Growing in my Overflow Box? New Tank

Apollo7235 · Mar 19, 2021

Hi there all!

So here I was, setting up my lighting and I noticed this growing on the foam sleeve in my overflow box................?

Give me the good, bad, and well, it's definitely ugly, so no need to waste your time there, haha.

For reference, I added 1 ounce of TurboStart to my brand spanking new system on Sunday, 03/14/21. I added 2 more ounces of TurboStart yesterday, 03/18/21, and also added a jar of 5280 Pods, 1/2 ounce of OceanMagik, and 1 ounce of Red Ogo Macro to my refugium. Turned on my ChaetoMax refugium light on for the first time last night after adding the macro and it ran for 8 hours overnight. This is the first time I've noticed this, so whatever it is, it's a fast growing something.

Tested my water parameters today before I noticed this and they were:

Salinity: 1.024-1.025 (Tropic Marin Pro Reef)
Temperature: 78.8F
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: ~0.25ppm
Nitrite: Between 0 & 0.25ppm
Nitrate: Between 0 & 5.0ppm

This is the only place I've found it so far, but things will be easier to see once I get my lighting system up and running.

Thank you all in advance!

KJ · Mar 19, 2021

Sponge harmless filter feeder.

Apollo7235 · Mar 19, 2021

KJ said:
Sponge harmless filter feeder.

Wow, really? Neato!

Who would have thought. When I jiggled the foam it kind of flaked off so I really thought it would be some kind of algae.

Thank you so much for the response!

anthonygf · Mar 19, 2021

Looks like flake fish food to me.

Apollo7235 · Mar 20, 2021

anthonygf said:
Looks like flake fish food to me.

I thought the same thing! The only problem is, I certainly did not add all that to the tank. I added a very small pinch when I added the first bottle of TurboStart, but that’s it. Maybe I should just take the foam out and clean it?

anthonygf · Mar 20, 2021

I would clean it. How long has it been setup?

Apollo7235 · Mar 20, 2021

anthonygf said:
I would clean it. How long has it been setup?

Less than a week. Tomorrow will make a week since I added the first ounce of TurboStart.

anthonygf · Mar 20, 2021

Apollo7235 said:
Less than a week. Tomorrow will make a week since I added the first ounce of TurboStart.

WOW! You have growth in less than a week? Your off to a good start. lol Will be nice to watch your tank grow.

AltitudeAquarium · Mar 20, 2021

Maybe the sponge was "contaminated" with something that was able to grow that way after treatment with the Fritz products? I'm really guessing based on the photo.

Apollo7235 · Mar 20, 2021

anthonygf said:
WOW! You have growth in less than a week? Your off to a good start. lol Will be nice to watch your tank grow.

I know right? That’s part of the reason I’m so skeptical, haha. 6 days and a sponge of that size? I’m honestly leaning toward the fish food flakes idea, but I’m hesitant to clean it off just in case it actually is some good growth. I wish I knew a definitive way to tell!

Apollo7235 · Mar 20, 2021

AltitudeAquarium said:
Maybe the sponge was "contaminated" with something that was able to grow that way after treatment with the Fritz products? I'm really guessing based on the photo.

That would have to be the cause! I noticed it the day after I added the Red macro and copepods from @AlgaeBarn, so that would be the only way it could have gotten in to my tank....

I don’t know! Whatever it is, I just hope it’s harmless. I don’t see it anywhere else
In my tank, so I suppose that’s a good thing considering I have no clue what it is.

stanleo · Mar 20, 2021

KJ said:
Sponge harmless filter feeder.

This guy knows his stuff when it comes to this, and other things. I would go with it.

Apollo7235 · Mar 20, 2021

stanleo said:
This guy knows his stuff when it comes to this, and other things. I would go with it.

I think that’s the only solution at this point. If it turns out not to be a sponge, I would imagine it would eventually break down, but I was just looking at it and it is actually kind of bumpy and thick so I think the fish flake idea may be a a dud.

I haven’t had any success using Google to ID it, but I guess I’ll just have to keep trying!

I’ll post another photo or two so you guys can see what it looks like today.

Apollo7235 · Mar 20, 2021

So today, I turned the foam around and whatever this is is also growing on the back along with something white and stringy.... (3rd photo).

Any ideas what that could be? Also, I jiggled it a few more times and there are still bits of it that flake off. There is a little red something that almost looks like piece of a crab or lobster shell on there and it did not come off when I jiggled. You can see it near the middle of the foam in the third picture.

AlgaeBarn · Mar 20, 2021

Apollo7235 said:
So today, I turned the foam around and whatever this is is also growing on the back along with something white and stringy.... (3rd photo).

Any ideas what that could be? Also, I jiggled it a few more times and there are still bits of it that flake off. There is a little red something that almost looks like piece of a crab or lobster shell on there and it did not come off when I jiggled. You can see it near the middle of the foam in the third picture.

That is rather strange looking. I thought it was flake food as well, but if its not that, I would guess its a sponge, but we have never seen anything similar at our facility.

AltitudeAquarium · Mar 23, 2021

My guess is sponges. Take a tweezer and see if you can grab a bit and look at it under a magnifying glass to confirm.

Apollo7235 · Mar 24, 2021

AltitudeAquarium said:
My guess is sponges. Take a tweezer and see if you can grab a bit and look at it under a magnifying glass to confirm.

I'm actually considering grabbing a microscope anyway, so if I do, I will certainly pull a sample and see what I can see! I'll post the results if I do end up doing this! Thanks for the idea!

anthonygf · Apr 27, 2021

Any updates? If it isn't a sponge my next thought would be some kind of fungus maybe.

Apollo7235 · Apr 28, 2021

anthonygf said:
Any updates? If it isn't a sponge my next thought would be some kind of fungus maybe.

Hi there! Thank you for following along!

I truly don't know what it is in there, but I'm not sure if it's disintegrating or what at this point. Looks like I've got some kind of biome going on in that box, haha! I'm beginning to lean more toward some kind of organic matter, maybe a combination of the tiny bit of flake food I added to begin the tank cycle a while back and maybe something off of the macroalgae when I added it...? I have no idea.

Here's a photo I just snapped for you. I'm honestly tempted to pull the whole thing out and try to clean it at this point. It just looks yucky, for lack of a better term.

anthonygf · Apr 28, 2021

Apollo7235 said:
Hi there! Thank you for following along!

I truly don't know what it is in there, but I'm not sure if it's disintegrating or what at this point. Looks like I've got some kind of biome going on in that box, haha! I'm beginning to lean more toward some kind of organic matter, maybe a combination of the tiny bit of flake food I added to begin the tank cycle a while back and maybe something off of the macroalgae when I added it...? I have no idea.

Here's a photo I just snapped for you. I'm honestly tempted to pull the whole thing out and try to clean it at this point. It just looks yucky, for lack of a better term.

That may be a beneficial part of the CUC, strange that it is only on your filter.