Jelly Like Material in Filter

[pigoo]

I apologize if this has been covered before…and if folks know a great thread where this has been discussed…please link me to it.

I have a Fluval 305 canister filter…and multiple times it gets completely clogged with this jelly like material. I'm talking the:

- in & out tubes/lines are completely blocked
- the sponge material inside the canister is completely covered in a thick layer of this jelly-like slime
- the media in the media canisters are gunked up with it.

I'm talking when the in/out tuber are flushed…this jelly-slime comes out in a solid tubed-shaped mass. This is how solid/thick it is.

And the worst part is…it's very very difficult to was out of the filter sponge material.

Can anyone tell me what this is? What the possible cause is? And how best to clean my filter (just rinsing with hot or cold water is not working).

By the way. Nothing wrong with the water chemistry in the tank. The tank is crystal clear & the fish are happy. The reason I know that I have a problem is…the flow rate of the filtered water goes way down (due to the filter lines being almost complately clogged with the stuff.

Thanks

 

[Chockful O Phail]

Snail eggs? Although I've had some horrible bouts of snail reproduction, I haven't ever seen it completely clog a canister. My 406 took for ever to clean out because of them. I picked up some clown loaches and dialed back my families habit of massive over feeding and it calmed down. Snails have never went away but they're no longer covering the inside of my tank. Still a lot of them in the filters at clean out but the jelly isn't near as bad. What's in the tank and how often do you clean out the filter?

 

[Coryloach]

What are you feeding the fish with?
This jelly like material is the product of the type of bacteria that's overtaking the filters for some reason. It's not good in the long run as it restricts oxygen to the nitrifying bacteria. And as you say the flow rate dropping down isn't ideal either. It will cause problems if not yet.

Up the oxygen level, change the fish food if it's a certain type you use a staple.