Beginnings of this brown slimy stuff Could really use some insight !

[cracker]

Hello, I'm starting to see this brown slimy stuff ( I have a pic for you). I had this before in another tank (under the same circumstances ) & it was impossible to get rid of. It started after running biopellets . At least that was then. I know so much more now thanks to all You good Folk here. Anyway, I had bad HA & bubble break out & have been doing the usual cutting back on food, running carbon, tuning the skimmer siphoning,water changes & manual removal. It's still there but not as bad as before. So just the past couple days I'm seeing tuffs of this brown stuff. It's growing more by the day. this is the same thing that happened last time.
I "have "to act now before it hits hard & takes over like before!
About the tank. It's a 75 mixed reef, total gls around 90. I can't read & never have been able to register any phosphates or nitrates. I assumed with all the HA ,there were plenty of nutrients.
I have a feeling this brown stuff is due to very low nutrients even though there is HA and need to add more.
All logic in "my mind " says this is counter intuitive. here are tank perams as of last night.
No3 zero
Po4 zero again never could find any of these two
Mg 1460
Alk 7.8 I dose a little prt 1 & 2 every eve
Ca 415
I use regular RedSea kits for no3 & po4 I have a t 5 fixture that runs 10 hrs 100% for 7 hrs. I have maybe 500 gph return & 3 mid size korallia's for water movement.
What I need know is this too low of nutrients theory of mine could be right.
I assume I need to get some no3 & po4 in this tank fast before this terrible brown slim takes over.
I only have 2 fish, a small basslet & lawnmower cleaner shrimp snails, a couple of tuxedo urchins and around 20 lps softies a couple of sps.
Here is what Iv'e done so far. I pulled the carbon & adding pinches of pellets.

I have pellets & plenty of food to add. I have stump remover also for no3. I have a water change ready so I can siphon out what's there now. The corals look just fine to my eye. I can answer just about any question You may have . I could really use some insight Folks As I'll go wacky if I get this brown slimy stuff take over again ! Which direction should I go?

 

[cracker]

Gonna give myself a bump here. I'm considering adding a couple tbls of stump remover tonight. I don't want to mess with the lights. So if I add pellets how much? don't wan to over do it. However I'd rather deal with the HA then this brown stuff. SoiIf I over do it & itworks so be it ! ?

 

[Barrett]

Do you have a picture? May help with id.

 

[jsker]

Deep breaths. what filter media are you running?

 

[cracker]

Sor ry My D butt forgot the pic !

 

[cracker]

Deep breaths? I'm already breathing in & out of a paper bag ! LOL No filter media I guess. Just a filter sock & carbon in a bag. Live rock & a regufium with Chaeto. That's it . I do have a biopellet reactor & I have a gfo reactor on the shelf both ready to go if needed. now I can siphon this stuff out & run it thru a sock & back into the tank. That's if I need to get nutrients in there ! do I stick ewith my current game plan of nutrient reduction or try to add nutrients?
Oh Man ! Where's did I put that paper bag !

 

[cracker]

After some thought at least I think I did. I'm going to dose to increase po4 & no3 . I will buy some additive for the po4 as I have the no3 covered with spectracide stump remover. We will see what happens with the existing HA & this brown scourge stuff.

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

Look up dinoflagellates and see if that is it. If so then suck it up with a turkey baster and try to ID the exact type. Treatment for dinos depends on which type you have.

 

[mcarroll]

Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

If you still have other algae growing, you might effect a complete turnaround just by bringing up your N and P numbers.

Check out that thread for all the particulars....and try to confirm whether what you have is dino's using one of the two methods on the thread (with or without a scope).

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Turn off the bio pellets , rinse them let them dry and go buy some corals my friend.

It's not cancer. I swear it's not.

Feed the fish healthfully. Keep the tank clean. Algaes and weird stuff cycle throuh your tank from time to time. A buddy of mine has a 40 year old tank. He'll tell you the same thing. You should talk to him he's funny and has a thing for supermodels.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

If it makes you feel better, I have something right now in my tank that will make your head melt.

 

[jsker]

Deep breaths? I'm already breathing in & out of a paper bag ! LOL No filter media I guess. Just a filter sock & carbon in a bag. Live rock & a regufium with Chaeto. That's it . I do have a biopellet reactor & I have a gfo reactor on the shelf both ready to go if needed. now I can siphon this stuff out & run it thru a sock & back into the tank. That's if I need to get nutrients in there ! do I stick ewith my current game plan of nutrient reduction or try to add nutrients?
Oh Man ! Where's did I put that paper bag !

LOL,
I agree with @mcarroll let you N and P come up. I like naturally bring them up.

 

[cracker]

Hello, & Thanks for the reply's ! The closest match Iv'e seen is Chrysophytes .
Here is my game plan. I'm going to look for some Po4 additive. I have No3 stuff already . If I end up ordering some, I'll add some pellets to the usual fish mush I feed.
I'll continue with the water changes & siphon/vacuuming ,manual removal of the green stuff.
You know You have too much Ha when the tuxedo coves it's back with the stuff.
Not sure on the sock & carbon? Anyway, I will do something to bring the Po4,No3 levels up and see what happens.
Hey Salty, I'm sure I know Your friend with the old tank. He lives on the east coast up in Yankee land where it snows .

 

[cracker]

Ok So I agree with doing things naturally, I could very well be over reacting to this With the additives .

 

[jsker]

Ok So I agree with doing things naturally, I could very well be over reacting to this With the additives .

I am dealing with the same stuff right now and after reading through a bunch of threads the general consensus is clean, and balance which we all pretty much do. I seems like the balance goes out of whack we want a quick correction. I will probably pull some filter media and feed and let the kids do the rest in the tank.

 

[mcarroll]

As long as you have fixed what led up to the chrysophyte bloom (in my case it was neglect and a serious spike up to 1.030 s.g.) then some basic remediation and some time should help a lot.

For me, I did:
a couple of 50% water changes to restore proper salinity and ion balance
scrubbed with a toothbrush daily around the corals that were getting choked out
dosed a little bit of KNO3 for a finite amount of time to goose up some other algae growth
ran carbon to absorb toxins – my pod population was wiped and I had no remaining snails
ran GFO on a 24-hr schedule for a few days to remove only silicates (only time I've ever run GFO)
the first batch of snails I added didn't make it; the second batch added several days (and carbon changes) later lived

You'd have to look up my posts for the exact timing, but my recollection is that once I figured out what the heck it was and finally got my treatment dialed in, I think it was only a matter of a 3-4 weeks before I had a pretty good turnaround. Cyano was the first "normal" algae to show up – I was never happier to see cyano. Some hair algae followed. I let both bloom as much as they wanted to....still do.

YMMV....my system was very old, being dosed A LOT of two-part, and very neglected at the time, so the bloom had lots of time to progress.

 

[cracker]

Thank You Miss Carol , I didn't really have an idea on which way to go with this. I did start seeing just a little bit 3 days ago but it was growing worse by the day .
So I will keep up with the cleaning & water changes stick with the sock,run carbon & feed some more. I'll also add a little No3 solution to raise it at least to where I can test for it.
I can get my hands on some Po4 additive Seachem flourish the LFS said. I'll do these things & see what happens. I'm also torn between the plans mentioned & sticking with the lite feeding & using additives . Seems I could control the levels better. All this second guessing isn't good regardless.
I also would much rather put up with the HA than this slimy stuff !

 

[cracker]

Good evening, So after a couple of weeks of dosing"just a little" just enough to see some using my regular Red Sea kits. I got rid of the brown stuff ! However I managed to create a literal hair algae farm.
So this time I will setup this phosban reactor I have. See what happens when I go this direction . The corals & fishes are doing just fine. Even a new 1st SPS ! Does this sound like a good game plan?
I have to remind myself this tank is for experimental use.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Good news Cracker!
I'd Grab some cuc , and Do be carful
With the gfo. Add slow.

And imo, it's all an experiment and training for the next one.

Is that a green Slimer?

 

[jsker]

Woot, Woot