Is This Normal?

~one among many · Feb 22, 2006

Hey all,
I was wondering... There is a very faint film of white slime on the glass of my tank. My tank isn't near any windows and has a low light bulb. I haven't had any other algea or slime problems besides this one. It doesn't grow all that fast and I wipe it off when it really shows. I'm doing water changes twice weekly and vacuum the gravel once a week. I have three small growing shubunkin in it, that are moving out in the spring to the garden pond. Is it caused by the goldies?? Is it harmful stuff, or just regular water slime???

Any thoughts??
Thanks in advance.

WILDER · Feb 22, 2006

How many gallons is the tank, can you post water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nirate,and ph, when a fish is in bad water quality or has parasites, they increase the slime to protect there slime coat.

~one among many · Feb 22, 2006

HI,
Ph is 6.8, ammonia and nitrates-nitrites levels are good. But I must confess I just got them under control about 2 weeks ago.

I was feeding my fish to much hoping for a fast growth rate to put them outside. But I learned since that was a bad idea. My ammonia levels were getting high, I cut the food down and did more water changes/cleaning gravel and it's doing well now. They are in a ten gallon but are being put outside as soon as I can! The temps in N.H are a bit to cold as of now. I was hoping they would be a bit bigger before then. I'm afraid at their size, my goose will think of them as a nice meal! :no:

Was the higher levels in ammonia and nitrates what started the slime on my tank??

WILDER · Feb 22, 2006

Well the tank is overstocked with three fancy goldfish in there, they need excellent filteration as they are big waste producers, plus they need a 15gal tank each, plus you have to fetch fancy goldfish in as they can't tolerate low temps in winter,so the pond is only good for the summer months.
This is why slime is building up as the tank is to small for three of them, what filter are you using.

~one among many · Feb 22, 2006

Hmmm,
You have a lot of "plus" in there wilder....... I didn't know shubunkin were considered to be fancy goldfish. I have read in more then a few books and online, that they are good for pond use. ??? I guess I read wrong.
I know they need larger tank space. I have a rather cheap filter in there, a "wisper" that came with the tank.
I bought the fish with the intent on putting them outside. I was only waiting for the winter months to be over to make the transition a lot easier for them. They are about an inch long from nose to tip of their tails. I guess I'll bring them back if the store will take them. Or I may buy a large 50 gallon tank for winter and leave them out in the summer. As I'm getting kind of attached to the little guys.

So the 50% water change/vacuum, once a week with a 20% in between , wasn't enough to fix the slime after my mistake at feeding and lack of enough water changes......

The agony of defeat....