Thick brown slime in frag rack.

[Jake_the_reefer]

So I've been battling this thick brown slime that had killed my Hollywood stunner coral and is covering my frag racks. I have no idea what it is or what is causing it. All other coral specimens including sps are doing perfectly fine. Any tips?
Nitrates and phosphates are currently an issue and I am working on lowering them. There is no other form of algae in the tank besides this slime.

 

[zert11797]

Work on the nitrates and phosphates and it'll probably go away

 

[JGT]

So I've been battling this thick brown slime that had killed my Hollywood stunner coral and is covering my frag racks. I have no idea what it is or what is causing it. All other coral specimens including sps are doing perfectly fine. Any tips?
Nitrates and phosphates are currently an issue and I am working on lowering them. There is no other form of algae in the tank besides this slime.

Diatoms, dinos or cyano. Get your nitrates and phosphates under control and they should diminish over time.

 

[JAC-]

Work on the nitrates and phosphates and it'll probably go away

Seconded. Does it look the same under white light?

 

[kartrsu]

It could be dinos or diatoms. Are there any air bubbles trapped by the slime? If you were to get a sample of it in a cup, try stirring aggressively to disperse the slime. If it recollects, it is def dinos. Otherwise diatoms. Start there, treatments are different for each one.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Seconded. Does it look the same under white light?

Yeah looks the same under white.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

It could be dinos or diatoms. Are there any air bubbles trapped by the slime? If you were to get a sample of it in a cup, try stirring aggressively to disperse the slime. If it recollects, it is def dinos. Otherwise diatoms. Start there, treatments are different for each one.

Its not dino thankfully. I tested by filtering the water and slime through a filter sock and it doesn't recollect.

 

[kartrsu]

Diatoms or cyano then. I think usually cyano smells worse lol. Not sure if you have a microscope, but best way to confirm. If not, probably control those nutrients to start and consider replacing filters in rodi system if old and TDS > 0. Do you have chemi clean?

 

[JAC-]

Yeah looks the same under white.

Recently fought something very similar and was fighting phosphates and nitrates too at the same time. Got those under control using GFO, adding microbacter7 and carbon dosing with vinegar, added UV sterilization, paused water changes, daily change filter pads, and added a couple of Trochus snails and in 2 weeks it was all gone. Nothing but a small patch of cyano left.

The big problem with my method is it was a wide range of solutions that were kinda targeted at everything.

Worked great for me though and saved all my corals, both sps and lps.

I hope that's helpful.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Recently fought something very similar and was fighting phosphates and nitrates too at the same time. Got those under control using GFO, adding microbacter7 and carbon dosing with vinegar, added UV sterilization, paused water changes, daily change filter pads, and added a couple of Trochus snails and in 2 weeks it was all gone. Nothing but a small patch of cyano left.

The big problem with my method is it was a wide range of solutions that were kinda targeted at everything.

Worked great for me though and saved all my corals, both sps and lps.

I hope that's helpful.

I have micro bacter7 actually. How much should I use and how often? Whole take volume is around 60g

 

[andrewkw]

Is the eggcrate new? How well was it washed out? I've gotten similar stuff when replacing eggcrate.

 

[JAC-]

I have micro bacter7 actually. How much should I use and how often? Whole take volume is around 60g

I was dosing 10ml every night in a 40 gallon system. Some calculation I made up based on something I read on the bottle and probably rounded up.