Overdosed alkalinity

[diabolical_clownfish]

White slime is typically bacteria, as you note. Perhaps the right species and conditions existed for it. There’s no particular reason one shouldn’t see bacteria in a reef tank..

What do the bacteria need to consume to grow? I'm thinking about dosing nitrate back to 3-5 to help the corals, but I'm worried that this will fuel more unsightly bacteria to appear. Also, let's say the bacteria growth runs out of fuel and most of it dies - will it then release nitrates back into the water?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What do the bacteria need to consume to grow? I'm thinking about dosing nitrate back to 3-5 to help the corals, but I'm worried that this will fuel more unsightly bacteria to appear. Also, let's say the bacteria growth runs out of fuel and most of it dies - will it then release nitrates back into the water?

Bacteria, including cyano, need lots of things to grow, most of which are present in a reef tank. Depending on the type of bacteria and the types of organic matter present, they may or may not need additional sources of N and P.

 

[diabolical_clownfish]

Probably the last update: alkalinity back to 11.5, calcium at 440, nitrate at 4.8 (dosed 0.8g of potassium nitrate).

I also dosed 3 mL of Vibrant to introduce bacteria that compete with the stringy white slime. It was a success and the stringy stuff went away overnight. The next day, I see a bunch of white slime covering the rocks, which I blew away with a turkey baster and changed the clogged filter floss multiple times. Today, I still see some white stuff covering the rocks and crevices, but not too bad. The corals are open and seems happy.

I'm going to let alk drop a bit more and restart dosing All-for-Reef.

Thanks everyone!

 

[MyFirstCar]

One possible explanation for what happened here is that the AFR consuming bacteria population needed time to grow, meaning that there was a lot of unprocessed All For Reef (AFR) (I forget the specific name of the chemical but I think it's calcium acetate) in the system. Over time with continued dosing, in addition to the extra calcium dosing you did, caused an cal/alk time bomb in the system. As soon as the bacterial population grew, it started to exponentially process the AFR causing a large overdose of cal and alk.

 

[diabolical_clownfish]

One possible explanation for what happened here is that the AFR consuming bacteria population needed time to grow, meaning that there was a lot of unprocessed All For Reef (AFR) (I forget the specific name of the chemical but I think it's calcium acetate) in the system. Over time with continued dosing, in addition to the extra calcium dosing you did, caused an cal/alk time bomb in the system. As soon as the bacterial population grew, it started to exponentially process the AFR causing a large overdose of cal and alk.

Oh interesting, that is definitely possible.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Probably the last update: alkalinity back to 11.5, calcium at 440, nitrate at 4.8 (dosed 0.8g of potassium nitrate).

I also dosed 3 mL of Vibrant to introduce bacteria that compete with the stringy white slime. It was a success and the stringy stuff went away overnight. The next day, I see a bunch of white slime covering the rocks, which I blew away with a turkey baster and changed the clogged filter floss multiple times. Today, I still see some white stuff covering the rocks and crevices, but not too bad. The corals are open and seems happy.

I'm going to let alk drop a bit more and restart dosing All-for-Reef.

Thanks everyone!

Uh oh. Vibrant is not bacteria at all, but an algaecide. I strongly recommend not using it unless it is a chemical algaecide that you want. It’s one of the big product snafus of 2022.

 

[diabolical_clownfish]

Uh oh. Vibrant is not bacteria at all, but an algaecide. I strongly recommend not using it unless it is a chemical algaecide that you want. It’s one of the big product snafus of 2022.

Uh oh. I mean I bought it a few months ago to deal with some hair algae (which are still present in the tank) and just had some left (I know, should really get out of the habit of using left overs).

I saw from another thread on white slime (which I can't find at the moment) that the rationale is that introducing another bacteria will compete with the white slime bacteria for food (organics, etc). Dr. Tim's Refresh and Vibrant were mentioned as the candidates. In that spirit, I also forgot to mention that I added some Microbacter7 with the water change as well - more bacteria.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Uh oh. I mean I bought it a few months ago to deal with some hair algae (which are still present in the tank) and just had some left (I know, should really get out of the habit of using left overs).

I saw from another thread on white slime (which I can't find at the moment) that the rationale is that introducing another bacteria will compete with the white slime bacteria for food (organics, etc). Dr. Tim's Refresh and Vibrant were mentioned as the candidates. In that spirit, I also forgot to mention that I added some Microbacter7 with the water change as well - more bacteria.

The rationale was good, just a bad product. It also happens to be a bactericide, so maybe it just killed it.