Bugs on roots + dark green slime?

[gordonliu]

I will get pics soon, but I wanted to get the post up now.


I have what appears to be small black bugs on some of my roots in my DWC system.

the plants seem fine, and the roots do not appear to be affected.


I also have what appears to be a dark green slime on some of the roots as well.

I call it a slime because the substance can be removed by wiping or scraping the roots. Again, the plants are very health, and there does not appear to be any noticeable affect. I assume this is algae, but I just wanted to be sure


other than that the roots seem perfectly fine. they are brilliant white, and do not appear to have any rot whatsoever.



I am using GH flora nutes, week 1 of flower, and I am about to change the res.


Pics will follow

 

[Pseudo]

not good at all, how is light getting in there?
id give them a good flush with some peroxide or something,
whats your water temps?

 

[gordonliu]

here are the pics, sorry for the lack of white balance

Bugs:



algae, rot, or something else? the only "something else" I can come up with is some kind of particulate caused by the nutrient solution.

I should Add that this slime is stuck to the air lines that I am using, which furthers the assumption of algae

 

[gordonliu]

not good at all, how is light getting in there?
id give them a good flush with some peroxide or something,
whats your water temps?

The water temps should be fine, I have AC which keeps things between 67 and 73 in the room, and I highly doubt that the reservoir goes beyond that range

I would assume the light leak is caused by the air lines, I used regular vinyl tubing, but painted it black for about 5 feet near the end of the tube where it descends into the buckets.

I have a feeling I did not do a good enough job of light proofing.

The algae is not really a huge concern at this point, because I will be changing the res soon and I plan on bolstering my light proofing way more.


My biggest concern are the bugs.


I have yet to see bugs on the plants, and I have yet to see signs of their presence, but one of the plants has them all over the roots.

 

[FreezerBoy]

I'm new to DWC but love that it's been absolutely bug free. A purely paranoiac reaction, I'd give the roots a vigorous shower and perform a manual bug-ectomy with a pair of tweezers. Gleefully crushing their little skulls while listening to the sweet, sweet music of their deathscreams. Maybe save one for ID purposes and then figure how they got in there to begin with.

For the algae, I'd tear down everything, scrub with salt (nature's Ajax/Comet) and rinse thoroughly. A 5% bleach solution would probably work, too but, I like the abrasion that salt provides before it dissolves and washes away. I picked up some black airline tubing at the aquarium store. Cost an extra $1. I don't know that it really accomplishes anything.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

would use h2o2 for the algea also, if your not running beneficial becteria/fungi.
is day there fungi gnats, get some gnatrol and fly strips/towers/traps.

 

[RedReign]

Gordon, pretty sure they are root aphids. Just found out I have the same thing on my DWC roots. Did you find a cure for them?

Here is the best pic I have of what's crawling on my hydroton/roots.