Long stringy floaters

Krzydmnd · Jan 21, 2018

Hi all! Recently I added a skimmer and used chemiclean to battle cyano and cleared it up in a matter of days. It seems to have stayed away however now I'm getting long, stringy what I'm assuming is algae growing at a super fast rate. Like multiple times through the day I'm blowing it off rocks and corals as it floats through the water and gets wrapped up in them.

When I first noticed it I thought it was vermetid Snails but it's not. They're Very loosely attached to rocks and in strands Maybe 2 to 3 inches long. Easy to blow off but they float around and wrap up on corals.

Very hard to get a picture of because my camera phone doesn't like to focus on my tank. The best I could do is below. The strand in the pic is parallel to the front edge of the Monti, juat under the growth edge on the rock.

Any ideas?

Params are
Sal 1.026
Alk 7.5
Phosphate .04
Calc 450

Crabs McJones · Jan 21, 2018

Krzydmnd said:
Hi all! Recently I added a skimmer and used chemiclean to battle cyano and cleared it up in a matter of days. It seems to have stayed away however now I'm getting long, stringy what I'm assuming is algae growing at a super fast rate. Like multiple times through the day I'm blowing it off rocks and corals as it floats through the water and gets wrapped up in them.

When I first noticed it I thought it was vermetid Snails but it's not. They're Very loosely attached to rocks and in strands Maybe 2 to 3 inches long. Easy to blow off but they float around and wrap up on corals.

Very hard to get a picture of because my camera phone doesn't like to focus on my tank. The best I could do is below. The strand in the pic is parallel to the front edge of the Monti, juat under the growth edge on the rock.

Any ideas?

Params are
Sal 1.026
Alk 7.5
Phosphate .04
Calc 450

Is it possible it's strands of the dead cyano?

Krzydmnd · Jan 21, 2018

crabs_mcjones said:
Is it possible it's strands of the dead cyano?

I don't think so. I'll get it all blown off a particular area and within an hour it is back.

Krzydmnd · Jan 22, 2018

A few more pics

Crabs McJones · Jan 22, 2018

dinoflagellates possibly.

#reefsquad any help?

jsker · Jan 22, 2018

What are your nutrient parameters please?

reefwiser · Jan 22, 2018

Dinos will have bubble associated with them. Could be coral slime from corals fighting for territory.

Krzydmnd · Jan 22, 2018

reefwiser said:
Dinos will have bubble associated with them. Could be coral slime from corals fighting for territory.

Some of them do get bubbles. I wouldn't say all though. I'll post full params when I get home tonight.

Thanks all!

Krzydmnd · Jan 23, 2018

jsker said:
What are your nutrient parameters please?

Alkalinity 7.9
Phos . 024
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ammmonia 0
pH 8.0
Temp 78

Another pic below. Flowing on the capricorna

reefwiser · Jan 23, 2018

Is this the only one in the tank currently ? Can it be removed from the coral with a turkey baster?
The coral slime can collect particles it the water. Creating this slime string. It there are no other areas of strings and no area’s of bubbles on the aquarium glass or rock work. You might be safe for now. The low PO4 and nitrate can lead to issues with Dino’s thou.

jsker · Jan 23, 2018

Feed that tank

and how long are you running the white spectrum of your lighting?

Krzydmnd · Jan 23, 2018

reefwiser said:
Is this the only one in the tank currently ? Can it be removed from the coral with a turkey baster?
The coral slime can collect particles it the water. Creating this slime string. It there are no other areas of strings and no area’s of bubbles on the aquarium glass or rock work. You might be safe for now. The low PO4 and nitrate can lead to issues with Dino’s thou.

No it's all over and goes away at night. I did just recently add a skimmer. Worth Turning it off for a few weeks to see if that helps? Maybe in stripping too much. I didn't have this problem before I started skimming. I do weekly water changes so maybe skimming isn't necessary on a well maintained 32 g tank.

Thanks all!