What is this white stuff on my rock?

muhli · 01/11/2011, 07:43 PM

Im new here to this forum, i tried getting help from nano reef but it was hard to find, most answers i got were witted stupid and honestly, a waste of time. hoping to try my luck here.

I started nano reefs about a month ago with about a year's research. its a 10 gallon. its now the 4th day of cycling with little traces of ammonia, 0 nitrate, 0 nitrite, around 7.8 ph.

On one of my live rock with i think corraline algae and hopefully not cyano, I noticed this white layer of really thin film over it. I was wondering what is it? is it cyano? or is it some kinda sponge?

SushiGirl · 01/11/2011, 08:08 PM

Probably a bacteria bloom.

wieselsport · 01/11/2011, 08:10 PM

At this point I wouldnt be worried about it. It may be some fading coraline algae it may be some sand its hard to tell from the pics. (try taking pics perpendicular to the glass) this will lessen the distortion.

Keep checking your water parameters and be patient for about 60 days

iwishtofish · 01/11/2011, 08:13 PM

Welcome to Reef Central, muhli!

I think you'll like these forums - I honestly think that you can get almost any question answered here, if it's a question that has an answer!

The pictures are not quite clear enough for me to tell (not that I'd be right, anyway) , but I'll guess maybe diatoms starting to grow?

muhli · 01/11/2011, 08:33 PM

Thanks for the welcome. the strange white stuff seems to coat the entire rock. it looks something like taking a cotton ball and stretching it apart so it has web like features?

also is there any way to get rid of it? like using a CUC at end of my cycle?
its definitely not cyano right?

SushiGirl · 01/11/2011, 08:37 PM

It's not cyano. It's likely a bacterial bloom due to the cycling of the tank. is that the only rock in there? What did you use to begin the cycle?

muhli · 01/11/2011, 09:07 PM

I used live rocks, 13 lbs of them and like 18 lbs of live sand (bagged) in a 10 gallon tank.
i just did water parameter check. my ph is now 8.0 compared to yesterdays 7.8. ammonia, nitrate and nitrite is at 0. the thing that i dont understand is that once ammonia reaches 0, isnt nitrite supposed to spike? Should i wait for that spike before adding in my CUC?

SushiGirl · 01/11/2011, 09:12 PM

Yes, nitrite is supposed to spike. So you did have an ammonia reading? First post says traces, last post says it's zero. If the live rock had no die off, there's not going to be anything to produce ammonia. You can add a pinch of flake food each day until you see an ammonia reading, then the nitrifying bacteria should break that down into nitrite, then nitrate. Definitely wait on the CUC. For one, the nitrite can kill them, and for another there's nothing in there for them to clean up yet.

muhli · 01/11/2011, 10:15 PM

Sorry, for the misunderstanding, the first post was based on readings from yesterday. I dont got fish flakes, but i do have fish pellets for goldfishes. is that okay?

SushiGirl · 01/11/2011, 10:27 PM

LOL You sound like me when I started up this tank. I didn't have any fish food either cuz it had been 6 1/2 years!

What was your ammonia reading yesterday?

I actually missed my nitrite spike because I didn't test for 3 days (was out of town), but my ammonia was up when I left and 0 when I got back, and my nitrates were 0 when I left & off the chart when I got back, so I knew I'd had it. It took a few days for my ammonia to spike, the nitrite spike was (apparently LOL) quick, and then the nitrates spiked. Took forever to get those down for me, but probably won't be so bad for you having used all live rock.

Whether you put any food in there or not is up to you. I would just to be sure the system could handle it.

At any rate, the white stuff should clear up in a few days, it just means your bacteria is growing, which is a good thing!

muhli · 01/11/2011, 10:38 PM

oh the white stuff is bacteria? my reading was 0.25ppm for ammonia and 0 for the rest and 7.8 for pH. so over the course of 1 day, my pH went up by 0.2.

I started using the test kit on the 3rd day of cycling. and today is the 4th. Ive red that throwing in a shrimp can spike the levels like hell, should i do that? to ensure i got enough bacteria growing when i start adding my fishes in? m(one at a time at a monthly basis of course)

I also noticed a hitchhiker snail that seems be developing now (its a baby i think) does it help in identifying my location of my cycle?
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...8#post18170078

SushiGirl · 01/11/2011, 10:59 PM

I put a piece of raw fish in my tank, that's why my levels spiked so bad. It took weeks (3) to get the nitrates down after that with lots of water changes. Don't know if that's common or not, but it's something to think about. Of course, you're setting up a 10 gallon so it wouldn't be as bad doing water changes! When I added a fish, I didn't get any spike at all. You can always add a raw shrimp for a couple of days (or fish food) to spike it. I don't think I'd go the route I did again though because it was such a battle & took a long time for everything to balance out. You'll definitely have to have patience. My boyfriend got antsy, and it was catching so I got antsy too!

You're only going to be able to have basically one fish in a 10 gallon, though, or a couple of very small fish that stay small (small gobies), or a goby/shrimp combo. The challenge with a 10 gallon is keeping the parameters stable with such a small amount of water. I had one for 4 years with a single damsel & a huge hermit crab. I don't think I ever had zero nitrates in that tank!

Will you be running a skimmer or any mechanical filtration on it? I ran a skilter on mine (skimmer/filter combo).

I can't tell what kind of snail that is, pic is just too small, sorry.

muhli · 01/11/2011, 11:13 PM

no skimmer, just a hob aqua clear 20. should i just keep on testing my water parameters? if it remains at 0, i think ill just throw in a few goldfish pellets to get some more bacteria growing, is that a safe idea?

SushiGirl · 01/11/2011, 11:21 PM

Yep, very safe idea.
And yeah, keep testing.

01/11/2011, 07:43 PM	#1
muhli Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: San Francisco Posts: 368	What is this white stuff on my rock? Im new here to this forum, i tried getting help from nano reef but it was hard to find, most answers i got were witted stupid and honestly, a waste of time. hoping to try my luck here. I started nano reefs about a month ago with about a year's research. its a 10 gallon. its now the 4th day of cycling with little traces of ammonia, 0 nitrate, 0 nitrite, around 7.8 ph. On one of my live rock with i think corraline algae and hopefully not cyano, I noticed this white layer of really thin film over it. I was wondering what is it? is it cyano? or is it some kinda sponge?

01/11/2011, 08:08 PM	#2
SushiGirl Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX USA Posts: 8,267	Probably a bacteria bloom.

01/11/2011, 08:10 PM	#3
wieselsport Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Oregon Posts: 59	At this point I wouldnt be worried about it. It may be some fading coraline algae it may be some sand its hard to tell from the pics. (try taking pics perpendicular to the glass) this will lessen the distortion. Keep checking your water parameters and be patient for about 60 days

01/11/2011, 08:13 PM	#4
iwishtofish Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 4,949	Welcome to Reef Central, muhli! I think you'll like these forums - I honestly think that you can get almost any question answered here, if it's a question that has an answer! The pictures are not quite clear enough for me to tell (not that I'd be right, anyway) , but I'll guess maybe diatoms starting to grow?

01/11/2011, 08:33 PM	#5
muhli Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: San Francisco Posts: 368	Thanks for the welcome. the strange white stuff seems to coat the entire rock. it looks something like taking a cotton ball and stretching it apart so it has web like features? also is there any way to get rid of it? like using a CUC at end of my cycle? its definitely not cyano right?

01/11/2011, 08:37 PM	#6
SushiGirl Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX USA Posts: 8,267	It's not cyano. It's likely a bacterial bloom due to the cycling of the tank. is that the only rock in there? What did you use to begin the cycle?

01/11/2011, 09:07 PM	#7
muhli Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: San Francisco Posts: 368	I used live rocks, 13 lbs of them and like 18 lbs of live sand (bagged) in a 10 gallon tank. i just did water parameter check. my ph is now 8.0 compared to yesterdays 7.8. ammonia, nitrate and nitrite is at 0. the thing that i dont understand is that once ammonia reaches 0, isnt nitrite supposed to spike? Should i wait for that spike before adding in my CUC?

01/11/2011, 09:12 PM	#8
SushiGirl Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX USA Posts: 8,267	Yes, nitrite is supposed to spike. So you did have an ammonia reading? First post says traces, last post says it's zero. If the live rock had no die off, there's not going to be anything to produce ammonia. You can add a pinch of flake food each day until you see an ammonia reading, then the nitrifying bacteria should break that down into nitrite, then nitrate. Definitely wait on the CUC. For one, the nitrite can kill them, and for another there's nothing in there for them to clean up yet.

01/11/2011, 10:15 PM	#9
muhli Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: San Francisco Posts: 368	Sorry, for the misunderstanding, the first post was based on readings from yesterday. I dont got fish flakes, but i do have fish pellets for goldfishes. is that okay?

01/11/2011, 10:27 PM	#10
SushiGirl Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX USA Posts: 8,267	LOL You sound like me when I started up this tank. I didn't have any fish food either cuz it had been 6 1/2 years! What was your ammonia reading yesterday? I actually missed my nitrite spike because I didn't test for 3 days (was out of town), but my ammonia was up when I left and 0 when I got back, and my nitrates were 0 when I left & off the chart when I got back, so I knew I'd had it. It took a few days for my ammonia to spike, the nitrite spike was (apparently LOL) quick, and then the nitrates spiked. Took forever to get those down for me, but probably won't be so bad for you having used all live rock. Whether you put any food in there or not is up to you. I would just to be sure the system could handle it. At any rate, the white stuff should clear up in a few days, it just means your bacteria is growing, which is a good thing!

01/11/2011, 10:38 PM	#11
muhli Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: San Francisco Posts: 368	oh the white stuff is bacteria? my reading was 0.25ppm for ammonia and 0 for the rest and 7.8 for pH. so over the course of 1 day, my pH went up by 0.2. I started using the test kit on the 3rd day of cycling. and today is the 4th. Ive red that throwing in a shrimp can spike the levels like hell, should i do that? to ensure i got enough bacteria growing when i start adding my fishes in? m(one at a time at a monthly basis of course) I also noticed a hitchhiker snail that seems be developing now (its a baby i think) does it help in identifying my location of my cycle? http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...8#post18170078

01/11/2011, 10:59 PM	#12
SushiGirl Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX USA Posts: 8,267	I put a piece of raw fish in my tank, that's why my levels spiked so bad. It took weeks (3) to get the nitrates down after that with lots of water changes. Don't know if that's common or not, but it's something to think about. Of course, you're setting up a 10 gallon so it wouldn't be as bad doing water changes! When I added a fish, I didn't get any spike at all. You can always add a raw shrimp for a couple of days (or fish food) to spike it. I don't think I'd go the route I did again though because it was such a battle & took a long time for everything to balance out. You'll definitely have to have patience. My boyfriend got antsy, and it was catching so I got antsy too! You're only going to be able to have basically one fish in a 10 gallon, though, or a couple of very small fish that stay small (small gobies), or a goby/shrimp combo. The challenge with a 10 gallon is keeping the parameters stable with such a small amount of water. I had one for 4 years with a single damsel & a huge hermit crab. I don't think I ever had zero nitrates in that tank! Will you be running a skimmer or any mechanical filtration on it? I ran a skilter on mine (skimmer/filter combo). I can't tell what kind of snail that is, pic is just too small, sorry.

01/11/2011, 11:13 PM	#13
muhli Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: San Francisco Posts: 368	no skimmer, just a hob aqua clear 20. should i just keep on testing my water parameters? if it remains at 0, i think ill just throw in a few goldfish pellets to get some more bacteria growing, is that a safe idea?

01/11/2011, 11:21 PM	#14
SushiGirl Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX USA Posts: 8,267	Yep, very safe idea. And yeah, keep testing.