Yellow "Powder" in heater

[splunty]

Any idea what this yellow "powder" in and around my heaters is? This is the middle chamber in my IM AIO. For months, the heaters have been host to what I think are pineapple sponges and somehow micro brittles have made their way into this chamber as well. This yellow stuff has been around the edges for a while, but only today I noticed the heaters appear to be accumulating a thick layer inside. I have not attempted to touch or wipe it off.

Thoughts? Could this negatively impact the heaters? Should I attempt a vinegar bath?

FWIW these are little Chinese heaters off of Amazon. I had Fluvals in the chamber, but they barely fit and had no "shielding" to prevent heating up the aquarium glass/Plexi. They've been great and apparently creatures love living in them.

Thanks in advance, and I hope this forum is an appropriate place to ask this question.

 

[splunty]

For questions that haven't been asked yet:

Nitrates: 0 - 5
Phosphates: .03 - .1
Calcium: 450
Alkalinity: 7.0 - 8.3 (not very stable)
pH: 8.15 - 8.3
Magnesium: 1260 - 1320
Salinity: 1.025 - 1.026
Temp: 78
Water change 10% weekly
Light is a 30w LED running at 50%, PAR along the middle of the scape is ~50 to ~110.

This is a 14g IM nano that has been running about 9 months. There are two clowns, various snails, tons of micro brittle stars, and a single xenia frag (don't judge). There's a bit of a green hair algae problem, but the tank is finally starting to become stable.

I'm wondering if the yellow substance is just dead sponge?

 

[littlefoxx]

@ISpeakForTheSeas ?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

My first thoughts would be either detritus buildup or sponge - if it's a sponge, then it should be forming little holes/tubes as it grows.

Regardless, personally, I'd probably clean off the heaters to be safe in this case.

 

[Mark Goode]

FWIW these are little Chinese heaters off of Amazon.

This would scare me.

 

[splunty]

My first thoughts would be either detritus buildup or sponge - if it's a sponge, then it should be forming little holes/tubes as it grows.

Regardless, personally, I'd probably clean off the heaters to be safe in this case.

Thank you for the reply.

Here's a closeup of some of the yellow growth which you have convinced me is some kind of sponge.

While staring at this under a magnifying glass, I saw some things "crawling" around. They are incredibly tiny, white, slightly oblong, and have maybe 6 legs and some kind of flagellum. I added red arrows pointing at a couple of them. They are maybe 1/4 mm in size. Some kind of pods?

Then in addition to the pineapple sponges and micro bristle stars, there's some long, thin, clear/white sponges. A couple of tiny ceriths are in there as well, although like the bristles I find them absolutely everywhere. I'm amazed at the diversified growth in this little heater chamber.

I will pull out one of the heaters and see about cleaning out anything that might be touching the glass or blocking flow.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Any idea what this yellow "powder" in and around my heaters is? This is the middle chamber in my IM AIO. For months, the heaters have been host to what I think are pineapple sponges and somehow micro brittles have made their way into this chamber as well. This yellow stuff has been around the edges for a while, but only today I noticed the heaters appear to be accumulating a thick layer inside. I have not attempted to touch or wipe it off.

Thoughts? Could this negatively impact the heaters? Should I attempt a vinegar bath?

FWIW these are little Chinese heaters off of Amazon. I had Fluvals in the chamber, but they barely fit and had no "shielding" to prevent heating up the aquarium glass/Plexi. They've been great and apparently creatures love living in them.

Thanks in advance, and I hope this forum is an appropriate place to ask this question.

A top view often not helpful but its likely mulm mixed with algae and can be blown loose with a turkey baster. I see also presence of pineapple sponges which is an indicator of silicates causing this yellow color also

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you for the reply.

Here's a closeup of some of the yellow growth which you have convinced me is some kind of sponge.

While staring at this under a magnifying glass, I saw some things "crawling" around. They are incredibly tiny, white, slightly oblong, and have maybe 6 legs and some kind of flagellum. I added red arrows pointing at a couple of them. They are maybe 1/4 mm in size. Some kind of pods?

Then in addition to the pineapple sponges and micro bristle stars, there's some long, thin, clear/white sponges. A couple of tiny ceriths are in their as well, although like the bristles I find them absolutely everywhere. I'm amazed at the diversified growth in this little heater chamber.

I will pull out one of the heaters and see about cleaning out anything that might be touching the glass or blocking flow.

Based on this pic, May be buildup or sponge growth

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Thank you for the reply.

Here's a closeup of some of the yellow growth which you have convinced me is some kind of sponge.

While staring at this under a magnifying glass, I saw some things "crawling" around. They are incredibly tiny, white, slightly oblong, and have maybe 6 legs and some kind of flagellum. I added red arrows pointing at a couple of them. They are maybe 1/4 mm in size. Some kind of pods?

Then in addition to the pineapple sponges and micro bristle stars, there's some long, thin, clear/white sponges. A couple of tiny ceriths are in there as well, although like the bristles I find them absolutely everywhere. I'm amazed at the diversified growth in this little heater chamber.

I will pull out one of the heaters and see about cleaning out anything that might be touching the glass or blocking flow.

Yeah, the new pic is looking more like sponge; yeah, those a likely pods.

The sponges aren't directly a problem, but they can cause problems by growing over equipment; heaters fail often enough without help that I'd probably try to get it clean regardless, and I'd probably toss in a nice, safe-plastic ball or something to try and culture the sponge in in place of inside the heater.