New tank slime

Kurt Hammel · Jan 30, 2019

I have been involved in the hobby for over 25 years and just had a new tank setup after the last one started leaking. I had to hire the local fish store guy to set it up because of a bad back. They used my base rock that is over 25 years old and brought new sand. I am having a dirty white slime growing over the rocks and sand that I have never seen before and am not sure what to do to get rid of it. Has anybody seen this before?

Billldg · Jan 30, 2019

Welcome to R2R!!!

Crabs McJones · Jan 30, 2019

Welcome to R2R!

#WelcometoR2R
Some sort of bacterial slime perhaps? Not sure, but i'm sure someone will chime in that knows

Ruben's Reef · Jan 30, 2019

!!! Welcome to R2R !!!

PDR · Jan 30, 2019

Welcome to R2R!!! Hopefully someone will chime in and help you out.

dbl · Jan 30, 2019

Welcome to R2R.

mich2599 · Jan 30, 2019

Welcome to R2R!

KJ · Jan 30, 2019

Welcome to R2R!!!

Jason mack · Jan 30, 2019

Welcome to R2R, happy reefing!!

GoldeneyeRet · Jan 30, 2019

Welcome to r2r!

Cant really tell what the slime might be but your probably going to go through some cycling and various blooms just as you would with an all new tank.

Good luck!

mike werner · Jan 30, 2019

welcome to r2r!!

reef lover · Jan 30, 2019

Welcome to r2r!!

Lovemyreef2015 · Jan 30, 2019

SPR1968 · Jan 30, 2019

Welcome to R2R!

Salty Lemon · Jan 30, 2019

Welcome to R2R! Glad you joined us! I hope one of the veteran hobbyists can help you.

hdsoftail1065 · Jan 31, 2019

Welcome to R2R!!!

Muttley000 · Jan 31, 2019

Welcome to R2R! I can't tell from your picture what it is either. Can it be siphoned up when doing a water change?

P-Dub · Feb 1, 2019

WELCOME to R2R!!!
You are likely having some sort of bacterial growth due to the new sand. Try and siphon it out and see how long it takes to grow back. If you could tell us your parameters that might help to narrow down or exclude some possible culprits. Also, how long did it take to appear and how rapid is the growth? How long has it been present? Is it spreading, receding or just kind of in stasis?
Let's get this solved. There are a ton of very knowledgable people here to help.
Share and like often!

4FordFamily · Feb 1, 2019

Welcome home, you will love it here!

Color-wise it looks like diatoms. Consistency-wise it looks like cyano bacteria. Even though you’re using old rock you often still get various blooms. My 500 gallon wall tank used sand and older rock and it’s having cyano bacteria issues like nothing I’ve seen—- or I’ve forgotten how bad it can get. It’s starting to clear a little bit but it’s not fun. I’m also seeing some dinoflagellates so that’s fun.