What could this be?

B2Reef · Mar 19, 2017

Figured this is a good subforum to ask in...

The tank is a new tank and been active for about 8 weeks before I placed the two clowns in. Cycled with ghost feeding and watched the ammonium spike and taper off into nitrates after awhile. I used 60lbs of Live Pink Fiji sand and 40lbs of dead base rock.

I noticed this white fuzzy stuff growing after the cycle and figured it was all part of the process. I didn't see it discussed in any common growth issues. Now I'd like to understand before it potentially becomes a bigger issue. Here are some photos and the clownfish are still happy, perky, and always eat when I feed them.

My levels are: Ammonia .5ppm - Nitrite 1ppm - Nitrates 10ppm (due to the 2 new clownfish) Temp: 78Deg and Salinity: 1.024 The tank is 55 gallons with a 40 gallon sump 1/2 full. In the full tank photo the bottom 1/4 of the front glass needs to be cleaned still (couldn't reach it fully) Thanks!

Highgrade · Mar 19, 2017

From the looks of it seems like possible fine substrate/particles from your sand. Pink Fiji will do this. Also detritus.

B2Reef · Mar 20, 2017

Well that's good news! I was worried it was some strange hair algae, fungus, or bacteria... I'm thinking I'll look up what CUC members are good for detritus and hit up my LFS. Should I let the Ammonium zero out and maybe the Nitrites too? ...before I do a water change? I don't want to mess up this cycle from adding the new fish with a water change. The levels are doing their thing. Ammonia dropped half from two days ago and Nitrites and Nitrates also went up from 0ppm and 5ppm respectively. Fish seem happy, healthy, and alert. They've been in the tank for a week now and are definitely bonded.

How does this approach sound to fix the detritus/sand debris issue... I think I would add the CUC member(s), turn off all my waterflow, scrub the glass and turkey baster blast the rocks, vac the sand bed to clean the sand while also removing the water, then add new RO/DI saltwater...

Highgrade · Mar 20, 2017

Brush the rocks and use a baster to blow off the build up. It will float around in the water column. May take several times to clear up a majority of the build up. If you have a felt filter sock or Filter floss to collect it that will help. Also you may want to adjust you flow in a more upwards pattern since the sand appears to be shifting in piles. As long as the sand keeps moving around you most likely will have this problem.