white transparant slime

[lionheart]

ive woke up today to find a whitey looking slime all around the top rubber bit of the heater were the temp ajustment is, and it is no where else,any suggestion as to what it is ?, it is transparant in colour ive seen it in small streams in the past,it reminds me of a egg white very simlar in colour n texture yet its attached to the heater n is moving with the current of the water, but it is not dis-lodging it self from the heater, should i remove heater n clean it or should i leave it, and if i do remove it will it re-appear ?, as i have no idea wot it is,
my tank as only 5 neon tetra's in it with alot of artificial plants, and the parimeters are amonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5, ph = 7, water temp 74 degree's if any one can give me any information to what this white slime is then it would be of great help to me,
thanxs in advance for any replies/

 

[meegosh]

Any way you can post a picture? It could be calcium deposits from hard water. The heater will speed up the calcification process. That may explain why it is only on the heater. If it is calcium deposits then yes, turn off the heater, WAIT 15 MINUTES, and then remove it and clean. Rinse and let reinstall it in the tank, then wait a little and turn it back on.

You don't want to submit heaters to drastic changes in temperature because they can crack and let stray voltage into the water column.

 

[jsoong]

Calcium deposits are usu. gritty & hard rather than slimy ...

Perhaps this is some mold or algae. Or maybe snail eggs if you have snails. <Or it might even be fish eggs that had gone bad.> I would remove it & see if it comes back.

 

[lionheart]

i also doubt it is calcium has it is not powdery or gritty, and ive seen calcium build up on heaters in the past, and it as always been around the element of the heater and this is just on the rubber at the top where u ajust temp, this is slimey i also think that maybe its some sort of algae growth,i did my weekly vac on the the bed of the tank yesterday, and i tryed in vain to suck the slimey substance at the same time but no luck there,i removed the heater n used a brand new toothbrush in the end to move it so i will just have to wait n see if it re-appears.
but thanks for your imput most appreciated,
i will let you know if it re-appears