Clear slimy stuff killing fish

[Guppygulp]

Yuck!!! No, everything in the tank was either plastic or ceramic. No driftwood

 

[Guppygulp]

Tonight I lost 8 expecting mothers due any day. No slim...I guess the tank move was too much for them. Ironically males are doing well. It's just the pregnant mothers who are dying. And they are sinking to the bottom of the tank, no floaters? Any input?

 

[Delapool]

Hi, has anyone tried a UV steriliser on this?

 

[Cactuspixie]

Hi, has anyone tried a UV steriliser on this?

The uv rays can only kill what passes close enough, and slowly enough, past the light, so it wouldn't help in this situation.

 

[Cactuspixie]

Ugh: more than you ever wanted to know about slime molds!
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/slime1.htm

 

[Guppygulp]

No I haven't tried a uv on it. When I went to pour the bleach in the tank my daughter spotted a whole bunch of newborn fry, so rather than risking losing a bunch of fry that I can barely see. I dumped fungus kill into the tank and will treat it until they are big enough to see and move. Then I will bleach the tank. So far, I haven't lost any others than the first 24 hours I moved them. So I am Hoping I saved enough of the colony to rebuild. Again, this is the second round with this fungus and the power loss in the winter when the tank froze took tolls on their numbers. I did unfortunately lose the mother that started the colony. But life goes on. I have new fry in the hospital tank and new fry in the infected tank. The fry in the hospital tank have a brand new large grass mat. Thanks for all your suggestions, I will try the uv light, just to say its been tried. But I don't think it would work on a fungus. But I'm going to sink one in the tank this week.

 

[Delapool]

Yes, the uv sounds a long shot. I added one a few months back as a bit of a test and perhaps nice-to-have. The family thought it had made a difference but hard to tell. Cheers.

 

[Fishfur]

Instead of bleach, you might try hydrogen peroxide. If nothing else, it will be easier to clean up. You'd want the 35% concentration sold in health food stores, which is used to disinfect seeds and home grown sprouts. You'll dilute that of course, but it's much more efficient than trying to use the 3% stuff from drugstores. If you can't get that, a drugstore should have or be able to get 6% hydrogen peroxide, aka 20 volume. It's for bleaching hair, but at twice the strength will work better on your slime problem.

It's a powerful oxidizer, just as bleach, Excel and potassium permanganate are, but is easier and a bit safer to use I think, and no bleach smell. No need to treat for it afterward, a simple rinse is all you'd need.

Good luck. I've never seen wood grow that much gunk.. though my snails ate anything that did grow, and never heard of slime like you have. It must be hell after all this time.

 

[Guppygulp]

After yet another round of this killer fungus in my tank. I bleached the tank with all infected filters running in it. I will clean everything with vinegar and then with hydrogen peroxide. Then I will treat tank water with fugal meds. If it comes back I'm throwing everything out.

 

[Delapool]

Good luck with it! Sounds persistent.