Eheim 2332 acting strange, white stuff

HI,

All has been good for the last couple of months.. finally have a consistent cycled tank... Just today I noticed my Eheim pump wasn't pumping at all.... Took it apart, and a good deal of white slimey stuff had accumulated inside. without "overcleaning" it, (and risking having to start another cycle) i cleaned out the impeller ports and hooked it back up. Still though, it wouldn't pump. I primed it with the handle 10 times or so and got it to start pumping, but it is a lot less powerful than it used to be. I am looking up a new impeller on big Al's Online (wow their search engine is not so useful)...

Going to let it run for the night. I have a good deal of the white slimey stuff in the tank, and the water looks "thicker".. I tested for ammonia, etc. with a good test kit, and had 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, and some nitrates.. my PH is high (8.8 as always, very basic) but other than that all looks well from testing..

i am hoping the white stuff (is this the cycle bacteria?) settles or gets filtered back through by tomorrow.. may pull the decorations out and clean some of them off...

Guess I slacked a hair on maintenance... (been busy with work).. any thing special I should be doing at this moment to keep my little guy and gal healthy?

I have a 10 gallon full of water de-chlorinating until Sunday



Another Q,.. i used to feed them everyday, but have since cut back to every other day or so.. they are about 6 inches long, and look very healthy, active.. What is a good feeding schedule for them at this stage? (had them since September, they were about 1-2 inches when I got them)..

thanks for the advice... If the filter remains an issue I have the stock "waterfall" type filter that came with this tank as a supplement although I don't want to stress them with any excessive flow...

Thanks for the advice..

Axol

I have no clue what the white slimy stuff is but it is not a normal byproduct of the cycling process. I recommend a daily 20% water change for a week or so and a good cleaning of the filter. Remove all of the media and rinse well under cool/cold water. Squeeze the sponge out a few times to dislodge all of the accumulated particulates. Rinse the rest of the stuff till the water runs clear. You will NOT rinse off all of the beneficial bacteria NOR will you tank have to cycle again. What you will do is remove the larger particilate matter and decaying gook (technical term) that has accumulated in there. Additionally, and closed filter that has been idle for an indeterminate period of time should not be re-started till it is well cleaned and all media rinsed due to the posabillity of introducing the all of the anaerobic byproducts that fromed during the stagnation. Keep us posted. Your beast sound healthy and your feeding schedule is fine as long as they eat what you feed and they are not under or overweight.

Ok, I will pull the filter apart today to clean. Is it ok to use tap water for this?

Ideally, you should use dechlorinated water to rinse the filter parts. (so that you kill less of the beneficial bacteria that are on the filter sponges or substrate.