Is this some sort of Algae issue?

[Marcos Delacamara]

Hello,
i have recently started up my Saltwater aquarium after months of research and planning. So far I have been having some issues with what looks to be strings that are growing from my rocks. I clean it every 3 days but it continues to grow. I do not overfeed the tank and all the parameters are good. My water is also very cloudy looking. I'm not sure if this is some sort of algae growing on the tank but i never had any issues with any other algae so i do not want to call it that.

this is my very first post on a forum also, just to put it out there. I really want this tank to look amazing one day so taking things slow is a must, I just cant stand to see these strings things continue to grow. If anyone has any ideas as to what they could be or how to get rid of this let me know. all help is greatly appreciated.



Set UP:
75 Gallon Tank
R-200 3rd Gen Eshopps Sump; (7.5 gallon of this is used for the refugium)
Other things, Chaeto, Copepods, marinepure blocks. BRS single Carbon reactor, Bubble Magus Curve 7, running Triton Method, Jebao Dosing Pump
Live Stock: 3 hermit crabs, one emmerald crab, a cleaning shrimp, two snails, and 3 fish.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Welcome to Reef2reef.

My guess is a bacterial bloom.
Is there an organic carbon source in the method?
Like Red Sea uses nopox initially to build the bio filter.

What kind of rock is it? The read stuff.
Some of those come with a bacteria on it and I’ve seen tanks get the bloom from that. Life Rock? I think.

 

[Marcos Delacamara]

Im not sure if there is an organic carbon source. I do not use Red Sea however.
I can see how it could be a bacterial bloom but just not sure how it came to be since the tank cycled for a minimum of 2 and a half months. Rocks, they were all dry rocks. Some are painted. The others, were once live. A friend of mine gave them to be but they were out of water for a long time and then cycled accordingly.
Should I use a chemical to control this issue??

 

[Marcos Delacamara]

Im not sure if there is an organic carbon source. I do not use Red Sea however.
I can see how it could be a bacterial bloom but just not sure how it came to be since the tank cycled for a minimum of 2 and a half months. Rocks, they were all dry rocks. Some are painted. The others, were once live. A friend of mine gave them to be but they were out of water for a long time and then cycled accordingly.
Should I use a chemical to control this issue??

 

[Marcos Delacamara]

Im not sure if there is an organic carbon source. I do not use Red Sea however.
I can see how it could be a bacterial bloom but just not sure how it came to be since the tank cycled for a minimum of 2 and a half months. Rocks, they were all dry rocks. Some are painted. The others, were once live. A friend of mine gave them to be but they were out of water for a long time and then cycled accordingly.
Should I use a chemical to control this issue??

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

What are you dosing for triton?

Any scented candles or air fresheners?

A bloom is usually due to an abundance of food for the bacteria.
Little to do with the amount of time it cycled.
There’s a brand of rock that’s painted , but it’s also coated with bacteria food.

Check your carbon or other media and see if there’s any slimey build up. It’ll help confirm the ID.

 

[Marcos Delacamara]

What are you dosing for triton?

Any scented candles or air fresheners?

A bloom is usually due to an abundance of food for the bacteria.
Little to do with the amount of time it cycled.
There’s a brand of rock that’s painted , but it’s also coated with bacteria food.

Check your carbon or other media and see if there’s any slimey build up. It’ll help confirm the ID.

YES! there is slimey build up actually. on the substrate as well. Last time I changed the carbon it was slimey as well.
there is Air fresheners all over the house, like the ones you plug up on the walls.

i was thinking, could this have anything to do with my chaeto breaking down and being sunburn? i was using a light form amazon and it was probably too close to the chaeto. this string look a like thing is also everywhere inside the fuge. could it be Dead chaeto? but then again it is elongating everyday in the DT

 

[Eagle_Steve]

The "painted rock" does look like "life rock". It is seeded with bacteria spores that sometimes have a burst and just bloom at once. Or in my case, I used some in my 45 recently and it decided to do that at one point after the first few fish were added (3 month cycle and fathom as I was busy and still did it). They were added a little to quick imo and the bacteria bloom that exploded afterwards looked exactly like what you have going. a few weeks later all stabilized.

+1 to checking the filter media or carbon for slime. Mine was loaded with it and that confirmed it was a bloom.

 

[dwest]

W

Hello,
i have recently started up my Saltwater aquarium after months of research and planning. So far I have been having some issues with what looks to be strings that are growing from my rocks. I clean it every 3 days but it continues to grow. I do not overfeed the tank and all the parameters are good. My water is also very cloudy looking. I'm not sure if this is some sort of algae growing on the tank but i never had any issues with any other algae so i do not want to call it that.

this is my very first post on a forum also, just to put it out there. I really want this tank to look amazing one day so taking things slow is a must, I just cant stand to see these strings things continue to grow. If anyone has any ideas as to what they could be or how to get rid of this let me know. all help is greatly appreciated.



Set UP:
75 Gallon Tank
R-200 3rd Gen Eshopps Sump; (7.5 gallon of this is used for the refugium)
Other things, Chaeto, Copepods, marinepure blocks. BRS single Carbon reactor, Bubble Magus Curve 7, running Triton Method, Jebao Dosing Pump
Live Stock: 3 hermit crabs, one emmerald crab, a cleaning shrimp, two snails, and 3 fish.

Welcome to R2R. You are talking to the right person. (Salty).

 

[Eagle_Steve]

YES! there is slimey build up actually. on the substrate as well. Last time I changed the carbon it was slimey as well.
there is Air fresheners all over the house, like the ones you plug up on the walls.

i was thinking, could this have anything to do with my chaeto breaking down and being sunburn? i was using a light form amazon and it was probably too close to the chaeto. this string look a like thing is also everywhere inside the fuge. could it be Dead chaeto? but then again it is elongating everyday in the DT

Dead cheato is a nutrient and can fuel bacteria blooms. Been there before too lol.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

W

Welcome to R2R. You are talking to the right person. (Salty).

Yup. Salty has saved my rear quite a few times lol.

 

[Marcos Delacamara]

awesome, hopefully he saves mine too lol.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

YES! there is slimey build up actually. on the substrate as well. Last time I changed the carbon it was slimey as well.
there is Air fresheners all over the house, like the ones you plug up on the walls.

i was thinking, could this have anything to do with my chaeto breaking down and being sunburn? i was using a light form amazon and it was probably too close to the chaeto. this string look a like thing is also everywhere inside the fuge. could it be Dead chaeto? but then again it is elongating everyday in the DT

The air fresheners give off something call voc , paints are now low voc, volitile organic compounds.
Meaning easily evaporated. So you’re house is feeding the tank alcohol most likely. Organic carbon dosing.

As for the chato, hard to say.
You can actually overlight chato if the nutrients are really low. Crunchy chato I’d say too much light.

 

[Marcos Delacamara]

UPDATE:
Alright guys.
1)I have removed all types of air fresheners away from the tank.
2)I tried to use my fish net to catch the strings since they slipped from my fingers.
3)i bought biomagnet clarifier pro to clear up some of the cloudiness out of the tank and also, see if it helps with the bloom
(So far the string haven’t been growing. Looks like they actually gotten smaller since I started using it// cloudiness could be a little better)
4) i bought and installed kessil H80 for the sump light. Hopefully this will improve my chaeto’s life
5) I tested my aquarium parameters and they are as follow. Cal: 420 amo: 0 nitrate: 0 kh: 8 phos: 0 ph: 8.0 (used reef master kit)