White hair like

[damaba]

 

I'v started a new headed to identify what this pest might be. it is covering almost all of my rocks and some of the walls and power heads in the tank. My tank has been up and running for 2 months from dry rock and live sand. I'v tried a black out and scrubbing the rocks but it seems to explode and has now covered everything. I'm feeding just a few flakes once a week to keep bacteria feed and the 2 small hermits in the tank feed. My Cerith snails are either not moving or are dead. Please help.

 

Tank Stats

Ph: 7.8
Temperature: 78°
Salinity: 1.024
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 - 5 ppm

Phosphate:0 ppm

I'v done some reading and I think it could be several things like bacteria, proteus,fungus or dinos. No definitive answer yet, I just want to know how to get rid of it.

[Weetabix7]

I haven't encountered this before, hoping someone else has and can help you.

[thedon986]

Have you felt the texture of it? It is hair-like or feel like a hair algae would? Or is it slime-like? If slime, I had an issue in the past from having an air freshener plugged in for a few days. Seemed to explode out of no where as you are saying, I think it was due to the VOCs in the air freshener.

[jamescstein]

Looks like a bacterial bloom. My wifes 120G gets them occasionally when we forget to keep up the carbon dosing we started on the tank last year. Like like a cotton fuzz all over the rocks.

 

From my understanding it is due to a bacterial imbalance, usually caused by a spike in either NH3 or NO3-. Bacteria over populate to deal with it, eventually things will level out and go away.

 

Her new seahorse tank went through a phase of it while cycling. She used a seachem product and the name escapes me at the moment and ammonia to cycle, shortly after the ammonia levels dropped to around 0 the fuzz appeared. Was gone in less than a week.

 

Did you use any type of speed cycle product?

[damaba]

Bio spira was used. And I stupidly was carbon dosing for about 2 weeks with sugar when in all reality I just needed to let the tank mature.

[gulfsurfer101]

You see this white slime in most cases where people over do it with carbon dosing. There's no need to carbon dose a new tank. Only a mature heavily populated tank fed heavily.

[Mariaface]

Yehp, bacterial. Up the flow in the tank, dose something like Microbakter or Stability so you're adding denitrifying bacteria to outcompete.

 

Instead of feeding the tank, find pure ammonia (no surfactants, just ammonium chloride) and add a few drops per day (or enough to get to 2ppm). Once you can dose ammonia and test 0ppm ammonia/nitrite less than 24 hours later, you should be cycled.

[damaba]

Yehp, bacterial. Up the flow in the tank, dose something like Microbakter or Stability so you're adding denitrifying bacteria to outcompete.

 

Instead of feeding the tank, find pure ammonia (no surfactants, just ammonium chloride) and add a few drops per day (or enough to get to 2ppm). Once you can dose ammonia and test 0ppm ammonia/nitrite less than 24 hours later, you should be cycled.

Actually I think the tank has finished it cycle. All test are reading 0

[Mariaface]

Actually I think the tank has finished it cycle. All test are reading 0

 

If the bacteria using up the food you're adding are actually the slime growing on the rocks, and you get rid of them, the cycle will start over. I'd get rid of them first and see where you stand with the cycle then..

[damaba]

Still battling what ever this is. I'v scrubed and reduced the lighting but still this brown/white fur seames to cover everything. I thought it might be lyngbya so at the moment I'm raising my magnesium with Kent marine tech m. If that doesn't work I'll move onto dosing with microbackter7.

 

This is a current picture of what every rock and surface is beginning to look like.

 

[damaba]

I'v been running the tank with lights off every 2 days and then 1 day of lights on, man this stuff grows fast! Its covered my rocks, glass walls and all equipment. Water parameter are all in check and I'v keep the magnesium levels above 1600PPM. I don't think that this helped as this is probably not Lyngbya. I'll be scrubbing the rocks this weekend, gravel syphoning the sand bed and cleaning all the equipment. I also just got in my Microbacter7 and started to dose last night, my fingers are crossed that this will help increase the good bacteria to out compete whatever this is.

 

Heres a look at the tank a week after fully being cleaned.

[damaba]

Tank Stats

Ph: 8.2
Temperature: 78°
Salinity: 1.024
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

Phosphate: .25 ppm

Maintenance:

Replace GFO

Replace Carbon

2 gallons added to ATO reservoir

1 gallon changed out from the Sicce canister filter

2 gallons changed from tank

 

Brushed rocks to remove unknown white/brown fuzz scrubs all equipment with electric tooth brush

Tank update:

 

Since Friday I have been dosing my tank with microbacter7. Im trying to get a hold of whatever this white/brown short furry hairs that seams to cover everything. The tank received a complete scrub down of all rocks and equipment on Saturday along with a 20% water change and new filter media. I kept the lights off sat and sun and things looked good. so I switched the lights back on today and when I Im starting to see this same stuff starting to cover everything . It seems like it really likes light maybe I should get something like alagefix? I'm at a loss to what I can do next? Please help. I really starting to tear my hair out.

[Mariaface]

You just moved to dosing Microbakter less than a week ago, right? Just keep at it with the husbandry and bacteria dosing, try to vacuum the sandbed with each water change, rinse the rocks in old tank water post-scrub so you don't leave loose filaments in the tank, etc. That stuff, whatever it is, has a monopoly on nutrient uptake; you'll need to keep outcompeting it.

[metrokat]

MB7 is good, you can add Dr Tims to the mix. Basically bacterial additives which are available in the hobby are nitrifying bacteria, adding those will eventually out compete the current strain of bacteria in your tank.

If you have no corals you can keep the lights off, it will help with algae blooms.

You could try to read about carbon dosing and how it leads to one strain of bacteria populating the tank over time. I'm sure people with the same problem might have solutions that have not been suggested.

[GHill762]

I've been fighting a very similar looking stuff in my tank, I've really been struggling to get rid of it. I've been doing 20% weekly water changes and physically removing as much as possible, stuff still has a hold on many surfaces. I'm pretty sure mine came about because of over-doing it with carbon dosing as well.

[damaba]

Thanks for the pep talks. I'v wrapped the tank in black plastic and am doing a black out till Saturday. Also I'll continue to dose the micro7.

[damaba]

Tank update,

So after a 72 hour black out and raising the PH to 8.5 this is how the tank looks. I'v given the rocks another light scrubbing with a toothbrush and set my lighting to 1/2 intensity and for 7 hours, also I'm continuing to dose the micro7. I'm pleased but still dreading that nasty stuff coming back.

Tank Stats

Ph: 8.0
Temperature: 78°
Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

Phosphate: 0 ppm

Calcium: 400 ppm

KH: 161.1 ppm

[metrokat]

Voila!

I say keep the lights off for an addition few days just to make sure the stuff isn't coming back.

Then reduce the photo period significantly - ramp it up very slowly.

Don't stop with the bacteria dosing. But if you continue to see good things then ease up on the dosing.

[damaba]

Voila!

I say keep the lights off for an addition few days just to make sure the stuff isn't coming back.

Then reduce the photo period significantly - ramp it up very slowly.

Don't stop with the bacteria dosing. But if you continue to see good things then ease up on the dosing.

So I think the mysterious white/brown fur has been out compet by the microbacter7. So far this week I'v been running the light at about 30% strength and I have continued to dose microbacter7. There is a thin layer of what I believe to be brown cyano and some patches of red cyano. Should I go lights out again? Or try to suck thing stuff out?

 

[Mariaface]

Is it getting worse throughout the week? Most tanks go through this 'uglies' stage when there are nutrients for basic algae to take hold. Could be silicates, phosphates, nitrates, etc. Make sure your CUC is adequate for keeping up with the new algae (don't over do it or they'll starve later), make sure your filtration is up to par as well, and just keep trucking and dosing Microbakter. If you like, pick up some macroalgae to out-compete even further.

 

EDIT: I should mention. If you don't have photosynthetic animals in the tank, there's really no point to having the lights running -- the only things that'll use the light and feed off nutrients in the water will be the pest cyano/algae.

[damaba]

Is it getting worse throughout the week? Most tanks go through this 'uglies' stage when there are nutrients for basic algae to take hold. Could be silicates, phosphates, nitrates, etc. Make sure your CUC is adequate for keeping up with the new algae (don't over do it or they'll starve later), make sure your filtration is up to par as well, and just keep trucking and dosing Microbakter. If you like, pick up some macroalgae to out-compete even further.

 

EDIT: I should mention. If you don't have photosynthetic animals in the tank, there's really no point to having the lights running -- the only things that'll use the light and feed off nutrients in the water will be the pest cyano/algae.

Yes it's getting worse each day. I had the lights on to try and stimulate coralline alage growth and other benefits like alage for the clean up crew to munch on. The hermit crabs seem happy but most of my cerith snails are not moving or are have been sacrificed to the hermit crabs. The nerit snails seem happy though and the crabs don't go for them.

 

Another 3 day light out and then I'll do a 10 percent water change. Also I'll keep up on microbacter7

[metrokat]

It looks like a regular progression after a cycle now to me. You'll need snails for the diatoms. You can ease off the MB7 and dose occasionally, one a week or less.