I was rearranging the cords and Eheim canister hoses behind my tank this morning, and I gave the canister hose a squeeze in a couple of areas to straighten it out.
Well, to my horror, I looked at the tank and it was filled with sheets of white (very pale beige on closer inspection) gunk. I immediately did an 80% water change to remove most of the gunk. I'll probably need to do another 40-50% change later today as there is still a bit in the tank that I couldn't vacuum out. It seriously looked like a heavy snowfall.
On closer inspection of the hoses with a flashlight, it looks like they are lined/spotted with this white gunk. The long plastic intake tube and spray bar do not have this stuff on them, nor do the sides of the canister.
I rubbed some between my fingers and it smells earthy like soil.
These canisters are new, set up the first week of November, I don't know if that is a factor. I recall some white sheet like stuff forming on the rubber/silicon suction cups of one of my heaters when it was new - could it be something like diatoms that show up when there is new silicon around (assuming these hoses are silicon)? I don't really have an issue with hard water deposits elsewhere, so I don't think that is it.
Any ideas what this stuff is?
Well, to my horror, I looked at the tank and it was filled with sheets of white (very pale beige on closer inspection) gunk. I immediately did an 80% water change to remove most of the gunk. I'll probably need to do another 40-50% change later today as there is still a bit in the tank that I couldn't vacuum out. It seriously looked like a heavy snowfall.
On closer inspection of the hoses with a flashlight, it looks like they are lined/spotted with this white gunk. The long plastic intake tube and spray bar do not have this stuff on them, nor do the sides of the canister.
I rubbed some between my fingers and it smells earthy like soil.
These canisters are new, set up the first week of November, I don't know if that is a factor. I recall some white sheet like stuff forming on the rubber/silicon suction cups of one of my heaters when it was new - could it be something like diatoms that show up when there is new silicon around (assuming these hoses are silicon)? I don't really have an issue with hard water deposits elsewhere, so I don't think that is it.
Any ideas what this stuff is?
