Can you tell me what this is?

[Joey13254]

It's on my rocks and it is aggravating me. I use a toothbrush every week to brush it off but it comes back. I'm not sure if it's something kind of algea or what. I do 6 gallon waterchange every week.
Tank info
1 year old
29 gallon
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
Calcium 460
Alkalinity 9
Magnesium 1450

 

[tomisw30]

Geez, I was about to post the same thing, been fighting it for a week now. FYI I tried Algaefix Marine two days ago and it didn't do anything to it. Hope someone has a suggestion because it is a real pain in the butt.

 

[Joey13254]

@tomisw30 does yours look the same? I haven't tried anything other than using a toothbrush to brush it off it doesn't really have a grip on the rocks

 

[tomisw30]

 

[tomisw30]

It does, not great pics my blues
are on. I've scrubbed them as well, did a water change, parameters are good with 0 phosphates or nitrates.

 

[tomisw30]

Grows on glass as well

 

[tomisw30]

Thought it was hair algae but it is whitish

 

[RookieReef]

I have the same thing in my tank and it never showed up until I dosed alkalinity.

 

[Joey13254]

@RookieReef I know if you dose alkalinity and calcium to close together you can get precipitation in your tank which is white.

I've been searching around and a few places says it could be a bacteria of some kind and I do dose bacteria alot so I may just not put in any bacteria for awhile and see how it goes.

 

[RookieReef]

I haven't dosed calcium so It's not that, I've watched a lot of YouTube videos about this "white algae" no one (so far) that I've seen has a solve for this

 

[kashman100]

Chrysophytes maybe. There is a new product called Vibrant that may work.

 

[kashman100]

They have a thread on here

 

[tomisw30]

Hey Joey, so it's day three since I treated my tank with algaefix marine and it has actually started to make a difference. When I checked my tank this morning I could tell that it had reduced the "algae" by about 25 percent, so I am hopeful that after one more treatment it will be at least 50 percent gone and perhaps the tank will return to normal after several more water changes. I must note that in addition to dosing algaefix I changed my pellets in my media reactor.

 

[Joey13254]

Hey Joey, so it's day three since I treated my tank with algaefix marine and it has actually started to make a difference. When I checked my tank this morning I could tell that it had reduced the "algae" by about 25 percent, so I am hopeful that after one more treatment it will be at least 50 percent gone and perhaps the tank will return to normal after several more water changes. I must note that in addition to dosing algaefix I changed my pellets in my media reactor.

Thanks for the info

 

[Joey13254]

@brandon429 Do you have an idea on what this might be. I thought about using peroxide but I can't take my rocks out to use it. I'm also not sure how it would do using it in tank with my xenia and anthelia corals

 

[brandon429]

I can't think of an internal way to fix it but you can consider doing one test rock externally, just one, to see if the results are so well that you do take the tank apart to fix it

Any 29 g can be parted out for cleaning and reassembled without a cycle we do it all the time in smaller nanos who have less dilution for safety than +20 gallons but it is hard work

If you take out one test rock or two I'd do this:
One of them is no scraping and just pour peroxide all over it, let sit in air 4 mins. Rinse, put back and reassess compared to rest of the tank after a week. Don't hand remove any here, it's a chemical response test

Take second rock and use a metal tool (I use steak knife) not a brush, to scrape loose the adhered invader and -then- treat the cleaned surface with peroxide, rinse put back and evaluate within a week. Two easy test rocks aren't any work and are a fine model compared to whole tank work

 

[Kenmx10]

Hard to tell from the pics but if it's clear and brushes off pretty easily, I would guess it's bacterial and not an algae problem.

 

[Joey13254]

Hard to tell from the pics but if it's clear and brushes off pretty easily, I would guess it's bacterial and not an algae problem.

It does brush off easily. I'm trying to figure out a way to go about trying to get it to where it doesn't come back. I don't know what it is.

 

[Dancingmad]

I've had white film outbreak before. It covered everything, everywhere. Stopped using air fresheners/scented candles, and smoking in the same room as one of my tanks. It went away via normal means (Manual removal, filter sock changing after blasting it away, and maybe some cleanup crew got in there). Long shot, but a consideration .

Good luck!

Add'l Source: http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/mystery-white-reef-slime-part-iii

 

[Hans-Werner]

I think it is either diatoms which may form hairs or it is the cyanobacterium Schizothrix. I had both in the past and I have a microscope. Both can look similar to the algae on your photographs.
If it is Schizothrix it usually will disappear after removing it a few times.