Please advise!! Persistent light brown algea?

[ReelRednekReefer]

That last picture is what my white slime problem looked like. I don't think that's cyano. Keep dosing the Dr. Tims, it will go away.

I'd buy that also. When I scrub it off the rocks the stuff that won't scrub off is translucent and looks clear. I can see the rock under it. Any clue what causes white slime?

 

[ReelRednekReefer]

Just looked up white slime. First hit was an article about how alcohol distillates can be food for it. Guess what has phthalates??? Plug in air fresheners.....which my wife has always had in every room. This could explain why it happened in both tanks in separate states. But now how do I battle it when I know she's not gonna chuck the smell goods?

 

[Tommy's Reef]

Ok wene there's an algae bloom it's fast within a couple of hours,(it blows up) im talking about a bloom (bam its there) I'm not talking about green hair algae or bubble or other common algaes I'm talking about an algae bloom that's rarely seen. Ones that are not talked about cause theyre so rare I've seen them first hand wene I first started reefing (I woke up with a tank so cloudy u couldn't see a fish) but that's not what happened to you! It is a bacteria of sum rare sort you're dealing with it comes in slow and keeps getting nastier I promise you thats what it is,but you do have a bunch of diatoms also, diatoms release silicate a I think you have a combo of the 2 and there feeding each other

 

[Bunnee911]

Just looked up white slime. First hit was an article about how alcohol distillates can be food for it. Guess what has phthalates??? Plug in air fresheners.....which my wife has always had in every room. This could explain why it happened in both tanks in separate states. But now how do I battle it when I know she's not gonna chuck the smell goods?

I feel the same way about my scents. I use a warmer and wax melts. I have never had trouble with them.

 

[Tommy's Reef]

Ill tell u something else diatoms algae and bacteria aren't the same thing but they will feed off basically the same source and what ever you have will out compete any macro algae u put in there you gotta starve it

 

[Tommy's Reef]

I killed an strange bacteria diatom substance in my tank by sucking all the phosphate and silicate out the water using phosguard wene I tested phos and silicate on test kits they were both zero but I know that algae diatoms and bacteria suck that stuff up so fast to live that it can't even be detected on high range kits. But it can be detected by your eyes you see its there so throw ever thing at it I didn't see receding until after a month and a half of using phosguard everyday on the suggested dose I run it ever day in my tank since then buy the biggest bottle you can get and attack it, the phosguard out competes it

 

[Tommy's Reef]

Gfo is different it slowly pulls it out phosguard kicks it butt dude

 

[Tommy's Reef]

As phosguard removes it the rock t sand will leek more out and as the algae and diatoms and bacteria dies it will leek more out. That's why you stay on top of it with the phosguard until it's gone attack it and it will die

 

[ReelRednekReefer]

Ok..... 10 doses of Dr. Tim's Refresh and at best I saw slowed progression. 4 days ago I saw it returning however slower than normal, but that may have been form sump and deep sand cleaning. Sand is still clear but flow was inceased substantially so it may be slowed by the cleaning alone. Today is a 20g WC, siphon, rock scrub and media changes.

I'll see what happens by next WC the I'm open to phosguard, peroxide dosing or other ideas.

Here's what some rocks and over flow look like today. A turbo made its way into the overflow so it may have dislodged or eaten what was there 2 weeks ago.

 

[ReelRednekReefer]

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

@brandon429 is this a virulent diatom? new tank 10 months. added bacteria failed. cleaning failed.

Redneck your on rodi water? what did you do to get rid of the sponges?

[HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

man this should not be happening.

the massive pineapple bloom in #44 is a key here whatever this is.
sponges like bacteria and silicates then......

 

[ReelRednekReefer]

Still have some pineapple sponges. I did nothing intentionally to remove the sponges. I cleaned the tank well and stripped the sump clean when they were heavy. Sponges are and have been sparse since then and limited to dark spots in over flow. But growth is slow.

Yes I have always used RODI. Even added a second DI cartridge in case the first burns out while I'm not looking. Thought maybe I was getting trace elements in the water.

I did notice that the algea cleaned off easier this time and was about 75% less than it has been. My disposed water from tank was significantly cleaner than ever before. I mean it used to be brown and murky, took at least 30g WC clean sand and was cloudy for 12 hours. Today. It only took 10 gallons to clean sand and I changed another 10 since I mixed up 20. Tank is clear only 3 hours after pumps came back on.

Kind of thinking maybe I'm starting to beat it back. I think increasing flow and the big, deep cleaning along with improved flow threw rocks have helped. Skimmer seems to be working more consistently and socks clog faster so I think I'm getting more detritus to the sump so it can be removed.

Whole thing could possibly have been caused by many components working ineffectively or inefficiently.......or maybe it's some mutant algea.

Also the possibility of my cheap Chinese lights being wrong spectrum or something has crossed my mind. If it doesn't continue to decrease over the next couple months, Maybe I'll try t5s for a while.

@brandon429 What are your thoughts on all this?

 

[brandon429]

It's not as cool to instantly claim stumpage but that's the case heh. I have a policy where I pose chrysophytes to things that look like this Google compare some pics and hope it pans out


One nice thing about an external peroxide test of a suspect invader is it will likely clear it within 48 hours and if not, no real waste of time occurred. Not added to tank, but doused outside the tank well and put back in to see if it responds.

Whatever it is I've seen it test burnt before and even if that's not the major cure mode chosen over nutrient starving, it helps to know if it will respond to anything as you build your attack. I firmly predict it's no diatom or Dino and chryso was my go to guess for all these golden hued fuzzy things search and see if that's randomly close. I don't even know how chrysophytes feed or if they are plants can't wait to see

For second guess I like the bacterial mat claims above too, am going to reread and see if any carbon boosting goes on here that brings about the strangest counter invasions sometimes as irony

Two people I'd punt the ID to are John Maloney of reefcleaners/nano reef.com and or Shimek, R, but I don't remember which board he's on now last I heard was the marine depot forums

 

[ReelRednekReefer]

Based on google images....Chrysophytes is the best description to date. The limited info found says it silicate fueled. So how do I reduce silicates?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Usually it burns out. Like running out of gas. Leads me to ask where did you get your rock? Is it live real from the ocean or man made.

 

[ReelRednekReefer]

It's Marco rock. Got it from lfs in Florida. Been through several tanks, cleaned between all uses. Bleach, then acid wash and lanthanum chloride treatment prior to this tank.

 

[Texas Reefer]

More circulation?

 

[ReelRednekReefer]

Actually I have increased my gyre 150 to the point it dunes sand on the opposite end. Seems to have helped but don't think it's key to eliminating it all together.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Baffled. Never had that. What brandon is suggesting is to take a piece out and dip in the peroxide and put it back in. You may also want to use another solution like Iodine and to the same as a test

Heres Randy Farley on the subject. He suggests a raised PH and reduction in phosphates as a cure, agressive use of GFO. and a reduced photoperiod.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php

How old is the rock, in previous tanks where there phosphate problems? cyano etc? or was this the only outbreak?

 

[ReelRednekReefer]

Rock is 3 years old Last tank rock was bleached only and yes I had the same problem and that tank was bare bottom. PH has been a battle that I chose to pass on. Both tanks I had the issue with had low PH (7.8). This tank has cheato in sump with 24 hour lighting and fresh air line to skimmer. Never seen more than 8.0, 7.8 is typical. Tried kalkwasser briefly with dismal results. May need to try again more aggressively. Seems like increased PH with both dinos and Chrysophytes.