What's This Brown 'sludge' In My Pipes?

aturner · Sep 3, 2008

60l freshwater tropical tank.
Eheim 2212(?) external pump.
Clown Loaches, Platys, Plec and Neon Tetras.

Every week or so I have to remove and clean the pipes to remove this brown sludge. If I don't clean them the flow rate becomes very slow leading to water problems. What is it and what can I do to prevent it?

Here's a closeup:

markandhisfish · Sep 3, 2008

no expert but looks like some sort of algae to me

england · Sep 3, 2008

the build up in the pipes is usually a mix of poo, algae etc,, just clean it through, a pain but thats a part of fishkeeping

Dave Ehl · Sep 3, 2008

its also a big part of your biofiltration. i've read that some people's tanks go into cycles after cleaning out their filter hoses.

invader · Sep 3, 2008

Just out of curiosity, does anyone else clean these regularly? I don't think I've ever cleaned mine... :blink:

Dave Ehl · Sep 3, 2008

same here

aturner · Sep 6, 2008

Thanks for all the replies.

A few random but maybe relevant factors here regarding my pipe 'sludge'...

The fluorescent lamp in the tank had its 15 month anniversary recently. I understand that after a year or so these lamps lose some of their light emitting properties and need replacing. Perhaps the lack of 'proper' light affected the algae's cycling? Anyhow, I have replaced the light today so let's see what happens.

I had been blasting the pipes with high pressure water until today. This removed the bulk of the crud but always left some residue. Today I bought a proper pipe cleaning brush from the LFS so hopefully that takes the buildup back to square one each time I use it.

I mentioned at the LFS about the brown 'sludge' and also the fact my plants are not growing as well as they used to. The chap explained that Thames Water are adding phosphates to the water (to reduce pipe corrosion I later found out) and that could be contributing. I bought a test kit and my phosphates are 10ppm, my tap water is 2ppm. I'm going to make daily 25% water changes to see if I can get that down a lot. I'd appreciate any suggestions/tips folks here may have on reducing phosphate.