I have no idea what I'm dealing with...help!

[sfajardo]

Hey all, I've had an nano AIO for about year and a half. (started up again after years away from this...just smaller).

Used to my share of algae and just got over a Dino attack. Water parameters are back to normal but one strange thing is happening. Out of the gravel, brown strings, guessing its another type of algae is slowly popping up daily. I pull the strings and it pulls up gravel along with it. I ultimately toss into a saltwater bucket with a heater and powerhead to keep the gravel in good shape. But I dont know what I'm dealing with and what do about it. At least if I knew what it was I can do some research on this.

Little background: Its a Fluval M90 with a protein skimmer, UV, GFO and carbon running in the back.

 

[Tahoe61]

Please provide an image.

 

[Mikeltee]

All you need is a skimmer. Get rid of all the rest of that junk and you will stop having problems.

 

[Omarons]

Am image would be helpful, what color is it? If green then algea, if Ted then cyano, brown has too many shades

 

[sfajardo]

All you need is a skimmer. Get rid of all the rest of that junk and you will stop having problems.

Got a skimmer in the back, along with GFO, carbon and a UV. But I'll post a picture shortly. thanks for all your comments btw

 

[sfajardo]

Heres pix of the issue. Obviously color blind as I initially thought it was brown (perhaps my blue lights). The last picture is what happens when I pull it up and out. Im holding the large piece and a whole lot of gravel comes along with it.

So two questions, what is this and is this a pest/problem? if so, how do I get rid of this. I keep pulling it out but it keeps coming back. Im down a third of my substrate already. (slowly replacing with marine pure btw).

 

[Tahoe61]

Hmmm almost looks and sounds like a Turf algae. So it only grows in the sand bed?
Have you tried adding to your CUC with different hermit and snail types?