WHAT IS THIS!!!

loweryphil

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This fluffy grey stuff appears all over my rocks and sand. If I stir it up it comes back in a few days. In some spots it is browny red but mostly grey fluff.

My nitrates are at 25ppm and phos is 0.5. Working on bringing this down as I was dosing si for dinos.
 

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sixty_reefer

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This fluffy grey stuff appears all over my rocks and sand. If I stir it up it comes back in a few days. In some spots it is browny red but mostly grey fluff.

My nitrates are at 25ppm and phos is 0.5. Working on bringing this down as I was dosing si for dinos.
Can you post a pic or a link to a YouTube vid? can’t see vid on the phone
 
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loweryphil

loweryphil

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Blues make it hard to see but it's just like grey fluff and some spots are red/brown but not string like dinos. So I'm lost. Fluffy detritus I'd describe it as. If I brush the rocks it comes off. But soon comes back in a few days
 

resortez

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Would help to get a brief history of the tank. When the nitrogen cycle was completed, parameter numbers, tank mates, feeding regiment, maintenance, etc. could be a number of things but my first guess is something having to do with nutrient levels coming from feeding practices, the type of water you use for maintenance or previously used medications. Those are my best guesses.
 

sixty_reefer

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Blues make it hard to see but it's just like grey fluff and some spots are red/brown but not string like dinos. So I'm lost. Fluffy detritus I'd describe it as. If I brush the rocks it comes off. But soon comes back in a few days
It’s hard to see but I believe they may be photosynthetic dinoflagellates, do they go to an almost rusty brown almost copper alike?
 
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loweryphil

loweryphil

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It’s hard to see but I believe they may be photosynthetic dinoflagellates, do they go to an almost rusty brown almost copper alike?
Only in some small spots. But mainly grey. It doesn't look rusty and slimy. More clumpy and fluffy. I was dosing lots of silicates to rid them. This looks a different colour and texture to the dinos I had.
 

sixty_reefer

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Is it possible to do a video with only white light would be helpful for people giving you a positive id
 

Timfish

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As mentioned above more information would be helpful. Instead of brushing it off try siphoning it off. I'm guessing it's partly algae or cyano and partly detritus getting stuck together. Brushing it off leaves it floating around somewhere in your tank.
 

sixty_reefer

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What’s your clean up crew like? Looks like the end or near end of diatoms. How long the tank been running now?
 
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loweryphil

loweryphil

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What’s your clean up crew like? Looks like the end or near end of diatoms. How long the tank been running now?
I don't have any due to my picasso trigger. I may need to try a handful and see how they get on. I had been dosing silicates heavily so this may be causing it. I'm running a ton of gfo.
 

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I don't have any due to my picasso trigger. I may need to try a handful and see how they get on. I had been dosing silicates heavily so this may be causing it. I'm running a ton of gfo.
Yes,silica will be feeding the diatoms, and the grey and yellow look like kripto sponges. Did you had hair algae to?

is the grey and yellow mainly on shaded areas?
 

resortez

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Nutrients look ok. Seems like a lack of a CUC. Because of the trigger, try a black long spine urchin & mower blenny to help keep it under control. Also a Ctenochaetus tang, they are great at cleaning up too.
 
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loweryphil

loweryphil

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Yes,silica will be feeding the diatoms, and the grey and yellow look like kripto sponges. Did you had hair algae to?

is the grey and yellow mainly on shaded areas?
Not much hair algae at all no. The grey is everywhere shaded or in light areas.
 

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