Help!

crazyboy · 08/11/2006, 01:03 PM

There is this white stringy stuff on my rock and a little bit on the walls of my tank. Its whitish clearish anybody got any ideas what it is and why its there? I also seem to have some brown algae growing on my walls, rock, and san d

Help please.

Travis L. Stevens · 08/11/2006, 01:48 PM

Do you have pictures? The brownish stuff might be cyanobacteria or diatoms. The white, stringy stuff could be various things. They might be Vermetid Snail food webs.

crazyboy · 08/11/2006, 02:48 PM

I'll attempt to take pictures but I do not think they will turn out well. Give me a few minutes.

crazyboy · 08/11/2006, 03:11 PM

Ok here are some pics of the white stuff.

Here is the brown stuff in the sand.

And here is the brown stuff on the walls, also what are all those white dots?

Ciarán · 08/11/2006, 05:12 PM

Brown looks like cyano, white "dots" appear to resemble little encrusting tubeworms, from your liverock. At first i though the whitish areas were deposits of solid calcium carbonate due to excessive supplemtentation and/or magnesium deficiency, but seeing their branched appearance i dont think so.

crazyboy · 08/11/2006, 05:19 PM

Thanks. What should I do to get rid of the cyano and the encrusting tubeworks?

ADA33 · 08/11/2006, 05:31 PM

Leave the encruting tubeworms and for the cyano I have been reading that better water flow can help with this issue, also black turbo snails will eat it up.

Ciarán · 08/11/2006, 05:31 PM

Cyano needs a good scraping and a siphon to ensure you dont disperse the leachate everywhere in your tank. The top layer will come off easily enough, but deposits beneath the outer surface will be tough and encrusted. A credit card and elbow grease should do it. If the "white dots" are indeed what i think they are, you can scrape them off with a heavy duty scraper, a credit card should work for this 2.

Quote:

Leave the encruting tubeworms

I agree, they are harmless filter feeders and may even help to keep algae at bay instead.

BTW how old is that LR? Plus what are your NH4 and N02 readings like? Just to rule out necrotic fouling of new uncured LR as a possibility.

crazyboy · 08/11/2006, 06:05 PM

LR is probably about a year old. Last time I had it checked at the LFS and they said everything was good and in check. So I don't know the numbers off hand. LR came as "cured rock" and i also "cured" it. Shall I get a sand sifting star and a bunch of hermits to clean the sand?

Ciarán · 08/11/2006, 06:27 PM

Sand sifting star = microfauna decimation. The best substrate cleaner is by far and away a Holocanthus sp. sea cucumber. In short, dirty sand in - clean sand out. Nassarius snails bury into the substrate, keeping it aerated and "sifted" so to speak, the same goes for dwarf hermits. Better flow keeps the top layer of sand active and moving to some extent, more flow (in GPH) versus velocity of water motion is the key. For a cheap way to do it, try the Maxijet mod. I did it myself and it provides a "stream" like flow rate with reduced velocity. (For the most basic mod) you just chop off the output nozzle and drill a few small holes above the impeller casing to widen the incoming water stream and thus you boost the flow output. A desirable attribute when keeping corals or flow dependent inverts such as certain anemones and keeping movement at a maximum. I have found that cyano just thrives in certain locations - very little you can do- usually of less light intensity. If your bulbs/tubes are older than the recommended optimal ouptu lenght, change them. Also, clean that specific location more regularly and importantly, watch phophate levels, in my experience these (to a greater extent than nitrate) seem to boost cyanobacteria growth above any other nutrients - it would seem to me. If you dont have your own test kits (as it seems from your post) you need to get them - and reputable ones too- they provide you with great insight to your tank's condition and thus help you find a solution.

Ciaran.

Reef_bones · 08/11/2006, 06:32 PM

looked more like diatoms to me..

crazyboy · 08/13/2006, 12:16 PM

BUMP. Anyone got any ideas on the white stuff?

08/11/2006, 01:03 PM	#1
crazyboy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Nj Posts: 238	Help! There is this white stringy stuff on my rock and a little bit on the walls of my tank. Its whitish clearish anybody got any ideas what it is and why its there? I also seem to have some brown algae growing on my walls, rock, and san d Help please. __________________ If something doesn't fit hit it with a hammer, If it still doesn't fit get a bigger hammer.

08/11/2006, 01:48 PM	#2
Travis L. Stevens Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Perry, OK Posts: 13,946	Do you have pictures? The brownish stuff might be cyanobacteria or diatoms. The white, stringy stuff could be various things. They might be Vermetid Snail food webs. __________________ Travis Stevens Current Tank Info: Restarting 28g Bowfront

08/11/2006, 02:48 PM	#3
crazyboy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Nj Posts: 238	I'll attempt to take pictures but I do not think they will turn out well. Give me a few minutes. __________________ If something doesn't fit hit it with a hammer, If it still doesn't fit get a bigger hammer.

08/11/2006, 03:11 PM	#4
crazyboy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Nj Posts: 238	Ok here are some pics of the white stuff. Here is the brown stuff in the sand. And here is the brown stuff on the walls, also what are all those white dots? __________________ If something doesn't fit hit it with a hammer, If it still doesn't fit get a bigger hammer.

08/11/2006, 05:19 PM	#6
crazyboy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Nj Posts: 238	Thanks. What should I do to get rid of the cyano and the encrusting tubeworks? __________________ If something doesn't fit hit it with a hammer, If it still doesn't fit get a bigger hammer.

08/11/2006, 05:12 PM	#5
Ciarán Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Ireland Posts: 268	Brown looks like cyano, white "dots" appear to resemble little encrusting tubeworms, from your liverock. At first i though the whitish areas were deposits of solid calcium carbonate due to excessive supplemtentation and/or magnesium deficiency, but seeing their branched appearance i dont think so.

08/11/2006, 05:31 PM	#7
ADA33 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: San Francisco CA Posts: 3,131	Leave the encruting tubeworms and for the cyano I have been reading that better water flow can help with this issue, also black turbo snails will eat it up.

08/11/2006, 06:05 PM	#9
crazyboy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Nj Posts: 238	LR is probably about a year old. Last time I had it checked at the LFS and they said everything was good and in check. So I don't know the numbers off hand. LR came as "cured rock" and i also "cured" it. Shall I get a sand sifting star and a bunch of hermits to clean the sand? __________________ If something doesn't fit hit it with a hammer, If it still doesn't fit get a bigger hammer.

08/11/2006, 06:27 PM	#10
Ciarán Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Ireland Posts: 268	Sand sifting star = microfauna decimation. The best substrate cleaner is by far and away a Holocanthus sp. sea cucumber. In short, dirty sand in - clean sand out. Nassarius snails bury into the substrate, keeping it aerated and "sifted" so to speak, the same goes for dwarf hermits. Better flow keeps the top layer of sand active and moving to some extent, more flow (in GPH) versus velocity of water motion is the key. For a cheap way to do it, try the Maxijet mod. I did it myself and it provides a "stream" like flow rate with reduced velocity. (For the most basic mod) you just chop off the output nozzle and drill a few small holes above the impeller casing to widen the incoming water stream and thus you boost the flow output. A desirable attribute when keeping corals or flow dependent inverts such as certain anemones and keeping movement at a maximum. I have found that cyano just thrives in certain locations - very little you can do- usually of less light intensity. If your bulbs/tubes are older than the recommended optimal ouptu lenght, change them. Also, clean that specific location more regularly and importantly, watch phophate levels, in my experience these (to a greater extent than nitrate) seem to boost cyanobacteria growth above any other nutrients - it would seem to me. If you dont have your own test kits (as it seems from your post) you need to get them - and reputable ones too- they provide you with great insight to your tank's condition and thus help you find a solution. Ciaran.

08/11/2006, 06:32 PM	#11
Reef_bones Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: minor hill, tn Posts: 489	looked more like diatoms to me..

08/13/2006, 12:16 PM	#12
crazyboy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Nj Posts: 238	BUMP. Anyone got any ideas on the white stuff? __________________ If something doesn't fit hit it with a hammer, If it still doesn't fit get a bigger hammer.