White string/slime invasion help!!!

dirtwulf · 06/12/2017, 05:57 PM

So just as the titled suggests I've had an almost constant issue with what seems to be a bacterial bloom/infestation for almost as long as this tank has been setup. It is about to cause me to tear the tank down and start over with new sand and live rock, as I believe the dead rock might be the cause of the problem. I've finally become so frustrated that I've turned to you guys for help (since my LFS and Bulk Reef Supply have never seen this before and weren't able to help).

Let's first start with specifications:
10 month old 10 gal Innovative Marine all-in-one tank kit purchased from BRS.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/nuvo-f...-tank-kit.html
0ppm reading on Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates
8 hour light cycle with ramp up/ramp down

Inhabitants and feeding:
4 or 5 hermits
1 false perc
duncan coral
gsp
I switch between feeding approx 8-12 small pellets of food included in the kit and a shaving of frozen mysis.

Remedies attempted:
Dr. Tims Waste Away- I tried this stuff months ago when this outbreak was REALLY bad. Tried it recently again and to be honest, it seems to make it worse.
Hydrogen Peroxide 3%- 1-2 ml per day. This stuff you can actually see working as soon as you add it to the sump. You can see the strings/colonies break up in the water.
3 large consecutive water changes- didn't seem to make a difference
Scrubbing rocks with toothbrush and hydrogen peroxide- same as above.

I'm really at a loss here guys as this stuff extremely unsightly to look at and i've never seen it before in my reefing experience (5 years). If I can't get rid of this **** I might just tear the tank down, scrub it with vinegar/peroxide mix, and start over with Live rock and new live sand.

Please help! Photos are below

http://imgur.com/Wd02Mz2
http://imgur.com/MeKP2Md
http://imgur.com/6JBqWGC
http://imgur.com/S8gqsFj

dirtwulf · 06/12/2017, 05:59 PM

Forgot to mention as far as feeding goes, I feed every other day usually, sometimes consecutive days. I've also tried not feeding for 3-4 days and that showed no indication of improving the bloom.

dirtwulf · 06/15/2017, 08:47 PM

bump

fifthtoe · 06/16/2017, 06:08 AM

So I had a similar issue a long time ago. If I remember correctly, mine didn't start until I had a neotherm heater explode in my tank. Shortly afterward, I got a bacterial slime explosion. Nothing I tried worked. I read that candles and air freshners could be fueling this slime, so I unplugged everything and stopped burning candles. I opened the windows and in about a day or two, all the slime was gone. I closed the windows and slime came back. I opened them up for a couple days and slime disappeared. Eventually, the slime never came back.

ReeferNoob4ever · 06/16/2017, 06:50 AM

What's your dissolved oxygen level? 0ppm on nitrates...and your phosphates? Let's see a pic.

rholguin · 06/16/2017, 03:25 PM

Looks like a bacteria bloom. Dr Tims waste away helps but the way I finally got rid of it was patience. Constant water changes and time. It finally just went away on it's own.

dirtwulf · 06/16/2017, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rholguin

Looks like a bacteria bloom. Dr Tims waste away helps but the way I finally got rid of it was patience. Constant water changes and time. It finally just went away on it's own.

this has been on-going now for more than 6 months. how long did it take yours to go away?

did you also start dead rock or live rock?

dirtwulf · 06/16/2017, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReeferNoob4ever

What's your dissolved oxygen level? 0ppm on nitrates...and your phosphates? Let's see a pic.

i'm not sure how to measure 02, but my nitrates and phosphates are at 0ppm

dirtwulf · 06/16/2017, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fifthtoe

So I had a similar issue a long time ago. If I remember correctly, mine didn't start until I had a neotherm heater explode in my tank. Shortly afterward, I got a bacterial slime explosion. Nothing I tried worked. I read that candles and air freshners could be fueling this slime, so I unplugged everything and stopped burning candles. I opened the windows and in about a day or two, all the slime was gone. I closed the windows and slime came back. I opened them up for a couple days and slime disappeared. Eventually, the slime never came back.

i unplugged my air freshener two days ago, started dosing 3ml of hydrogen peroxide, and it's starting to go away now. im hoping that it won't come back as i really don't want to be dosing peroxide everyday. that can't be good for the tank can it?

rholguin · 06/16/2017, 10:52 PM

Yes. I started with macro rock. It took about a year to get rid of it.

RDCompton03 · 06/17/2017, 01:15 PM

I fought snot slime for months. I wont tell you what all I did that failed but what ended it was a 5 day total blackout. On day 5 when I unwrapped the tank I couldn't believe it but there was no trace. Its only been a week so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it wont come back. But for now it is GONE

saf1 · 06/17/2017, 03:37 PM

Actually just had this happen to me this past Wednesday. I thought at first it may be the from a couple Vermetid that I have in the tank, at least that is what it looked like with the stringy stuff. Then I thought it might be from some of the algae in the tank - back of my tank was getting out of control because it was mixed in with Xenia growing there.

Anyway it got really bad, then cloudy water, then all white. Not sure if it was anything above or bacteria. All I could do was rush to make some water and start changing it as quick as I could. All of my fish are breathing really hard. Corals closed up, etc. Fish came around but two of my damsels (mated pair of 3 year old Azures) started to fight. I mean really bad. No idea what happened because like I mentioned, mated pair. Anyway I couldn't catch and one ended up killing the other while beat up pretty bad itself.

Just this morning everything is starting to come around coral wise. Rose bubble tips are all most there. Only thing left to recover is a leather coral. We'll see. OP - not sure what happened exactly in my case but I think it could have been the snails, bacteria, or algae doing something that caused my "similar" problem. Only resolution on my side was to do a massing water change...

dirtwulf · 07/20/2017, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RDCompton03

I fought snot slime for months. I wont tell you what all I did that failed but what ended it was a 5 day total blackout. On day 5 when I unwrapped the tank I couldn't believe it but there was no trace. Its only been a week so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it wont come back. But for now it is GONE

Still gone?

dirtwulf · 07/20/2017, 04:46 AM

Update:

So it's been a little over a month now and I've seem to gotten it under control. Key word SEEM. I've decreased the amount of slime drastically by dosing 3ml per 10 gal of hydrogen peroxide every day. I've also been doing about 1 50% WC a week. Blasting rocks with a turkey baster. Put a sponge filter on my MP10 and I rinse that daily.

It's definitely still there but it's not coming back daily. Takes about 3 days for it to come back once I baste and WC it all out.

I'm not sure if a blackout will help as it's not an algae but evidently a bacteria.

My plan is to just stay the course and practice my current regimen in hopes of one day it will disappear and I can stop dosing hydrogen peroxide lol

dirtwulf · 07/20/2017, 04:49 AM

I also re-added my bag of Purigen the other day, but I've yet to really see if that has had any noticeable effects.

06/12/2017, 05:57 PM	#1
dirtwulf Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Posts: 12	White string/slime invasion help!!! So just as the titled suggests I've had an almost constant issue with what seems to be a bacterial bloom/infestation for almost as long as this tank has been setup. It is about to cause me to tear the tank down and start over with new sand and live rock, as I believe the dead rock might be the cause of the problem. I've finally become so frustrated that I've turned to you guys for help (since my LFS and Bulk Reef Supply have never seen this before and weren't able to help). Let's first start with specifications: 10 month old 10 gal Innovative Marine all-in-one tank kit purchased from BRS. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/nuvo-f...-tank-kit.html 0ppm reading on Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates 8 hour light cycle with ramp up/ramp down Inhabitants and feeding: 4 or 5 hermits 1 false perc duncan coral gsp I switch between feeding approx 8-12 small pellets of food included in the kit and a shaving of frozen mysis. Remedies attempted: Dr. Tims Waste Away- I tried this stuff months ago when this outbreak was REALLY bad. Tried it recently again and to be honest, it seems to make it worse. Hydrogen Peroxide 3%- 1-2 ml per day. This stuff you can actually see working as soon as you add it to the sump. You can see the strings/colonies break up in the water. 3 large consecutive water changes- didn't seem to make a difference Scrubbing rocks with toothbrush and hydrogen peroxide- same as above. I'm really at a loss here guys as this stuff extremely unsightly to look at and i've never seen it before in my reefing experience (5 years). If I can't get rid of this **** I might just tear the tank down, scrub it with vinegar/peroxide mix, and start over with Live rock and new live sand. Please help! Photos are below http://imgur.com/Wd02Mz2 http://imgur.com/MeKP2Md http://imgur.com/6JBqWGC http://imgur.com/S8gqsFj

06/16/2017, 06:50 AM	#5
ReeferNoob4ever Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: NM Posts: 523	What's your dissolved oxygen level? 0ppm on nitrates...and your phosphates? Let's see a pic. __________________ Get a life! Current Tank Info: 20gL mixed reef, 10g mixed reef w/nem & clown, 5g NPS & harlequin

06/16/2017, 03:25 PM	#6
rholguin Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: El Paso, TX Posts: 846	Looks like a bacteria bloom. Dr Tims waste away helps but the way I finally got rid of it was patience. Constant water changes and time. It finally just went away on it's own. __________________ Robert Current Tank Info: 80g rimless.

06/16/2017, 10:52 PM	#10
rholguin Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: El Paso, TX Posts: 846	Yes. I started with macro rock. It took about a year to get rid of it. __________________ Robert Current Tank Info: 80g rimless.

06/17/2017, 01:15 PM	#11
RDCompton03 Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Ft Pierce, FL Posts: 53	Here is what i did I fought snot slime for months. I wont tell you what all I did that failed but what ended it was a 5 day total blackout. On day 5 when I unwrapped the tank I couldn't believe it but there was no trace. Its only been a week so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it wont come back. But for now it is GONE

06/12/2017, 05:59 PM	#2
dirtwulf Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Posts: 12	Forgot to mention as far as feeding goes, I feed every other day usually, sometimes consecutive days. I've also tried not feeding for 3-4 days and that showed no indication of improving the bloom.

06/15/2017, 08:47 PM	#3
dirtwulf Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Posts: 12	bump

06/16/2017, 06:08 AM	#4
fifthtoe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 274	So I had a similar issue a long time ago. If I remember correctly, mine didn't start until I had a neotherm heater explode in my tank. Shortly afterward, I got a bacterial slime explosion. Nothing I tried worked. I read that candles and air freshners could be fueling this slime, so I unplugged everything and stopped burning candles. I opened the windows and in about a day or two, all the slime was gone. I closed the windows and slime came back. I opened them up for a couple days and slime disappeared. Eventually, the slime never came back.

06/17/2017, 03:37 PM	#12
saf1 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: California Posts: 2,259	Actually just had this happen to me this past Wednesday. I thought at first it may be the from a couple Vermetid that I have in the tank, at least that is what it looked like with the stringy stuff. Then I thought it might be from some of the algae in the tank - back of my tank was getting out of control because it was mixed in with Xenia growing there. Anyway it got really bad, then cloudy water, then all white. Not sure if it was anything above or bacteria. All I could do was rush to make some water and start changing it as quick as I could. All of my fish are breathing really hard. Corals closed up, etc. Fish came around but two of my damsels (mated pair of 3 year old Azures) started to fight. I mean really bad. No idea what happened because like I mentioned, mated pair. Anyway I couldn't catch and one ended up killing the other while beat up pretty bad itself. Just this morning everything is starting to come around coral wise. Rose bubble tips are all most there. Only thing left to recover is a leather coral. We'll see. OP - not sure what happened exactly in my case but I think it could have been the snails, bacteria, or algae doing something that caused my "similar" problem. Only resolution on my side was to do a massing water change... __________________ -saf1 Current Tank Info: 210 gallon mixed reef

07/20/2017, 04:46 AM	#14
dirtwulf Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Posts: 12	Update: So it's been a little over a month now and I've seem to gotten it under control. Key word SEEM. I've decreased the amount of slime drastically by dosing 3ml per 10 gal of hydrogen peroxide every day. I've also been doing about 1 50% WC a week. Blasting rocks with a turkey baster. Put a sponge filter on my MP10 and I rinse that daily. It's definitely still there but it's not coming back daily. Takes about 3 days for it to come back once I baste and WC it all out. I'm not sure if a blackout will help as it's not an algae but evidently a bacteria. My plan is to just stay the course and practice my current regimen in hopes of one day it will disappear and I can stop dosing hydrogen peroxide lol

07/20/2017, 04:49 AM	#15
dirtwulf Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Posts: 12	I also re-added my bag of Purigen the other day, but I've yet to really see if that has had any noticeable effects.