You said slimey. Sounds like algae. I had slimey clear goo in my buckets before.
The brown could be from nutrients, I use thrive alive and all my roots are brown.

When I got slimed, I transferred to a new container. I used 10ml/gal of h202. This should help, unless you have an infestation of slime.
bobhead Reviewed by bobhead on . Root Rot in DWC, NEED HELP ASAP! My plant is four weeks old and a day ago my roots were white, and today they are a brown color and look weak. The sides of my container are slimey, so i took the plants out and put them in another PH balanced container (just water NO nutrients), and im cleaning my original container. my plant is still green but it is wilping and looking sad, the leaves are green but are starting to brittle (there are no yellow or brown leaves so i dont think it is nutrient burn), and also i have just been using Rating: 5