White Slime Bacteria?

Dwdrummer41 · Mar 12, 2017

Mine seems to grow only where light is. I have spots that are under shade due to over hangs of my rocks and it doesn't grow there. Only where light hits the rock directly

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 13, 2017

PSXerholic said:
I do have received a professional experts opinion, but I keep that for now.

-Andre

Please don't approach similar problems like that here again. We are all here to learn.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 13, 2017

PSXerholic said:
But since I was considering this time a bacteria, I raised No3 and Po4 again to support the good bacteria to compete out the bad bacteria........ not knowing honestly what I was dealing with.

I don't understand that rationale. Most bacteria thriving in a reef tank are not limited by nitrate and phosphate (algae can be), which is why organic carbon dosing to spur bacterial growth can drive the levels undesirably low in many cases.

PSXerholic · Mar 17, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Please don't approach similar problems like that here again. We are all here to learn.

Randy, not sure what you are trying to say here ?! Did you mean I should have opened up an individual thread for this?
-Andre

wattson · Mar 18, 2017

did not read whole thread ,,,,,are you dosing kalk in this tank ??

Fizbang · Sep 15, 2018

PSXerholic said:
Ok, no one else seems to have seen it or know what it is, from pictures of the microscope.

From all the experts I have contacted throughout the world, I have received 2 responses (at least something considering these guys have likely more important things to do !!!) saying basically the same.

The opinion is that this object is a Septate fungus in Hyphae phase.
Reason for that is, White, fluffy, irregular filaments, septate, no sign of any chloroplasts and have likely seen them in his own cultures. The spores are typically air born and adapt/grow then later in the marine environment if no natural competitor will take over their position or harvest it.

That would explain why this object grows in low shaded low flow area generally. Not seen it in bright spots on rocks.

Another Marine biologist explained me that in the Gulf of Mexico a lot of problems with Seafans were related back to dust born fungus coming from Africa and he sort of agreed to the first opinion.
His first thought of a starving algae type that became sexual, therefore white, seem to be less likely according to him.

Well, if it is a fungus it likes N & P !!!
This actually ties back into the time when this stuff was almost gone.
At this point in time, I had low nitrates and low phosphates.
But since I was considering this time a bacteria, I raised No3 and Po4 again to support the good bacteria to compete out the bad bacteria........ not knowing honestly what I was dealing with.

Also it explains that strong UV does not have an effect on it. Only if it spores in the water, which I believe it does, but don't know, the UV cleans the water asap from white haze, but that's does not mean it's from this potential fungus.

What next ???? I will receive a variety of anti fungicides today and will test and trial if it does have an effect on it. I will receive Kordon Rid Fungus & Pimafix, as well true methylene blue.
First 2 products are supposed to be for a tank treatment. However I will cut pieces out of the tank and will treat them in these fungicides to see immediate effect. Some fungicides do only stop/disturb the lifecycle and do not instantly kill the fungus.

Also I need to see that I get my nutrients low again to see how quick this stuff dies off, that would already help. I don't like the idea to treat the entire tank.
Then later, there is the question.......where does it come from and causing this outbreak!?

STILL.....any opinions or related experiences are appreciated.

-Andre

What ever happened with the fungicides? Anyone ever figure out a solution to this?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 15, 2018

PSXerholic said:
Randy, not sure what you are trying to say here ?! Did you mean I should have opened up an individual thread for this?
-Andre

Sorry, never answered this and the thread just got bumped, so it deserves an answer. You said:

"I do have received a professional experts opinion, but I keep that for now."

That sounded like you got an answer from someone and were not going to tell us. What I meant was it is best for all of us for us to hear the opinion so we can learn.

PSXerholic · Sep 15, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Sorry, never answered this and the thread just got bumped, so it deserves an answer. You said:

"I do have received a professional experts opinion, but I keep that for now."

That sounded like you got an answer from someone and were not going to tell us. What I meant was it is best for all of us for us to hear the opinion so we can learn.

Well, that went through in the wrong way as I saw the responses.
Reason was I did not mention it prior, I did not want to mislead the opinion of the experts here, or even influence it.
So the sources I reached out to, had a fresh open mindset to start from. Hope that explains it a bit.

Anyways, the source I got that from does not liked to be mentioned here, to avoid to get flooded with emails and requests from hobbyists on this subject.

The ID was actually a common airborne, not usually in marine environment populating fungus. So an adapted "marine" fungus. I was getting lab results to check for for certain Volatile compounds….., Salifert did send me their ORG-anics test, did some Petri dishes etc.

So at the end I had 2 actions.
1. Kill or reduce the fungus
2. Avoid, VOC's, high organics, and perfumes and other soaps etc. that brings in a lot VOC's through the skimmer and drains and so on.

We do not use Yankee candles or other air refreshener, so that was out. However, my Automated Water change system and reservoir was in the laundry room!!! Plenty of perfumes here, no good. Also I did wash routinely my socks in the washing machine 2times with extra rinsing, no good!
So changed my Water change system strategy and later came up with other methods of Trace element management.
Did a DETOX treatment, run activated carbon for 48 hours, and adjusted the skimmer to produce finer bubbles.
Also as I trust Biodigest I poured in a 4x overdose of bacteria.
Then I used Kordon Rid Fungus for 2-3 weeks. I did had to repeat this a month later again, and I did not see any more fungus after that.
Health of all corals improved after 4-5 days, when the slime/fur started to disappear.

Again, in my case it was more a furry type of growth I observed. Not a gel type of growth.

-Andre

PSXerholic · Sep 15, 2018

By the way, this gentleman explained me a lot of cases where non marine fungus, adapted to marine environments all over the world, causing a lot of issues in an environment where there usually not belong into.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 15, 2018

Great, thanks for the added info.

PSXerholic · Sep 17, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Great, thanks for the added info.

You're welcome.

One more note.......
During the time of this Fungus I noticed increased Magnesium consumption, similar to the characteristics when certain undesired white bacteria grow on substrate.

Druinz · Mar 25, 2019

Having the same exact issue. I also use the blue bucket from Red Sea. It went away for a few days but just yesterday it came back in full swing. It's really starting to agitate me..

I can find so many posts of people having this issue but not one solid solution for it :/

jbsmurf · Mar 29, 2020

Druinz said:
Having the same exact issue. I also use the blue bucket from Red Sea. It went away for a few days but just yesterday it came back in full swing. It's really starting to agitate me..

I can find so many posts of people having this issue but not one solid solution for it :/

this is exactly what this looks like in my tank right this moment. Granted I haven't been taking the best care of my tank. I recently got my sump back online, added 20G of new saltwater and then this explosion of slime occurred. Thinkings its bacterial related I dosed chemiclean and removed the skimmer cup to increase oxygen levels. So far no improvement 28hrs into the first dose. @Randy Holmes-Farley was it ever confirmed to be a fungus form the other guy or is whats pictured by this person more of a bacterial bloom in which competing bacteria would be the best option? TIA

Druinz · Mar 29, 2020

Dealing with this, I added several different bacterias, I tried Dr.Tim's Waste-Away and Dr.Tim's Refresh. With doing so many different things, I can't really say what fixed it, but there wasn't any immediate resolution. After letting it sit for a while and kind of ignoring it, it went away after what felt like a very long time. Sorry I don't have any useful tips, I got frustrated not being able to find one myself.

Waynerock · Mar 29, 2020

While we are one the subject, does anyone get a clear/whitish snot slime after they dose a bacteria? In my case either vibrant and Zeobak. It usually just forms on top of my return chamber in sump cause the surface of the water is very calm. I can usually use my fingers and comb it off the surface of the water. It only makes an appearance a day or two after dosing the aforementioned bac Products. It is gross for sure but is it bad? My only real concern is messing up the sensor on the Tunze 3155 ATO and making it think it’s low and dumping a bunch of fresh water.

Copingwithpods · Mar 29, 2020

I noticed this in my tank about 3 weeks ago,I don't dose any bacterial additives or carbon sources, I can only find it in one spot (that I know of) that gets no direct light and medium flow. Mine doesn't grow out in the open or so I thought. I've had films on the glass that pop up but I dismissed it as a bacterial bloom and they never lasted more than 24hrs, now I'm wondering if it was this "fungus" is this still the concensus? . I run uv and I'm sure that helped.

You can see how furry that small rock outcrop looks. And if it wasn't for the sharp contrast of the backdrop I would have never spotted it. I'm sure all my rocks in that area are coated in it I just can't see it.

So far I haven't seen any negative effects from its presence (so far) but I would still like it gone. I'll be watching this thread like a hawk in hopes more info is unearthed and a battle plan is made to fight this.

jbsmurf · Mar 30, 2020

I am not sure if we will see to many responses on this but I wanted to provide my anecdotal feedback. I ran a dose of chemiclean and after 48hrs the slime is mostly gone. What will be interesting is if when doing a water change it returns and comes back. More to come...

milonedp · May 17, 2020

What happened after the use of chemi-clean?

jbsmurf said:
I am not sure if we will see to many responses on this but I wanted to provide my anecdotal feedback. I ran a dose of chemiclean and after 48hrs the slime is mostly gone. What will be interesting is if when doing a water change it returns and comes back. More to come...