Mucus Algae Identification

Y-Diver · Apr 10, 2011

I have had this slimy clear mucus spider web like algae start growing in my tank in the last week. In texture, is very similar to coral mucus in that it is stringy and slimy and clear however it is not coming from coral. I have mostly sps in the tank and they are all still doing very well with great polyp extension. The skimmer has been skimming much more lately and the mucus is making the water cloudy. I run carbon and GFO from midnight to noon each day. Water changes are made twice weekly. Tank parameters are as follows:

29 Gallon BC
Set up since January
Rock has been in system for 4 years or so
Temp - 77.5 - 78
Cal - 440
Mg - 1350
Alk - 8.6
Nitrates - 0
Phosphates - 0

Here are some pictures. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tyler

melev · Apr 10, 2011

The stuff in the first picture will bother those zoas, so I would siphon it out. It's a type of bacterial bloom, usually to consume something dead or dying.

Y-Diver · Apr 10, 2011

Thanks Marc! Is there a way to get rid of the bacterial bloom?

Thanks,

Tyler

Electrobes · Apr 10, 2011

Honestly I would continue turkey basting the tank and continue filtering the tank as normal. I would worry about what died to spike that bloom?

skinz78 · Apr 11, 2011

Pic # 2 and #3 look like Vermetid Snails to me, totally harmless but unsightly. I snip them off with my fragging shears and feed the snails to my fish.

melev · Apr 11, 2011

Y-Diver said:
Thanks Marc! Is there a way to get rid of the bacterial bloom?

Thanks,

Tyler

Siphon it out, first of all. For some people, they'll get this stuff everywhere. Others only see it when a fish dies, like what happened to me once.

If you are dosing vodka or vinegar, that MIGHT be another reason this stuff appeared. If you are, cut back your dosing a little bit for the time being and then ramp back up gradually over the next few weeks.

Electrobes · Apr 11, 2011

I didn't think about the possibility of carbon dosing causing the white funk cloud of problems. Good thing to keep in mind!

Y-Diver · Apr 11, 2011

I'm not doing any carbon dosing... I only have one fish and it is still kicking. Only thing that has did has been an emerald crab... I did change my carbon and GFO out last night in hopes that will help. There is enough of the mucus/slime in the water to make the water cloudy :-/ All parameters are in check and maintaining at a constant level throughout the day.

melev · Apr 11, 2011

Do you have a sump? Can you drain into a 100micron filter sock (not a mesh bag) for today? Clean the skimmer's cup and neck and try to export everything you can from the system immediately. You don't want this getting ahead of you. How cloudy is it? Is it a white cloud, essentially? Opaque, I mean.

Y-Diver · Apr 11, 2011

No sump... I don't have a filter sock. I'm skimming and changing water as much as possible. The water isn't super cloudy it just isnt crystal clear like normal. I can't figure out what might have died to cause the bloom. I have had an emerald crab that I have seen dead and a fungia... that's it. I maintain the thing like a religion and I think that is why I am so baffled!

melev · Apr 11, 2011

There are always variables that can cause stuff to crop up like this. Household cleaners, painting walls or varnishing furniture in the home, pest control products, carpet cleaning, contaminants on our hands, on the tools we use in our tank, kids playing nearby, contaminated food, sunlight hitting the tank, or just plain bad luck.

If you have Chemi-Pure, it clarifies tank water.

Y-Diver · Apr 11, 2011

10-4. May have just been some bad luck... I am going to keep the skimmer skimming wet, siphon as much out as possible during frequent water changes, & change the Carbon/GFO after a 3 or 4 days.

Thanks for the help and wish me luck!

Tyler

Y-Diver · Apr 14, 2011

I got this bacteria bloom beat I believe! Slime/Mucus is almost completely gone and water is almost as clear as normal! Here's how I beat it:

Several water changes siphoning mucus/slime out
Lots of carbon! I changed my carbon in my BRS reactor daily for 4 days...
Tuned my skimmer to skim very wet so it took more stuff out
Stopped feeding

I think all of these things helped to kick the bloom! I think the issue may have stemmed from overfeeding. I only have one fish and a shrimp in there and my neighbor watched the tank for 3 days while I was gone and most likely just over fed the tank. Thanks for the help and hopefully this will help others!

Tyler

fsu1dolfan · Apr 14, 2011

Y-Diver said:
I got this bacteria bloom beat I believe! Slime/Mucus is almost completely gone and water is almost as clear as normal! Here's how I beat it:

Several water changes siphoning mucus/slime out
Lots of carbon! I changed my carbon in my BRS reactor daily for 4 days...
Tuned my skimmer to skim very wet so it took more stuff out
Stopped feeding

I think all of these things helped to kick the bloom! I think the issue may have stemmed from overfeeding. I only have one fish and a shrimp in there and my neighbor watched the tank for 3 days while I was gone and most likely just over fed the tank. Thanks for the help and hopefully this will help others!

Tyler

Glad to hear you won the battle. Nothing like carbon and Water changes to fix a problem!! Wish all problems were fixed this way lol.

cheek_biz · Oct 28, 2015

Y-Diver said:
I got this bacteria bloom beat I believe! Slime/Mucus is almost completely gone and water is almost as clear as normal! Here's how I beat it:

Several water changes siphoning mucus/slime out
Lots of carbon! I changed my carbon in my BRS reactor daily for 4 days...
Tuned my skimmer to skim very wet so it took more stuff out
Stopped feeding

I think all of these things helped to kick the bloom! I think the issue may have stemmed from overfeeding. I only have one fish and a shrimp in there and my neighbor watched the tank for 3 days while I was gone and most likely just over fed the tank. Thanks for the help and hopefully this will help others!

Tyler

I'm glad to hear u got it under control.. U tips will hopefully help kill my battle that I'm goin thru with this same stuff rite now.. I have more of the stringy slimey stuff in the sump chambers but a few strands on my rock!! I've been siphoning out as much as I can, actually 2 1/2 gals of water a day trying to get it out!! So I'll jus stop feeding, wet skim, and add a lot of carbon?? Correct?..

ReefersDirect · May 8, 2017

Any updates on this?

BonelessEvil · Dec 11, 2018

I think I have this problem too. Good thread. I added a couple new fish last week and fed a little bit more algae to the tank to slow down the fighting (my yellow tang and coral beauty were going after my Foxface and PBT). it stopped the fighting, but tonight I noticed all these mucus like/weblike strands coming off the algae clip.