pink slime in tank?

M.D.Hosehead · Post by **M.D.Hosehead** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:05 pm

Thanks for the info, Stetson.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:21 pm

A relative uses vodka.

M.D.Hosehead · Post by **M.D.Hosehead** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:23 pm

Do they put vodka in the tank, or do they get tanked on the vodka and then don't give a damn.

PST · Post by **PST** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:29 pm

Holy moly! I don't like what I'm reading, especially that Serratia marcescens stuff. I wonder if there isn't a case to be made FOR using tap water to take advantage of the chlorine content. Yeah, there would be a little lime scale after a while, but that won't give you an infection. I got a new tank last week. I scrubbed the old one out and was keeping it as a spare, but I'll never feel quite the same about it again.

LoQ · Post by **LoQ** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:45 pm

talktobon wrote:I noticed pink slime in the bottom of my tank today. I always use distilled water. I wash with regular dish soap every week, and I did a vinegar/water soak a few weeks ago. I soaked again with vinegar today and scooped out the slime with a toothpick. Is this safe to use now? (I feel like I'm coming down with a cold now, too).

This may be a good example that distilled water is not always sterile. In any event, you have a non-sterile environment that is allowing some microbe to grow. I suggest you follow some of the other excellent advice on this thread, if you can pick it out, or if you can't, get some Control III and follow the package directions to clean your equipment.

el_zorro · Post by **el_zorro** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:47 pm

I would start cleaning more often (every other day with mild dish soap) and make sure you are using very hot water with the dish soap when doing your vinegar and water weekly soak. When you air dry the tank put your tank on a clean white towel that has been washed with hot bleach water and then cover the exposed tank with another hot bleach washed cloth so airborne bacteria has a more difficult time getting into the tank while it is airdrying. I would wipe with your cpap machine (concentrating on the input vent) with a mild anti-bacteria solution or mild detergent(read the manual). Also change the filters and use a fine filter as well as the foam filter.

For you to get that amount of bacteria into the sealed tank in that short period of time there must be some contamination in your environment there. Make sure all of the surrounding area and room is cleaned and sanitized.

lktnky · Post by **lktnky** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 6:36 pm

I only used distilled water in my tank and still got the pink goo. There was no way to get it completely out even with dentu tabs.
I tossed that tank rather than take a chance the goo would take up residence in my lungs. Sorry, but you only get one pair.
Eventually ended up buying the cleanable chambers for my VPAP Auto 25 so I could clean them in my dishwasher.

GumbyCT · Post by **GumbyCT** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 7:46 pm

lktnky wrote:I only used distilled water in my tank and still got the pink goo. There was no way to get it completely out even with dentu tabs.
I tossed that tank rather than take a chance the goo would take up residence in my lungs. Sorry, but you only get one pair.
Eventually ended up buying the cleanable chambers for my VPAP Auto 25 so I could clean them in my dishwasher.

Do you clean with tap water? Or do you just top off the distilled?

talktobon · Post by **talktobon** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:12 pm

Stetson wrote:
What makes the slime pink?
Biofilm is typically composed of many different microorganisms and bacteria held together by biological polymers that improve the ability of bacteria to adhere to and proliferate on wet surfaces. While pink biofilm "usually does not cause any illness in healthily adults, it can cause serious health problems to someone who is immune compromised. Pink biofilm can be present in any body of water, even tap water. The things to remember here is that biofilm needs three things to survive, moisture, warmth, and food. Food can be in the form of dead skin cells, dust, soaps and the list goes on and on. Distilled water does not have the chlorinating agent to prevent biofilm from happening. Even very hot water has a tendency to dissipate the chlorine from the city rendering it useless again bacterial attack. Since we cannot remove it food source, remove the tempeture or remove the moisture, we have to look for agents that can kill the biofilm. In the industrial sectors they use Chlorine Dioxide. This is not an acceptable use for home environments. In a home this can be done with bleach. There are commercial products available for this type of application such as Alconox, an anionic detergent, and is stainless steel safe. Other ways of disinfecting stainless steal include alcohol or peroxide.

Stetson: can I use straight peroxide? I've got 3%.

GumbyCT · Post by **GumbyCT** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:25 pm

kempo wrote:The tap water that you are using to clean the tube contains the bacteria. Start using distilled water to clean the tube. I have been using my Resmed s9 since July and have never cleaned out the tube. I only add distilled water and it looks as clean as the day I started using it.

I 2nd this topping off procedure. I think this is another reason not to use tap water when traveling if you can avoid it. It seems that tap water is the cause and that the chlorine in the water does nothing to prevent this pink slime. I would imagine well water to be even worse to use or to wash with. Some here talking about washing every other week but using tap water and reporting the pink slime.

While others are just topping off with distilled for months and reporting no slime.

So if the water is carrying this slime and you wash your mask & hose with this water also what can you expect to happen?

I'd say experiment and change your procedure to see if you continue to have a problem? If you can't bring yourself to only top off with distilled, try washing/rinsing with distilled. The chlorine doesn't seem to work so try the vinegar or peroxide. Or even the microwave is sposed to kill bacteria too. Doing the same thing while expecting different results will not improve things.

@LoQ - Things that are sterile do not remain sterile after they are exposed to a contaminated environment. So as soon as you open the distilled water it is no longer sterile but does provide you/us with a known starting point.

Slartybartfast · Post by **Slartybartfast** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 10:00 pm

Yes, straight hydrogen peroxide, like you get at the pharmacy is fine.

Distilled/deionized/demineralized/reverse osmosis water: None of them are sterile. Not unless you have your water made in a still. And even then there are likely some thermophilic bacteria camping out in the condenser.

We're straining at gnats here. There's no substitute for periodically cleaning your humidifier reservoir. Merely topping off with water, even sterile USP water won't stop the slime from growing because as the air flows over the water in the reservoir, dust, dander, pollen, mold spores and other sources of carbon from many sources become trapped in the water. If your reservoir is growing slime, it's because you haven't cleaned it. A little soap and water or something a little stronger if it's REALLY funky is all you need to keep it clean. 1 tbsp of household bleach in a gallon of water is plenty strong to kill the bugs, yet it's not so strong that it will damage any aluminum in your humidifer unless you submerge it for a week. I like peroxide,though. You can immediately tell when it's found something to kill because it will foam, leaving only water and oxygen and no residual odor.

LoQ · Post by **LoQ** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 10:16 pm

Slartybartfast wrote:We're straining at gnats here.

I don't think so. Knowing whether something is clean or not is fairly important.

Slartybartfast wrote:Distilled/deionized/demineralized/reverse osmosis water: None of them are sterile.

Yes, but you see, a huge number of people on this forum don't understand that, and they perform actions based on false beliefs that may some day put them at risk. That's not a gnat; it's a lung infection waiting to happen.

Slartybartfast · Post by **Slartybartfast** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 10:22 pm

Agreed. But all they have to do is periodically sluice the reservoir out with hot soapy water to keep it clean. Continually topping it off is just compounding the problem. You don't clean the fishpond in your back yard by adding clean water to it over and over. You do so by periodically draining it and scooping the guck out. That's all I'm advocating doing.

Muse-Inc · Post by **Muse-Inc** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 10:31 pm

I like in the humid South and must be careful. Gotten the pink slime twice and white floaty stuff once since I got my equipment in Aug '07. The first time I freaked and tossed the humidifier after learning I could get my hands on another the same day. Then, i figured out how to bend a skinny bottle brush so I could scrub the inside which I did vigourously with white vinegar and then soap and again with vinegar cleaning the brush inbetween.

Every third day, I wash out my humidifier with a tap water & Dawn and soak for up to 15 mins. Then, I rinse and while still wet spray the inside liberally with plain ole white vinegar & swish it around, let sit for 2-3 mins then rinse very well and let air dry. I fill it with maybe a cup or so of water which lasts me between washings.

PST · Post by **PST** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 10:32 pm

Slartybartfast wrote:We're straining at gnats here.

Yeah, and that's another problem. How in the world do those little guys keep managing to meet their Maker in my humidifier tank. They must fly all the way up the hose during the day while I'm out.

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