white slime on rubber suction cups

[ptjw]

i have been getting this white slime growing on a pair of rubber suction cups for the past few weeks. strangely, it only grows on the same pair of cups whereas the other rubber cups in my tank do not have such growth...

i thought it was dirt/bacteria due to poor water circulation at that area so i diverted my outlet pipes there but the slime still returned after i washed it off! i tried dipping the cups into dettol + water on monday and left them out to dry, but it returned again after a few days...

the pair of rubber cups that are affected have a smooth texture, whereas the other cups in my tank are rough to the touch except for one which is also smooth but does not have white slime growing on it...does anyone have any idea what causes this?

[johannes]

hi ptjw, if the white slime is not affecting your tank in a bad way, then just leave it alone. it is just biofilm forming. by the way, try to avoid using dettol/detergent based material to wash your aquarium stuff.

[ptjw]

allright...i know it is bad to use detergents but i just wanted to see if the slime keeps coming back due to residue left behind after each time i wash the cups...i made sure to rinse the cups very throughly before putting it back into the tank. the slime came back anyway, so i won't be using dettol anymore in the future since it doesn't work anyway, thanks for the warning!


it is not affecting my tank as far as i can tell, it is just unsightly to have slime accumulating on the cups...is biofilm a good or bad sign? any idea why it only forms on the same pair of rubber cups all the time?

thanks!

[toe_toe7]

i only know after i kept discus, my tank silicon is covered with whitish stuff..but in your case, it only happens to particular suction cups, it's kinda weird..maybe the material they use?