Ok. WTH is this?

[Tikibirds]

I used to get a really thick layer of slime on top of the water when I lived in Alaska. It was also on the decor as well but it was NOT smelly. I always though it was from Stress Coat. The directions say to use 2X the dosage when using it to heal fins...

I also get a much thinner protein film on the smaller non filtered tanks. Very annoying but harmless

[bananafish]

Yeah, I definitely think the driftwood has something to do with it. I wasn't/am not worried about the brown tannins; I'm ok with that. It's the smell and the slime. I never had this problem before experimenting with driftwood. It's soaking (again) in hotter-than-boiling water, along with the aquarium sand. I don't know how else to kill whatever is potentially growing in/on it.

[craiger75]

Oh yeah, plant rot's another one. My tank was smelling like bad spinach last week. Overall, I'm glad I got a filter going in there again. Much better!

[bananafish]

Well, after boiling the driftwood AND sand for like two straight days, and cleaning the tank, I've put it all back in the tank. I replaced the filter media and turned the heater and filter back on. I did not add stress coat or anything else to the water. Mark it down: 3pm Pacific time, on Tuesday, July 10, the water was crystal clear and there was no gunge. Let's see how it looks tomorrow.

Also, I bought a new LED light fixture to try plants under better lighting before I get a new fish. Pretty psyched up about it... BeamsWork single-bright LED for like $36 on Amazon. Woot.

[Twilight Storm]

bananafish, if you think of it down the road, could you fling me a PM on how that light is working for your plants? (or fling up a public post review of it.)

We need more product reviews for lighting involving plants, especially on affordable lights. I was looking at A Finnex LED light for $19 tonight and was wondering how it would work for what plants in my 2.5 - 5 gallon tanks.
http://www.amazon.com/EL-BW21SL-Finn...2059822&sr=1-2

BTW Sorry Shirley!!! ;)

And glad there is no new slime so far for your new fishes home.
(Wish we had this smiley.)

[Shirleythebetta]

That smiley rocks. It's okay my gag reflexes have calmed some. :)

[bananafish]

@Twilight - will do. I'm expecting it to show up some time next week. Then I'll buy some plants and see how it all works out.

This is the one I ordered:
http://www.amazon.com/BeamsWork-Sing...k+aquarium+led

@Shirley - New slime strings are starting to show up in the tank now, attached to the driftwood. It's kind of pretty, in a weird way. I plan to siphon them out and do a partial change.

[Shirleythebetta]

That's to nasty. Driftwood snot *bleh*

[Ircsi]

you supposed to put the drift wood in water for 2 -3 days so all the tannin comes out, or boil it in a big pot. it happened to me too it took 1 week with a filter and water changes to get rid of the discoloration in the tank. so before u add drift wood soak it in water for 2 days and than it should be fine. i added sand as well and made my tank very cloudy so i decided to put only nice stones and some living plants.

[bananafish]

Thanks Ircsi. I boiled the driftwood several times over. And soaked it in hot water for two straight days, after the multiple boilings. :)