Brown slime

[JimmyS]

Hi all,

Over the last couple of weeks I have been battling a brown, stringy, bubbly algea. I can blast it off the rocks with a baster, but after a day or two it comes back. Any ideas what I can do to get rid of it?

It started about the same time that I started running GFO in a reactor, actually a week or two after I started the GFO. I also found that my refractormeter was reading on the high side giving me an actuall salinity of 1.021. I dont think the chaeto is growing any longer either. Cound any of these caused the outbreak?

Tank parameters

40 breeder - 20L sump with chaeto
~3000+ gph flow
Nitrate - 0
P04 - undetectable
Alk - 10 dkh
cal - 420

 

[bobkill]

1.021 is not on the high side? 1.023-1.026 is pretty normal? Maye I am mess riding that -

What I would do is go to reef cleaners .org or google GARF and match up what kind of algae you have growing and see what the recommend as a clean up grew and the get it locally - yet have great info on every type of algea and pest !

 

[JimmyS]

Before calibrating it was reading 1.025, after calibrating it read 1.021.

I'll check out the pages and see what they say, thanks for the info!

 

[BigPurp]

+1 on what bobkill said.


This sounds like a diatom/cyanobacteria outbreak. If in fact it is some sort of nitrate/phosphate consuming organism, I suspect it is eating up all available Nitrate/Phosphate-- thus, the 0ppm reading. If you post pictures of the algae, I'm sure we'd be able to ID it.

A few diagnostic questions:
Is the chaeto well-lit with a <6 month old 6,500k bulb?
Chaeto does well under this spectrum of light. It will, of course, grow under higher/lower kelvin-rated bulbs, but this is the best spectrum for growth/nutrient uptake.

Are you using RO/DI filtered water for salt mix, as well as top-offs? Tap water can increase algae fueling nutrients in tank water, leading to unwanted algae breakouts.


Because your rock is covered in algae AFTER the addition of GFO reactor, it is possible that your rock may be leaching PO4. This leaching will only last as long as the PO4 levels in the rock exceed the PO4 levels in the surrounding water. Once an equilibrium has been reached, leaching will subside, and the algae consuming it will die-off. In the meantime, it may be best to manually remove as much of the unwanted algae/cyano manually via wet skimming and siphoning/hand-removal. This method may take a few weeks or even a few months to clear it out completely, but I believe it is better to handle this problem naturally vs. the use of chemicals.

I would simply continue with your maintenance routine; check for and eliminate nitrate/phosphate traps: detritus build-up in/on rocks, dirty sponge/mesh filters, etc.; skim very wet for the next few weeks; perform 2-5 gallon water changes a week and siphon the algae off the rocks.

If you have enough room anywhere in your tank/refugium, a DSB can help greatly. If you'd like to chat more in-depth about this methodology, simply PM.

A clean up crew will help with dismantling the unwanted algae from the rocks, and wet skimming will help remove it from the water column. ReefCleaners.org has great package deals on CUC, but I would advise caution against hermits.

Hermits are good at dismantling algae, but they are sometimes mischievous creatures that can irritate ailing coral, devastate pod populations, and just cause trouble. It is safe to say that, in a 40 gallon, you'd be safe with 1 hermit crab. I have 1 blue-legged hermit in my 75, and he's a model reef citizen. I would not trust any other hermit species.

I hope you get this problem under control. It is never fun dealing with these sort of outbreaks, but I beat my cyano problem with patience, routine, and good husbandry. Best of luck!
-Joseph