What is this and why wont it go away! Brown slime.

Jake_the_reefer · Jan 12, 2021

I have been dealing with this brown algae in my 60g frag tank for like 7 months now and I still have no idea what it Is or how to get rid of it. It's this thick jelly like slime that is covering basically everything. It rubs off fairly easy with my fingers but comes back really quickly.
I decided today to add more rocks for bacteria surface area and today I have started to dose microbactor7 all corals are basically happy and growing this slime is just bugging the crap out of me. Any ideas what it is and what I can do to stop it?

vetteguy53081 · Jan 12, 2021

Its dinoflagellates and needs to be address quickly as is fairly easy. First- Check phosphates and nitrates to assure theyre not elevated.
Blow loose with a turkey baster. It will capture and clean more surface area. Here is full program:
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15%) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly

Jake_the_reefer · Jan 12, 2021

vetteguy53081 said:
Its dinoflagellates and needs to be address quickly as is fairly easy. First- Check phosphates and nitrates to assure theyre not elevated.
Blow loose with a turkey baster. It will capture and clean more surface area. Here is full program:
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15%) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly

I don't think it could be Dino. My sump has been blacked out for 3 days and no change to the slime. I also did the test where you filter off water into a cup and see if Dino strands form (they did not) I've ran into Dino a good amount of times and it's never been like this.
One note is that even though it comes off easy with my fingers no amount of flow or blowing even slightly disturbs this stuff

vetteguy53081 · Jan 12, 2021

Jake_the_reefer said:
I don't think it could be Dino. My sump has been blacked out for 3 days and no change to the slime. I also did the test where you filter off water into a cup and see if Dino strands form (they did not) I've ran into Dino a good amount of times and it's never been like this.
One note is that even though it comes off easy with my fingers no amount of flow or blowing even slightly disturbs this stuff

I fortunately was able to go on my PC and blow image larger. I see what looks like small strands of poriferan sponge and the slime youre referring to. You may have to scrub of with a toothbrush

Jake_the_reefer · Jan 12, 2021

vetteguy53081 said:
I fortunately was able to go on my PC and blow image larger. I see what looks like small strands of poriferan sponge and the slime youre referring to. You may have to scrub of with a toothbrush

I scrubbed all surfaces. It turned into a fluffy paste on the bottom that I siphoned out. It came off the frag rack and glass with 0 issue. But on frag plugs no matter how much I scrubbed it wouldn't come off. It was thick enough to clock a new filter sock instantly. It's also scentless and almost like children toy slime when held in the hand. (Little exaggeration but it's thiiick)