Sm90 causing slime in reservoir???!!!

Ok so here is the scoop. i have a 4 bucket ebb n flow system, i started adding sm90 (as advised by a long time growing buddy) about 3 days ago just for precautionary measures. I have noticed a not so pleasant smell and a clear/white slime building up and floating around, anyone have any ideas what is going on? Im using canna aqua nutrients, and i have never had this problem until i started the use of sm90, is this a normal side effect? Or should i drain my res and go back to using peroxide every few days ?

Precautionary measures against what?

Just to keep a sterile system, i usually add some peroxide every few days to ensure i dont get root rot or slime. My friend recommended i use sm90 instead of peroxide to keep a sterile environment. I drained my reservoir, flushed with fresh water, then proceded to fill my res with fresh ph adjusted water and then i added my nutes and sm90. Within 24hrs i had this strange earthy smell coming from my reservoir, kinda like smelling a handful of dirt. Now 3 days later i am having this clear slime everywhere and a strong soil like smell, my plants and roots look healthy though

I use sm90 as foliar spray if i get bugs. I was fighting root rot a few months back and tried using sm90, turned my res to hell lol will never put sm90 in my res again. It's supposed to be good tho i just had bad results, it didn't eat the rot like peroxide did.

I suggest just using hydroguard/aquasheild as a way to keep a healthy res, it's beneficial bacteria. You cannot use peroxide with it though because peroxide will kill the hydroguard.

Anon Emaus said:

I use sm90 as foliar spray if i get bugs. I was fighting root rot a few months back and tried using sm90, turned my res to hell lol will never put sm90 in my res again. It's supposed to be good tho i just had bad results, it didn't eat the rot like peroxide did.

I suggest just using hydroguard/aquasheild as a way to keep a healthy res, it's beneficial bacteria. You cannot use peroxide with it though because peroxide will kill the hydroguard.

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I tried using hydrogaurd and i didnt like it, it gave me a bad slime problem as well as a bad smell, has anyone used chlorine instead to keep the system sterile?

Corvette kidd said:

I tried using hydrogaurd and i didnt like it, it gave me a bad slime problem as well as a bad smell, has anyone used chlorine instead to keep the system sterile?

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Interesting, i've never seen any reaction of using hydroguard, it has no smell and basically acts like water. I've been applying it weekly for a year now. I think you have something else going on. Does light have access to your water in any way? You may be getting algea

Maybe i received a bad batch of it? No light gets into my res, and i dont think its algae (dealt with tons of that in my fish tanks lol). Its just this odd clear slime with an earthy smell that i get when using sm90 and hydrogaurd, but when I use just h2o2 it stays fresh and clean.

Corvette kidd said:

Maybe i received a bad batch of it? No light gets into my res, and i dont think its algae (dealt with tons of that in my fish tanks lol). Its just this odd clear slime with an earthy smell that i get when using sm90 and hydrogaurd, but when I use just h2o2 it stays fresh and clean.

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Hmm yeah thats odd, you use tap water? Maybe somethings reacting with whats unknown in the tap water? I'm not really sure though, I guess just stick with the h202 as it basically kills everything so you'll stay clean with that.

Chlorox bleach works well, its cheap, and readily available. h202 evaporates fairly quick so you have to add it every couple days. A few drops of bleach per gallon will keep everything sterile.
Disregard if you're using organics

Sm90 did the same thing to me, I'm not even sure how this product stays on the shelf.......
I used bleach at 1 drop per gallon on an ebb & flow table and it worked well. Keep your water temp below 70 and you'll be ok.

Corvette kidd said:

Ok so here is the scoop. i have a 4 bucket ebb n flow system, i started adding sm90 (as advised by a long time growing buddy) about 3 days ago just for precautionary measures. I have noticed a not so pleasant smell and a clear/white slime building up and floating around, anyone have any ideas what is going on? Im using canna aqua nutrients, and i have never had this problem until i started the use of sm90, is this a normal side effect? Or should i drain my res and go back to using peroxide every few days ?

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i thought that sm90 was a universal killer too but i just checked out info on it and it's described as a wetting agent.

i use dutchmaster zone. it's a ready to use chlorine additive. i use at 2ml/gal and haven't had issues in 2 years at least

HELP!!!

I'm fighting the slime too and have tried everything I can think of to get rid of it. I tried H202, SM90, bleach, hydroguard and hygrozyme. I'm on my third attempt and the slime keeps coming back. I used House & Garden HGRXL001 Roots Excelurator in a separate glass jar with a basket and airstone to germinate my seed and the roots were amazing! Big, white and long. They looked very healthy. When I transfer them to my 5-gallon reservoir I get the slime within three days. It's driving me crazy. I just don't get it. They do great after sprouting and have long white beautiful roots with not problems but every time I transfer them to the reservoir I get the damn slime! I ordered a new bubbler system in hope that will be sterile enough. If anyone has any advice I would really appreciate.

I've been growing since 2008 with no problems until the last two months. I don't know what to do.

ohnothimagin said:

HELP!!!

I'm fighting the slime too and have tried everything I can think of to get rid of it. I tried H202, SM90, bleach, hydroguard and hygrozyme. I'm on my third attempt and the slime keeps coming back. I used House & Garden HGRXL001 Roots Excelurator in a separate glass jar with a basket and airstone to germinate my seed and the roots were amazing! Big, white and long. They looked very healthy. When I transfer them to my 5-gallon reservoir I get the slime within three days. It's driving me crazy. I just don't get it. They do great after sprouting and have long white beautiful roots with not problems but every time I transfer them to the reservoir I get the damn slime! I ordered a new bubbler system in hope that will be sterile enough. If anyone has any advice I would really appreciate.

I've been growing since 2008 with no problems until the last two months. I don't know what to do.

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Could be some hidden build up of crap somewhere in your res. Does it have a water level tube, that's where mine was hiding. I fought that shit for like two weeks and then threw out the plant, upon final clean up i found there was shit in that tube.

Thanks Anon Emaus. I'm going to toss my reservoir, air stone and air pump and replace all of them. I can't think of anything else to do.

ohnothimagin said:

Thanks Anon Emaus. I'm going to toss my reservoir, air stone and air pump and replace all of them. I can't think of anything else to do.

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Welcome. Air pump should be fine, but yeah I replaced my air stones because who knows whats in all those pores. I think you can just get some bacteria or whatever in some crevice and it will thrive like a motherfucker. I feel your pain man, I was doing everything I could to rid of the rot that time. I would get hopeful too because the H202 would clean it all up and the roots would look great and then you check the next day and it's right back to being covered in shit.

At one point I took everything out and misted it with Physan 20. I also used Physan 20 on the surrounding shelves in my closet. I soaked my reservoir in Physan 20 for a whole day and I still get this shit. That's why I'm tossing everything and getting a new reservoir, pump and airstones. I'm going to install new lighting. I got a good deal on a ViparSpectra 300W LED Grow Light so I'm looking forward to a clean grow again (I hope).

guys, first things first, sm90 is meant for a sterile res and can be used in small amount along side h202. it's rare for sm90 to cause slime or root rot so check your environment first and water temps. hydroguard is beneficial so you can't mix that with sm90. regular root excelurator can't be used in hydroponics because the airstones cause it to congeal and block all pipe work and pump however you can use the silver bottle which is specifically for hydroponics.

read the labels properly so as not to mix beanies with sterile chemicals. i have always found sterile hydroponics hard work - think about it - your water is full of bacteria so you're fighting a losing battle - just a few aerobic bacteria can cause the start of slime and root rot. it's a disaster waiting happen in my opinion.

personally i use either fox farm kangaroots or orca to add my beneficials (these are like heisenberg tea), pond sludge cleaner to keep the system crystal clear (once again beneficial bacteria), and api aqua safe. after that i use hydro based A & B, a root stim product (rhizotonic or rhizoblast), seaweed extract like liquid karma to help make the plants more receptive to the nutes and increase uptake, silicon, silicon, a flowering stem, flower booster and a finishing booster. and ph down of course. all the above are symbiotic with each other. i can't remember the last time i used h202 whilst growing or bleach or physan - you just don't need them.

also, my water temps run at 72f. the whole point of above is to keep the bacteria beneficial so the beneficial ones eat the aerobic ones. i flush religiously every 14 days and always leave 5 to 10% of the old water in. running a sterile system means no bacteria - just think about it - how can there be no bacteria?

I made an error. I did not use SM90. I confused Physan 20 with SM90. I did use H202, bleach, hydroguard and hygrozyme and lastly Physan 20. I initially though the Physan 20 worked, but was disappointed when the slime came back.

like i said you can't mix the sm90/physan, h202, hydroguard or bleach with the hygrozyme...

it's touch and go once you've contracted slime; what's worked for me when i used to get it is i obviously cleaned everything out properly with h202 and bleach not forgetting the walls and all the nooks and crannies. with regards to the plants themselves, i cleaned the roots under cold running water and took anything off that easily came off then i sat them in a diluted bath of h202 and water for about 20 mins. if you try this you will see that the water will bubble as the h202 goes to work. then i placed them back into my system with no nutes and poured the orca/kangaroots which i diluted in water directly into the net pots so the beneficial bacteria could attach themselves to the roots on the way down to the water. repeat again every 2 days for a week till the new roots start to show

Thanks coffeanyone. I uses Physan 20 as a last resort. I would normally use hygrozyme or hydrogard. I tried H202 and dipped the roots into a diluted solution for a short time. It did bubble and the roots seemed clean although much shorter. I placed them in a fresh reservoir and within 2 days the slime was back. I should take delivery today of my new reservoir, air stones and pump. I tossed out my older contaminated reservoir, along with the pump and air stone. I also put my CFLs in storage and am going to try a ViparSpectra 300 watt LED system. I have misted my grow area with Physan 20 and will try again.

I just don't know what else I can do about this problem. I hope I never experience it again. I hope this will work.