Grayish fuzzy attacking coral

[Piranha76]

Tank is 10 years old
PO .09ppm always runs high
NO3 0
NO3 2ppb
Light 8 hours per day

Tried
:reef flux, algaefix, time waste away, UV unit, 7 day blabk outs. Corals snow with MB7. I tried no water changes for three weeks and then water changes every week. No luck.

When I scrub it away. It's full grown back within 3 hours.

Anyone know what it is and how to kill it?

 

[KrisReef]

No, not specifically, but it looks like it might be a sponge?

And If it is I thing a quick 30 second dip in RODI might do the trick?

take pictures if you try this. The zoas should handle the quick flush and I would expect the sponge to not survive the osmotic injury.

Worth a shot if nothing else.

(Not to mention we’ll get rich selling sponge dip!)

 

[Piranha76]

Bump

 

[OriginalUserName]

How substantial is with when you scrape it off? I've had a bit of something that looked like that before but I was never sure of an ID. I assumed it was some type of algae. You said it was "attacking" your zoas. Are they dying off or staying closed up?

RODI dip or peroxide perhaps on a small area to test it out is what I'd try.

 

[twentyleagues]

I dont think its a sponge. Thats kind of heavy flow so I doubt it will just turkey baster off. Can the rock come out? If so maybe a peroxide treatment.

Edit sorry @OriginalUserName I am at work so sometimes takes me a while to post I was trying to post that for like 20 min.

 

[Tahoe61]

Images are really hard to see.

If it grows back in 3 hours it's just makes sense it's Dino. Zoanthids react badly to Dino.

What I did to combat the Dino

1. Complete black out 3 days. Then reduction in photoperiod. If I saw development of strings off the lights went.
2. No water changes.
3. Turkey baster to remove daily, clean mechanical filtration once debris settles.
4. Consider dosing some nitrate supplements.

With all that said a 10 year old tank might needs a new sand bed. That a whole other can of worms.

 

[Piranha76]

Used dino x with 7 day black outs twice with no change. Tried no water changes for four months. No change. I was hoping it would boom and bust but that didn't happen.

Zoas are angry but not dying. Plays are dying. All my torches and octos died.

 

[twentyleagues]

Used dino x with 7 day black outs twice with no change. Tried no water changes for four months. No change. I was hoping it would boom and bust but that didn't happen.

Zoas are angry but not dying. Plays are dying. All my torches and octos died.

Oh wow its everywhere. Does and doesnt look like dinos. Might need a microscope to try and verify if it is or isnt and if so what kind.

 

[JohnNYC8]

Just spitballing because it sounds like you've tried a lot: what if you pull some water out and spray an exposed area with hydrogen peroxide?

 

[Piranha76]

Just spitballing because it sounds like you've tried a lot: what if you pull some water out and spray an exposed area with hydrogen peroxide?

Dosing 3 percent 15 ml every two hours during the night.

 

[Piranha76]

So no one knows if it is Dinos, diatoms. Fungal or bacterial? It's not cyano because the color is generally is white.

 

[BristleWormHater]

So no one knows if it is Dinos, diatoms. Fungal or bacterial? It's not cyano because the color is generally is white.

Maybe bryopsis?

 

[KrisReef]

So no one knows if it is Dinos, diatoms. Fungal or bacterial? It's not cyano because the color is generally is white.

The scourge you have is not something I recall seeing anywhere else.
You used Dino X with zero results, so I discount Dinos. It doesn't look like fungus,
It looks like sponge, it grows quickly, perhaps more quickly than most sponges I have observed, but I will suggest again that you dip it in freshwater for 30 seconds and see if it dies like a sponge?

If that fails, then I would move toward antibiotics but that's not something to take lightly.

Who knows?

If it is bacterial, could the peroxide be promoting its growth?
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00072/full

 

[JohnNYC8]

Any update on treatments working/not working? Would love to know what this stuff is. It’s fascinating that it grows so rapidly in a mature tank.

 

[Piranha76]

I began using seachem metro and alternating with ruby kick ich, I did a a deep clean. Took out some heavy infested rocks. Still dosing h2o2 at night. Seems to not be growing back as fast. It still in areas I can't reach with my scrub brush.

 

[KrisReef]

I began using seachem metro and alternating with ruby kick ich, I did a a deep clean. Took out some heavy infested rocks. Still dosing h2o2 at night. Seems to not be growing back as fast. It still in areas I can't reach with my scrub brush.

Nice update.
Glad to hear that you are beating it back.

 

[Piranha76]

Came home after work to find a puddle on the ground. One of the drain pipes has decided to drip on me unfortunately I did this setup 8 years ago when it was thought best to use spa tubing instead of PVC. . Seems the thread lock with the female connectors has degraded. Gotta live this hobby.

 

[KrisReef]

Came home after work to find a puddle on the ground. One of the drain pipes has decided to drip on me unfortunately I did this setup 8 years ago when it was thought best to use spa tubing instead of PVC. . Seems the thread lock with the female connectors has degraded. Gotta live this hobby.

H2O2 is dissolving your joints?

Just be happy it wasn’t a crude oil leak

I trust tomorrow will be better.

 

[OriginalUserName]

Came home after work to find a puddle on the ground. One of the drain pipes has decided to drip on me unfortunately I did this setup 8 years ago when it was thought best to use spa tubing instead of PVC. . Seems the thread lock with the female connectors has degraded. Gotta live this hobby.

If it was easy everyone would do it.

That's what I tell myself when I want to pull my hair out at least.