Weird stringy stuff in sump

[juniorrocketdad]

There is a bunch of this weird brown stringy stuff in the skimmer section of my sump, any idea what it is?

 

[Tahoe61]

Are you running bio-pellets or dosing carbons?

 

[Salthead007]

Going to tag along. I have the same thing on a few soft corals pop up from time to time. Usually following a small outbreak of red slime.

 

[juniorrocketdad]

I’m not dosing carbon but I do does no3-po4x, could it be from my leather corals shedding?

 

[K. Steven]

I’m not dosing carbon but I do does no3-po4x, could it be from my leather corals shedding?

NOPOX is a carbon source.

 

[juniorrocketdad]

Ok so if this is from carbon dosing what is it and should I just pull it out

 

[Rich Klein]

Nothing like in in your DT?

 

[juniorrocketdad]

Nothing like in in your DT?

Not really occasionally a small string but I think it just is getting sucked up the return pump

 

[Rich Klein]

Not really occasionally a small string but I think it just is getting sucked up the return pump

Then it's likely not Dyno, but does resemble it when it get's really bad.

 

[rkpetersen]

You're dosing NPX which is carbon dosing, essentially the same as vodka and vinegar dosing but with a fancy bottle and pricetag. This causes bacteria to multiple more than if you're not carbon dosing. Most of this excess bacteria your skimmer pulls out, which in turns helps reduce the nitrate and phosphate levels. But stringy flocks of bacteria are also pretty common in the sump when carbon dosing, typically in the darkest warmest location. If you can remove it easily then do so, you'll be exporting nutrients. If you see it on surfaces in the DT, like on rocks or a slick film on glass, or a general cloudiness of the water, you know you're dosing too much and the bacteria are getting out of control; time to cut back (but don't entirely stop.)