Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi. I am about to start aquaponics and I need to identify a slime or mold that frequently grows on my plant cuttings and appeared for first time in some of my fish tanks recently.

I first saw this slime growing on submerged parts of plant cuttings rooting in water. It happens even when cuttings are washed with bleach. The slime smells like a mildewy rag and seems to kill some cuttings and newly rooted plants.

Last week I noticed the same slime in my unheated fish tanks when the weather turned cold. Aeration makes no difference in the presence of the slime. It hasn't appeared in tanks with heaters. But the slime grows faster during warm weather in water used to root plant cuttings with no fish. Could it be a life form that competes with normal aquarium bacteria and only became noticable when low temperatures supressed my bio fiter?

I have been searching online for days and cannot find a definite ID for this slime. Some say it's a fungus, others say it's algae. Fungicides don't make much difference though putting Serenade in the water with cuttings makes some of the slime fall off the roots without completely getting rid of it.

Does anyone know what organism causes this so I can figure out how to prevent it or treat the plants before combining them with the fish.

Thanks.

Can you attach a picture of it?

instructions to post pictures > viewforum.php?f=4

It doesn't show up in photos. It's almost completely transparent. Looks a bit like jelly and not fuzzy like mold.