What is this stuff?

[Fishfreak_MA]

Hey guys. So I've had this... I don't even know what to call it, on my rocks and such since I started Carbon dosing. Maybe before but I hadn't noticed. I have noticed that as my dose increased so did this stuff. I'm at the point where my nitrate (Red Sea) and my phosphates (Milwaukee chlorimeter) are both 0 or undetectable anyway. I've been backing off the dose slowly, only made it to 1ml on a 75 gallon system approx. Well anyway it's spreading more now. It was mostly confined to two large base rocks but now I see it even on my frag plugs on my zooanthid rock. If anyone can ID and give pointers on how to be rid of it is appreciate if. At the moment I've turned off the vodka pump so no carbon at all but I don't think that's the sole cause unless it's a bacteria. I did have some alone in my new fuge a few weeks ago but that cleared up as soon as I increased flow a little.

 

[Naiad]

Looks like bacterial overgrowth

 

[Brian Kim]

It could be a bacteria bloom, some people had good results using UV and wet skimming to rid of them. [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG] for further assistance

 

[cincyreef]

Following along, as over the past few weeks I've noticed this popping up all over my rocks.

 

[Diesel]

Mmmmm, maybe a closer pic of the stuff but looks to me some kind of algae.

 

[Fishfreak_MA]

I tried to get some more pics of it close up. Sorry if it's still lousy. I'm using my iPhone so it's tough to get a macro photo.

 

[kv69]

That is a reaction that happens, you should reduce your dose and it will go away.. you can siphon it off as well. Same thing happened to me when I started dosing carbon.

Maybe cut it in half or more when you start back.. And more flow in the DT will maybe help clear it up.

 

[Diesel]

I will stick with algae.
Some would say Dino's but algae develops oxygen bubbles too.
One thing you can try is turn lights off for three days and cover tank as no daylight can come in too.
Let us see what the Squad will have for ideas or options [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

 

[Fishfreak_MA]

I seem to be getting a lot of different ideas. Personally I almost think it might be bacteria but I can't say. I never had a cloudy bloom from the dosing. I've also never seen a milky opaque colored algae before. If it was Dino's like I had thought originally I would have expected to see it on the sand a lot more. I've stopped the carbon dosing for now. I would have lowered it but I'm barely dosing at it was so perhaps I never needed too. I just have somewhat heavy fish stocking and I like to feed so I didn't want nitrates to run away on me.

 

[kschweer]

That's a tough one. On one hand it looks like it could be the start of hair algae and on the other I could see it being bacterial. See how it goes with stopping carbon dosing. Also maybe try to blow it off the rocks with a turkey baster or small power head.

 

[kv69]

If its milky, then it is from overdosing carbon. search Randy's thread on it. He actually helped me with this exact issue. BTW, I finally gave up on carbon dosing... Skimmer and GAC carbon. GFO when I need it. AND YES! extract it however you can.

If you use filter socks clean them daily so it wont blow up in your sump... happened to me...

 

[Fishfreak_MA]

Ah after looking at Randy's thread I think it is definitely from the carbon dosing. I will stop dosing for a few weeks and hopefully it will clear up. Perhaps I'll try vinegar dosing after that if my Nitrates rise as I would be able to do a smaller dose easier than with the vodka. Even cutting it 4 to one with RO/DI water it's hard to use the dosing pump at such a low level that it seems I need.

 

[cincyreef]

This is strange. I have the same stuff and I don't do any type of carbon dosing at all. I tried to siphon some out last water change, and it seemed to help some, but mine is still hanging around.

 

[Fishfreak_MA]

I'll let you know if mine goes away after I quit the carbon dosing cincyreef. If not I guess I'll be hunting for more answers as to what it is myself.

 

[cincyreef]

@Fishfreak_MA --- Any progress with this? I went to my LFS store today, and showed them some pics I have, which look exactly like yours. He was 99% certain its a bacteria. Advised I use some peroxide on it, but I'm a little hesitant to do that yet.

 

[Fishfreak_MA]

Mine is slowly fading but still present. There's much less than when I posted the photos but it's definitely still on the rocks. Hopefully with time it will go away completely. Be advised that when I stopped carbon dosing completely I lost a snowflake clown and my flame angel. The flame was new and stressed to begin with but the snowflake seemed healthy and my other one is still fine. After 2 days I woke up and all my fish where extremely stressed and breathing hard. I instantly assumed it was oxygen deprivation from the die off. I thought I'd be okay because I have a large skimmer good flow and a hang on the back Aqua fuge that all create gas exchange. I began dosing again at half the amount and by the next day conditions seemed back to normal. Since then I've been slowly lowering my carbon dose to manage the die off. If you use peroxide just watch out for that. I doubt it would kill it off that fast in the low concentration your using, actually I doubt it will at all because I tried myself but I was also still dosing when I did so maybe it will work but yeah just watch your fish for signs of stress. Good luck. I'll try and get a picture of how it looks now in a little bit and post for you.

 

[cincyreef]

Mine is slowly fading but still present. There's much less than when I posted the photos but it's definitely still on the rocks. Hopefully with time it will go away completely. Be advised that when I stopped carbon dosing completely I lost a snowflake clown and my flame angel. The flame was new and stressed to begin with but the snowflake seemed healthy and my other one is still fine. After 2 days I woke up and all my fish where extremely stressed and breathing hard. I instantly assumed it was oxygen deprivation from the die off. I thought I'd be okay because I have a large skimmer good flow and a hang on the back Aqua fuge that all create gas exchange. I began dosing again at half the amount and by the next day conditions seemed back to normal. Since then I've been slowly lowering my carbon dose to manage the die off. If you use peroxide just watch out for that. I doubt it would kill it off that fast in the low concentration your using, actually I doubt it will at all because I tried myself but I was also still dosing when I did so maybe it will work but yeah just watch your fish for signs of stress. Good luck. I'll try and get a picture of how it looks now in a little bit and post for you.

Sorry to hear about your fish loss, that stinks. Appreciate the heads up though about possible die off. Hope we can both get rid of this stuff!

 

[Bunnee911]

I discovered this stuff in my BC29 yesterday. I was dosing Red Sea no3 po4x

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

I wouldn't have stopped carbon dosing all at once. I had the same thing happen when I started carbon dosing, and I slowly backed off the dosage until it disappeared. It looks ugly but is otherwise harmless unless you stop dosing all at once and starve off the bacteria.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

what are your nitrate and phosphate levels?