Never ending bacterial bloom that returns once UV is removed

[Druinz]

Very well articulated post, much appreciated @MnFish1. To answer some questions - yes I'm running GAC, as well as some fine filter floss in a Zoo-Med Cannister filter to work as a sort of reactor. Water's fairly polished..
I do have a skimmer but i've recently stopped using it (last day or two) since it's just abyssmal. It CHUGS out microbubbles and I've had it "breaking in" for about 2 months now. (Aquatic Life Internal Skimmer).

I've been feeding very sparsely since I've only one fish. I have also tried adding nitrifying bacteria which did not change the situation at all. I followed the instructions and added the recommended amount every day for over a week until it ran out, but it didn't change anything (assuming since tank was already cycled with nitrifying bacteria)

As for fluctuations that could be causing this:
I haven't run the UV in a very long time,
I've set up an ATO so that wouldn't fluctuate
I've slightly aimed the powerhead more towards the surface
In general I don't think there could be any fluctuations that would cause this..

 

[MnFish1]

Very well articulated post, much appreciated @MnFish1. To answer some questions - yes I'm running GAC, as well as some fine filter floss in a Zoo-Med Cannister filter to work as a sort of reactor. Water's fairly polished..
I do have a skimmer but i've recently stopped using it (last day or two) since it's just abyssmal. It CHUGS out microbubbles and I've had it "breaking in" for about 2 months now. (Aquatic Life Internal Skimmer).

I've been feeding very sparsely since I've only one fish. I have also tried adding nitrifying bacteria which did not change the situation at all. I followed the instructions and added the recommended amount every day for over a week until it ran out, but it didn't change anything (assuming since tank was already cycled with nitrifying bacteria)

As for fluctuations that could be causing this:
I haven't run the UV in a very long time,
I've set up an ATO so that wouldn't fluctuate
I've slightly aimed the powerhead more towards the surface
In general I don't think there could be any fluctuations that would cause this..

Thanks makes sense - I had a similar situation in a discus tank - it was always 'a little cloudy' - in this case the sand was all clean, etc etc etc. I could not figure it out. Finally I bought a polisher filter and ran it - within a couple weeks (after I stopped tinkering - I was always tinkering) - it resolved.

If your filtration is adequate - I would focus on where you might be adding nutrients. Additionally - sometimes just increasing flow alone will help with this problem.....

Bottom line - I would try the DIY water polisher - its easy to use/clean and very effective. When you're done with the polishing - leave the powerhead in your tank for flow.

 

[Druinz]

Alrighty, extra flow and polishing never hurts. I'll also be giving that a try then. Thanks!

 

[MnFish1]

Alrighty, extra flow and polishing never hurts. I'll also be giving that a try then. Thanks!

Good luck - be patient (lets say a week at least). The good news is that a little cloudiness (like in yoru pictures) isn't going to hurt anything. Meant to ask - are you sure they aren't?? micro bubbles?

 

[Druinz]

LOL could you imagine if it was the case. But no, I'm fairly sure it isn't microbubbles.

 

[Druinz]

Alright, rip clean done. I took the bucket of sand and gave it a thorough washing, then did the same washing twice but with RODI water. Everything is back in place.
I did a rescape while I was at it, and noticed how little rock I actually had. I think I'm going to stop by the lfs some time this week and try picking up some live rock to supplement the tank and rockwork.
I'll post pictures tomorrow once things have a chance to settle.
Hoping for the best!

 

[Druinz]

Checking in on the tank now with a flashlight, I found what I believe is a bristle worm! Pretty neat, but I have absolutely no idea how it was introduced. I used all dry macro rock.

Nothing to be worried about, right?

 

[eggplantparrot]

Checking in on the tank now with a flashlight, I found what I believe is a bristle worm! Pretty neat, but I have absolutely no idea how it was introduced. I used all dry macro rock.

Nothing to be worried about, right?

came in with your zoa frags.they can and do hide in even the tiniest cracks in the glue/coral/frag plug

 

[Druinz]

Tank is looking nice after rip-clean. The real test is if it stays that way.

Clown goby seems happy and ate voraciously today.
I'll probably stop by lfs today and look for a banggai cardinal or royal gramma along with some live rock to get some more life into this tank.

 

[Druinz]

I think I'm getting some growth of what I got when I first started this tank.
I'm not sure, but I think it's chrysophytes or white slime algae..
I'll be posting pictures tomorrow. It's a sort of brownish white snot that comes off from the rocks. Right now though, it's very small and it looks like just before it got bad originally.

I've a video of some of it now, but most of what you see is shadows, but maybe it'll be of some help in IDing this nuisance I had before. If not, then maybe it's the actual cause!
I've noticed I had slightly low pH, about 7.9 consistently.
I'm reading that white slime can tend to lower oxygen and lower pH. It also can aggravate corals with chemicals it releases and by coating the corals themselves.
At this point I'm almost hoping it's white slime since it looks like a simple issue to correct (coral snow).
What do you guys think? #reefsquad

 

[Druinz]

Here's a video of it with the lights on (and with how much it grew overnight..)

 

[MnFish1]

Here's a video of it with the lights on (and with how much it grew overnight..)

It seems like a bacterial mat. Its probably related to some nutrient on your rock or in your water. see what @brandon429 has to say - but I would do one of those water polishers. And - depending on your parameters - keep adding 'livestock'

 

[Druinz]

Yeah, I'm thinking it's chrysophytes but I'm not 100% sure. Right now I'm running floss in a cannister filter to polish the water.

Right now I'l thinking I'll wait a few days to see how it pans out, and if there's no improvement I'll opt for a proper UV sterilizer (probably Green Killing machine, I don't think I'll ever use the SunSun one again knowing it leeches plastic), along with manual removal.

I've added a royal gramma, and I couldn't be happier. They always really caught my attention before I even knew anything about saltwater. From here I might add a banggai cardinal and leave stocking at that point. But I'll be monitoring nitrates and phosphates heavily to see where I am currently.

Also, zoas still haven't opened. I'm extremely bummed out about that.. With my water params being in check I'm left to believe it is an issue with flow or lighting, but I want to get the opinions of experienced/educated reefers before I decide things for myself.

Thanks for the help sofar, everyone! One step at a time, I'll drudge through it with your guidance and eventually (hopefully) I'll be contributing some nice tank pictures.

 

[brandon429]

Hey how is it today

Any regrowth = handy to chart it's location, might be the feed source too

Although it's neat to see if a thorough cleaning can fix it, the real goal was mass resetting


Taking balance back to clean first, invader cells second

Now we hand guide them out, playing on that balance in our favor it's not about allowing any type of regrowth... Water change time, hand siphon a bit as gardening rehab

 

[Druinz]

Just a quick update: I've been feeding noticeably more, and still haven't seen a rise in nitrates or phosphates. However, the slime has disappeared.
I've made extremely diluted mixes of Potassium Nitrate and Phosphate, and have been dosing about 0.5ppm Nitrate and 0.02ppm Phosphate daily and testing shortly after. I haven't seen a rise in either when I start to test, so I believe it's being used up fairly quickly by any bacteria.
Sofar the tank is looking nice and the fish are great. The zoanthids still haven't opened, but at this point I'm not expecting them to until my nitrate stays at about 3-5ppm.

 

[brandon429]

Very thorough work, thorough

your work thread is on sand rinse thread second link so others can see, glad we got lucky and one off is keeping it at bay. We like to feature the skip cycle surgery/safety aspect. By collecting hundreds of before, after examples of simply no losses or recycles we can show the technique safe, whether or not we get lucky first round kills/happy to collect those too thanks tons for updates

 

[Shinte122305]

Ive had that white slime bacteria before years ago. Hell im sure i can find the forum i remember calling it something along the lines of "bacteria bloom of the gods" http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2514283 I FOUND IT LMAOOOO.... i had that exact same issue and my issue went away when a local reefer told me "bro your overcleaning and that lets that type of bacteria bloom" . he suggested i get the tank dirty by adding more fish and feeding more to get my nitrates and phosphates up and get algae growing and sure enough it got a bit ugly but as nitrates went up the slime dissipated and brown/green algae came out.

I remember when i had that stuff i would clean to the point of it being ridiculous and it would pop back up. I know the common thing is it must be dirty because the slime is growing but thats where that gets you. atleast thats where it got me, everyone kept telling me it must be my sand the rocks the water i make etc and i went around in circles for a year. Try feeding your fish more and DO NOT add corals of any type just get the tank naturally dirty grow algae.

 

[Druinz]

Yeah I had it some time ago and it went away, but I'm not really sure why.. I didn't have any nitrates/phosphates that were detectable at the time so you'd think it would stay.
Also, Not sure if I should make a new post for this, but I'll ask here first.
I've been dosing nitrates and phosphates and the tank stays with undetectable levels. I know that for the first week or two of dosing Nitrate/Phosphate, it is used up extremely quickly until it gets to a point of equilibrium and my nitrates will start to stay in place. But in the mean time my Zoas have still not opened.

To the question, I was wondering if 0 nitrates/0 phosphates would actually keep a zoa closed? I've gotten mixed answers from my reading around on forums.

 

[brandon429]

its hard to say, when all other corals are ok and a select few are angry its tricky. Ive seen too-white lighting cause issues too

can you post an updated full tank shot those really help w details sometimes

 

[Druinz]

Lights are out atm so I won't be able to take a full tank shot with lights for another 2-3 hours.. As for lighting Im using an AquaKnight LED which is pretty similar to an AI Prime HD in terms of specs (~30w LED). I'm running it at 100% blue and about 40% whites currently. Full tank shot coming as soon as lights turn on