clear slime on hoses and pump... normal?

diowk

Active Member
I just set up my system and have had water in it about a week, maybe 2. Temp has been a steady 19C. Roots havent even come out the bottom of the mesh pots yet but i got feeder tubes on the cubes feeding them constantly and theyre loving it but Ive noticed when I touch my airlines in the rez or the pump or hose in the control bucket they feel slick like there is a very thin and invisible layer of slime covering everything in the water. Is this normal? Im currently brewing a batch of bennie tea with lots of trichoderma and micorrhizae which should protect my roots when they reach the water but will I have to sterilize everything again first because of that slime or will the bennies take care of it for me? Or is it completely normal and inevitable to feel a sliminess on anything submerged in water for a long time? I light proofed everything and it seems pitch black in there as far as I can tell.
 

Dubsy

Well-Known Member
Is this what you use to correct it? As I pulled my air hoses out to clean the Rez I had the same issue. Built up slime around the hole. I assumed it was the built up nuits
 

diowk

Active Member
Yeah, check out the first sticky under the dwc/bubbleponics area. Heisenberg made a great post about this stuff. You need to take it into consideration because it can live without light and loves oxygen so even the perfect setup is vulnerable to it since theres never anyway to know FOR SURE if your system is totally sterile and its almost always going to be contaminated at some point by something so this just sets up a strong army of good guys to keep the bad guys at bay since they dont like sharing the same home.
 

Malevolence

New Member
I use Aquashield... pond-zyme also works well they sell it at petco and petsmart... $15 of pond-zyme treats 1,000 gallons; it has flakes of barley so might not work well with aero sprayers or drip emitters. I think the tea is overkill for most applications. It will also actually leave a bio film of slime on everything, but it is "good" slime. I have all the ingredients to make it, but I rarely do.
 

Taviddude

Well-Known Member
The Tea is the shit.
Talk about explosive root growth, and healthy plants.
I run two 5 gallon buckets pretty much at all times, and add 5 gallons to each of my 50 gallon reservoirs twice a week.
Now THAT'S overkill with the tea.
I don't have to spend shit on Roots Ex and I'll never have a root issue.
Consider it an insurance policy.

Peace.
Tav
 
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