Are these bacteria strands?

[DBSAM]

I noticed these strands all over about two days ago...I run NP biopellets and recently cleaned the grate at the top of the reactor. Bubble King is going crazy with wet skim mate. I have some bubbles/foam on the top of sump water.

I did a 10% water change last night, is there anything else I should do besides just ride it out?

 

[birdman1979]

Happens to my tank a couple times a month. I think its when I add BW Vitamins to my fish food. Still haven't pinpointed the cause yet. Does your tank get cloudy too?

 

[DBSAM]

Yes, it is slightly cloudy. My SPS don't seem happy, though...DO you notice any effect on your animals?

I do add Zeo AA, Coral Vitalizer, but I have never had this happen for the year I have been using biopellets and Zeo additives.

 

[birdman1979]

I'm cloudy right now with no strands in the tank. Fish have never been affected. Corals get a little annoyed by the strands but not too bad. I think its carbon source related. Always clears in less than a weeks time. Manually removing with a turkey baster speeds the process but is a PITA.

 

[DBSAM]

I am think am going to remove the NP biopellets soon. I have made some changes over the last weeks, but cleaning the upper grid of my NextReef reactor, I believe caused this bacteria bloom.

Are you running any type of biopellets?

 

[Piper27]

I had this happen overnight in my 210. I have some pics somewhere I will try and find of the foam in the sump. I thought it was dinos but I am not sure. It was clear strands and brownish foam in the sump with round looking tan things in the snot. It really looked like snot...

I added an extra skimmer and did lights off for three days and h202 dosed for a week or so. It started with little clear air bubbles forming on the rock. The day before the tank turned into webfest there were clear bubbles covering the back wall and the skimmer went nuts. I put some filter floss in the first baffle of my sump to stop the snot from getting past that point and it helped. I haven't had an outbreak of it since, but I still see a couple small bubbles everynow and then. Not sure if that is related or not.

I really want to know what this stuff is it sounds like the same thing you have.

 

[Piper27]

This is what was in my sump... The whole tank was webs like in your picture.

Picture of one of the webs before it blew up that night.

 

[DBSAM]

Absolutely the same thing...

Do you use NP biopellets or anything else like it?

 

[Piper27]

Nope. Only a little cheato, rowaphos, and deep blue carbon (I think thats the name of it).

 

[Piper27]

By the way I did I thread on here and got NO help at all.

 

[DBSAM]

Piper27, would you say you system is "nutrient poor/low" ? I have not been able to grow green algae in the DT for at least 6 weeks...

 

[Piper27]

I have no readable phosphates and maybe .02 nitrates. My cheato grows in the sump fairly well.

 

[DBSAM]

I can't get any macro algae to grow anymore...

 

[birdman1979]

Thats definately the same stuff I get occasionally. My tank is crystal clear again now after three days. I do not run NP biopellets.

 

[DBSAM]

Right now, the tank has never looked worse. All levels seem normal, but SPS are super po'd, fish appear normal. Some SPS are basal RTN from this morning.

It is not easy to watch...

 

[Piper27]

You should take some pics of the snotty stuff in the sump and the display with the webs in it so we can figure out what is going on and have more pics of it.

 

[DBSAM]

Here you go...

The foam in the sump is not as "snotty" as earlier. I have been removing it manually and and extra powerhead in the sump has helped...

 

[DBSAM]

Pretty confident, they are a type of cyano...

Strands mostly gone, water cloudy...

Pretty certain the cleaning of the Nextreef reactor plate and extra low nutrients, kicked off the cyano.

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/343741-cyanobacteria-questions-white-spores/

The above link was tremendous. It is for freshwater planted tanks, but was
super as a dialog above low nutirents and issues.