White/Clear slime in ATO container

So I bought a Tunze ATO ... love it ... works great.

Been using it for about a month now and for the past couple of weeks there has been a LOT of white/clear slime/algae stuff building up in the ATO container.

For the ATO container I used a plastic Kingsford charcoal caddy because it was the perfect size to fit in the space I had behind my stand.
I have a PetSmart oscillating powerhead in it to keep the water moving as well.

I am using RO/DI water with Mrs. Wages pickling lime to make Kalk for the top off.

I have cleaned it out with vinegar twice but it keeps coming back a day or two after I clean it out. This in turn gets pumped into my sump when the ATO kicks in ... not good as it is ending up in the DT as well.

Any suggestions/ideas/solutions?

Thanks

 

Well, I get the same slime stuff. Buy this is in my algae turf scrubber. The slime builds up within and on top of the algae. Thats the scrubber doing its job of external nutrient transport. You can attribute this stuff to too many nutrients in your tank/water from overfeeding?
Check all parameters.
Also, if you are getting algae in your ATO reservoir, is the container a clear container that gets light/sun?

 

Ditch the power head in your ato bucket

 

i preferred to use an air stone to keep the top off water fresh

 

Hmm ... O.k. I'll try an airstone instead.
I also noticed that my RO/DI filters are due for a change.
I don't have a TDS meter to check, but the calendar says it's been 11 months .... Ordered new filters last night.
Hopefully that will help.

 

I get a slimmy feel to my ato tank also. I don't think it hurts anything. Any time you store water it will do that to some extent. I am not sure if an airstone would help or make it worse. I don't use a powerhead or an airstone in my ato water and have never had any problems with it.

 

could always try a power head w/ air line attached, for the bubbles. also do you ever clean your ato container out? i used to clean mine when i did water changes.

 

It has only been in use for about a month and I have cleaned it twice.
Used vinegar to clean the container ; powerhead and ATO pump.
Still came back in a matter of days both times.

This is the container I am using (except the one I found is black-not clear).


I am leaning toward my RO/DI filters being old as the cause ... for now.
If new filters don't solve the issue ... then I'll look for another container.

I am gong back to manually topping off until I can figure this out.

 

I don't use kalk in my ATO, so I can see using PH for that, but I don't use anything to keep the water moving.

I have a Tunze too, btw.

My water does not get slimy. I do have a TDS meter and make sure it's always 0.

I've been using it for about a year now and I have never cleaned the reservoir. It does have a lid...

 

If the problem is from the dirty RO/DI (I think it probable), I don't see how manually topping off is going to solve anything...

I'd just stick it out and get the RO/DI filters replaced (might need to replace the membrane too if you haven't changed anything else the past 11 months). Remember, it's white one whenever it's dirty, carbon every 6 months, DI resin about every year (whenever TDS creeps to 1) assuming you've been on top of your carbon/white one. But if you haven't, might need to do the RO membrane too unfortunately.