looking film on top of the water isn't out of the ordinary. IIRC it can be caused by proteins in fish food and from other things I would suppose. Nothing to be worried about and it can easily be "wiped" up by a paper towel. Extra surface agitation will also prevent the buildup.
 
+1 - The oily film on top is likely released from foods. The white stuff might be a fungus. You might be better served to step up your frequency/volume of partial water changes.
 
The white stuff, is it crusty or soft? If crusty it may be a mineral buildup of some sort (idk what) and is something I've seen on my heaters in the past. Soft and it's probably something you should wipe off...
 
Could be proteins, I've had a similar event after using an smell pretty spray in the room. There was an oily slick slick on top. Took a couple of 50% water changes to get rid of completely, don't remember which one specifically it was. But it was supposed to have enzymes that eat smells or something...
 
The white stuff, well, it really depends. Could easily be a mineral build up, but that implies the heater isn't submersed, unless he meant it's on the cord, not the heater.
 
If anything the heater was over submerged..... Seems like there was an "oil slick" on top of the water that turned more and more into floaties. White stuff on the heater was not crystaline in nature... more goopy. They could be totally independant, but the heater was pretty old. I took it out. so far so good. Just strange. I used the "dunk the solo cup" method to get rid of the slick, followed by a 50% WC. I'm going to monitor a lot more closely.
 
Yeah, it's just basically an oil slick. Good surface agitation helps keep it at bay, as does having a surface skimmer. It can hamper gas exchange, so dealing with it is definitely not a bad idea, but it's not typically going to be a crisis if you don't. If it is, you need more aeration, anyway.

Don't know about white goopy stuff. I don't know if you can submerge a submersible heater too much, realistically speaking. Considering it's not uncommon for them to be placed horizontally near the bottom of a tank, it should be pretty okay. I'm thinking about putting mine back in such an orientation. It's easier to hide behind the plant growth that way.
 
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