Can you guess what this growth means

[Justin Cook]

If it happened to me, I'd reach out to @SantaMonica and rely on their expertise. In fact, I might hit them up on Twitter since they seem to respond on there too. Good folks those Santa Monica people. Surely they wouldn't hold us all in suspense like this.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Can you guess what happened to this upflow scrubber? This is the only picture ever found like this, so it's certainly unique. Here are a few different size pics:

I'd get that checked

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

My wife is gonna get mad you posted a picture of her dinner she made last night!

Bad meatloaf

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Can you guess what happened to this upflow scrubber? This is the only picture ever found like this, so it's certainly unique. Here are a few different size pics:

looks like something from the movie Aliens. Except it doesn't come out of someone's body

 

[seaplane]

Someone has mistaken it for a spittoon;Vomit

 

[Dkeller_nc]

Methinks Santa Monica is just messing with us. 3 weeks is waaaayyyyy too long for a thread like this.

 

[Scooter90254]

Probably ate one of the mushrooms and is on a crazy trip!

 

[SantaMonica]

Ah funny, but will have the results this month.

 

[rkpetersen]

What was the question again?

 

[TriggerFinger]

Well @SantaMonica, it’s the last day of April so do we get an answer on the mystery blob?

 

[Justin Cook]

Well @SantaMonica, it’s the last day of April so do we get an answer on the mystery blob?

They'll post at 11:59 Pacific time because, well, just because.

 

[MnFish1]

It is a larger type of macroalgae - like kelp. growing....

 

[Retro Reefer]

Almost looks like Neomeris annulata covered in bacteria.. what would caused this I haven’t a clue

 

[snorklr]

i would approach that in a hazmat suit with a flamethrower...notify the CDC...and get out of the hobby forever

 

[SantaMonica]

Ok, the winner is....

Jeff Bednarek:
"Looks like output holes got clogged and exposed too much air to the top half. Then the lights cooked the moist algae in the air pocket"
Clay, NY, USA

And the almost-winners are...

David Price:
"I believe what happened is the filter screen got clogged with too much algae not allowing enough water to flow through the area that turned yellow/brown color causing the algae in that area to die."
Cranberry Twp. PA USA

Tiago Gomes Silva Simões:
"Overgrown and clogged. But it had to be like that for a long time"

Josh Graves:
"Went without maintenance for 8 months"
north port Fl USA

Gareth Barber:
"Water level dropped and light cooked and dried the algae"
Gareth Barber, Wauchope NSW Australia

Here is what happened: I installed this unit on a large tank myself, and made sure the light timer was 18 hours, and the bubbles were 24 hours, and the shade cloth was half covering the lights. After 3 weeks the cloth was removed and growth continued to get thicker. The person running the tank said he would handle the cleaning thereafter. I finally heard from him 6 months later, saying this photo is how it looks today, on its very first cleaning. Yes, first cleaning. So it had not been opened or adjusted for 6 months.

So the growth got heavy inside and blocked to the top air hole, which caused an air pocket to push the water down halfway. The top half then got more light and less water, and grew thick slime (which is still alive and removing nutrients from the water). And around top air hole you can see how the slime let go and started to fall down, but the Green Grabber rocky textures still held it in place without letting it float away. Also this amount of slime is rarely seen on waterfall scrubbers, because their smooth screens and the weight of the algae causes the slime to let go. But the Green Grabber rocky textures hold on.

The strings are visible, which many people thought were worms or anemones. No, just strings holding on to growth. The strings don't hold slime as well as the rocky textures though, which is why strings are recommended for saltwater only (the slime in freshwater does not need strings). The bottom half was growing normally, and even started to pull upwards on the bottom section because there are no textures there, just smooth plastic.

Here are the remaining entries....

Sirrahn Nelms Was Donohue:
"Lack of water flow and too much light"
Plymouth, uk

Richard Miller:
"The user put a soft coral (leather frag) inside the unit and tried to grow it out? Supply pump was off for several days causing zero oxygen levels and then restarted"
Port Saint Lucie FL USA

لؤي خليف
"Make the half in the water and the other half out of the water ... and leave it clean for a long time"
luay khalifa, Germany

Phil Peekay Kent:
"They thought the food rating was how much food the scrubber needed and were adding food directly into the chamber"
Brisbane, Qld, Australia.

Tommy Filthiest Hua:
"Half the LED panel died and was only lighting half the algae"
Sydney NSW Australia

Dwight Whitey Burgess Jr:
"Not enough air in that area"
Baltimore md., Usa

Jesse Boyko:
"Didn't properly clean it the first time. Not enough light?"
Canada

Joshua Benson:
"Used vibrant to get rid of bubble algae and nuked the algae in it"
Josh Benson Bristol WI USA

David Wiseman:
"Looks lack of water flow and the light caused bacteria bloom"
David Wiseman. Nv usa

Travis Lund:
"Was trying to get more nutrients into the system by dosing and overdid it"
Hampstead NC, 28443

Michal Fessler:
"Did not clean it with in the recommend 2 weeks. As well as light on for 24 hours"
Macomb Mi, 48044

Jim Hart:
"Some type of zoas tried growing in it,my guess, they got sucked in or were mistakenly placed in"

David Schaelling:
"Had it mounted in the tank instead of the sump, was not flat against the glass/acrylic, anemone found a way in and rotted away"
Astoria, Or
USA

Brandon Pfeiffer:
"Seeded it with their own mangroves"
St Louis MO

Ian Pollock:
"Calcium doser to close to input, Causing calcification"
Bath, Uk

Bosco Octave:
"The water was rich in nutrients and the tank received no or inadequate water change. The unit may have been on 24/7 and/or the aeration was not adequate in the unit or water flow out of the unit was restricted."
Ameya Gudekar, Melbourne, Australia

Chris Downs:
"The batteries on the auto feeder were dying and it dumped all the pellet food out."
Chris Downs Bohemia NY, USA

Mark M. Davis:
"Forgot to turn on half the lights. Mark M. Davis Tucson, Arizona"

Mark Brown:
"Not enough water flow and did not clean it properly"
Massachusetts usa

Mike Schell:
"Over dosed carbon dosing. Mike schell Kindred, ND U.S.A."

Tyler Westover:
"Slime not removed and overgrew"
Spanish fork, UT USA

Lisa DiMercurio"
"Are those worms?"

Devon Murby"
"Power loss"
Attleboro Massachusetts United states

Robert Fowler:
"Im gonna guess too long of a photo period or they didnt properly acclimate the lights."

Nick Ellis:
"It looks like someone shut off the return pump for maintenance and forgot to turn the heater and lights to the scrubber off which boiled the water and algae"
Akron, Ohio USA

Jordan Mullan:
"Air pump was below aquarium. Water got into line. No flow, so algae got gross"

Andrew Nolan Calvo:
"Looks like the water Sat stagnant and went anaerobic"

Mathieu Poulin:
"Stop cleaning it and let thé light on"
Canada, Québec

Eric Barello:
"Looks like it sucked up some kind of sponge that grew and restricted flow and the top area was exposed to oxygen for too long"
Harford county maryland.

Nickolas Brock:
"Voltage leak"
Jacksonville Florida u.s.a.

Jeff Larson:
"I think he left the lights on for to long"
Marquette Michigan

Matt Green:
"Put too strong of an air pump on it"
Tucson Arizona

Joshua Mummery"
"Inserted their own macro algea and had a major bloom"
Tucson Arizona

Jim Stime Jr:
"Allowed the water level to drop too low"

Spot Oliver:
"The salinity of the aquarium was above 1.035 causing odd algae in a tropical water system, or it’s from a cold water system that didn’t have a properly Calibrated refractometer based on water temp."

Samantha Nicole:
Left lights on 24/7

Jonathan Jones:
"Looks to me like it just sat in a shut off tank. Then died an molded"
El Reno, Oklahoma

Jason Teed:
"He placed it in his sump by his refrugium, and set the timer opposite of the light for his refrugium"
Washington twp, mi, United states

adobo_reef:
"This looks like too much light or too much air coming in"

Ivan:
Run out of water and dry out ; Supply water problem

robert_ellis:
Placed it flat with not enough flow instead of vertical? Not enough light also.
Fullerton, ca

Luis Carlos Vitorino:
"Looks like melted plastic"
Pacífico, Guaratinguetá, São Paulo, Brasil

Lexinverts:
"Too much light, and not enough dark hours"
Corvallis

cjmdh:
"Didn't clean it"

xmas_one
No air pump

TaylorW:
"Looks moldy, not enough water running through it"
Gaston, Oregon

kjlife:
"Not enough flow because it wasn't cleaned"
Cornelius or.

Mesamech"
"The LED lights were not covered with cloth during initial start up. He used too small of scrubber for the amount of nutrients run in his system."

householdofpayne"
"Used with nopox"
Estacada

Derbird:
"Ran 24-7 without clearing off the algae growth"
Milwaukie, Oregon

BeardUp"
"Lack of cleaning which lead to lack of flow and build up of temp."

xxkenny90xx:
"Clogged/not enough flow"
Tacoma

waldend
Did they have an improper water level? Either from evaporation or from not installing it properly from the start?
Lafayette IN, USA.