What is this

VintageReefer

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 16, 2023
Messages
2,953
Reaction score
4,034
Location
USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Can anyone ID

Started months ago
Waterbox 15g
One medium clownfish fed a couple pellets a day. Aggressive water, he gets them all before any sink. So 100% of what I put in is consumed. Few snails and hermits.

Couple corals that are photosynthetic.

This just gets worse and worse and I’m unsure what it is. It’s not hair algae.

chamber 1 - tank overflow into a media cup with matrix. Chemi pure nano

Chamber 2 - reefing art ceramic bio media bricks and an algae turf scrubber added late December. The scrubber is growing turf algae and needs to be harvested every 2 weeks. Heater is in here also

Chamber 3 - return pump and ato sensor

I don’t have parameters but can get them if anyone needs them

848B3B26-E9D2-4ABD-8662-8C315316AF65.jpeg 30623684-70E9-4D2D-86AD-5C26156ED84B.jpeg AB12675B-C0EB-4C7B-B1F5-7B3D7DED050F.jpeg 732102DF-54B1-4F80-817C-DCF6ECEF2B96.jpeg A2F3E690-C47F-4F73-8A76-F84F31EDEF8D.jpeg 21EDE1BC-ABB8-4C59-8CB7-BDD186FD7483.jpeg 807B2B36-022A-451E-AEA8-FA31D3463E03.jpeg 86B865AB-FFC3-4937-A988-8A2685F6BE15.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Mr_Knightley

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 30, 2019
Messages
2,714
Reaction score
6,737
Location
Southeast USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Looks like hair algae with some green cyano mixed in. Usually caused by high phosphates in proportion to nitrates, so parameters would be very valuable. Certain foods (ReefRoids, for example) can spike phosphate and cause such issues.
EDIT: The unhappy Cynarina also suggests high phosphates, though we can't be sure.
 

Dan_P

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 21, 2018
Messages
6,687
Reaction score
7,178
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Can anyone ID

Started months ago
Waterbox 15g
One medium clownfish fed a couple pellets a day. Aggressive water, he gets them all before any sink. So 100% of what I put in is consumed. Few snails and hermits.

Couple corals that are photosynthetic.

This just gets worse and worse and I’m unsure what it is. It’s not hair algae.

chamber 1 - tank overflow into a media cup with matrix

Chamber 2 - reefing art ceramic bio media bricks and an algae turf scrubber added late December. The scrubber is growing turf algae and needs to be harvested every 2 weeks. Heater is in here also

Chamber 3 - return pump and ato sensor

I don’t have parameters but can get them if anyone needs them

848B3B26-E9D2-4ABD-8662-8C315316AF65.jpeg 30623684-70E9-4D2D-86AD-5C26156ED84B.jpeg AB12675B-C0EB-4C7B-B1F5-7B3D7DED050F.jpeg 732102DF-54B1-4F80-817C-DCF6ECEF2B96.jpeg A2F3E690-C47F-4F73-8A76-F84F31EDEF8D.jpeg 21EDE1BC-ABB8-4C59-8CB7-BDD186FD7483.jpeg 807B2B36-022A-451E-AEA8-FA31D3463E03.jpeg 86B865AB-FFC3-4937-A988-8A2685F6BE15.jpeg
Was there a lapse in aquarium maintenance? Looks like hair algae has taken over. There might be more things growing with it.
 
OP
OP
VintageReefer

VintageReefer

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 16, 2023
Messages
2,953
Reaction score
4,034
Location
USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It’s not hair algae. This doesn’t grow longer than about .5 inches

It grows right on the glass

The tanks surface has bubbly slime

The algae or whatever it is Has bubbles in it when you zoom in on pictures
 

MadHatter'sReef

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 21, 2016
Messages
39
Reaction score
47
Location
Maine
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
First step would be to start testing your parameters. I'd keep a log and track your progress. Start with a 10% water change weekly (make sure your using RO/DI water) and increase (as needed) from their base on what you're seeing with your test results. I'd also grab some PhosGuard at your LFS and change it out every 2 weeks. It will pull silicates and phosphate out of the water.

Keep in mind that it took you a while to get to this point it's gonna take you a while to get out of your current situation.

good luck.
 

Zestfullyclean

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 22, 2012
Messages
44
Reaction score
56
Location
anaheim, c a
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thinking this might be Dino’s and hair algae together. Had similar issues about three to fourth months into my tank. Running UV took care of it for me after a couple months fighting it. Depends on the type of Dino’s though if UV will help.
 

RockBox13

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 19, 2024
Messages
241
Reaction score
302
Location
Kearny
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Sweet red Zoas! Where did the rock come from? Is it specific to just that rock?
 

Just John

Valuable Member? Seriously?
View Badges
Joined
Jan 31, 2021
Messages
5,270
Reaction score
19,271
Location
Clearwater, FL
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
How big is your tank? I would consider getting a cheap 10 gal to move the corals into for a couple of days while you clean and restart this tank. Take the frags off of the rocks if you can so you can clean those rocks more easily. Add a bottle of bacteria when you are done and your ready to put the corals back in. Getting this sorted out to look nice and clean may take quite a while and a ton of effort otherwise. If you do it this way, you could start tomorrow and have a beautiful tank on Monday. Of course, you then need to make sure you keep control of the nutrient levels in the water and sort out what caused this in the first place.
 

Reefing threads: Do you wear gear from reef brands?

  • I wear reef gear everywhere.

    Votes: 42 16.0%
  • I wear reef gear primarily at fish events and my LFS.

    Votes: 16 6.1%
  • I wear reef gear primarily for water changes and tank maintenance.

    Votes: 1 0.4%
  • I wear reef gear primarily to relax where I live.

    Votes: 31 11.8%
  • I don’t wear gear from reef brands.

    Votes: 154 58.6%
  • Other.

    Votes: 19 7.2%
Back
Top