Please Help ID Algae

nosechunks

New member
I have this bluish green stuff that i cant figure out. it grows on surfaces of low water flow and low light. Its formed a layer in my sump and its all over the rocks and bottom of my tank.

Heres the pics.

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Anyone got any ideas? Any way to get rid of it? doesnt seem to be hurting anything but it looks terrible.

Thanks,
Dan
 
looks like waste build up to me..not algea..would think you need to add a nice bit of flow..hth
 
The local fish store didnt know what it was, they couldnt even sugest something to try to get rid of it. It cant be waste because its in my sump after the filter.

I havnt tested the water in a while but everything in my tank is flourishing so i couldnt imagine im having a quality issue.

Anyone else have any ideas.
 
I would definitely add some more flow and get that crap outta there. Does it come back pretty quickly after manually removing it? Do your CUC eat it?
 
havnt really tried manual removal, Whats CUC? Nothing that i notice eats it.

I have 3 powerheads in the tank and its only a 45 gallon, its not a very large tank, its about 3 feet wide by a foor deep by about a foot and a half tall.

I have a rio 1700 as return from the sump and i have a aquaclear 20 and a koralia nano on either side. Flow seems to be adequate.
 
Can you describe it a bit? Like texture, is it loose or attached, consistency....? Maybe if you removed some and got a close up on it, it would help.
 
Looks loosely attached and seems to blow around, nothing seems to eat it. it only grows in parts of the tank with lower water flow and indirect lighting.

Im not sure if its growing or just collecting in these spots, but it seems to be loosely attaching itself to the rocks and sand.

Noones seen anything like this before?

I have the blue foam filter media at the top of my sump that my overflow dumps onto, and a red sea prisim protein skimmer.
 
FWIW two people have already told you what it is yet you don't agree which is obviously fine but that is why no one else is commenting because it would be the same answer..not trying to be nasty, but that would be my guess as to why no one else is saying anything..
 
Not to be nasty back, but no one told me what it is only opinions of what it might be. Im not disagreeing with anyone, I would like to know exactly what it is so i know how to go about getting rid of it.

Like i sad i have a skimmer and nothing in my tank is eating it, I have a lobster, turbo snails, Nassarius Snails, Hermit crabs, a brittle starfish and a scooter blenny. Should i invest in cucumbers? or maybe a different type of snail?

Increase of flow of water doesnt help, just blows it around and it doesnt seems to get filtered out either. Its underneath the filter in my sump. Plus i think if i had any more flow in the tank it would start to lift the sand.

Im open to opinions but i would prefer fact. If it is detritus why isnt anything eating it, and if its waste buildup how come bacteria isnt taking care of it.

I only feed about once a week and i add in purple up and trace elements about once a week also about same time as feeding my fish. i feed them frozen brine shrimp and only what they eat within a few seconds (about 1/8th a cube) Could that be causing this much waste? Maybe too much lighting? i have 1 96 watt 50/50 1 65 watt actinic blue/purple and 1 65 watt daylight 10K. The Daylight bulb is on for about 7 hours and everything else is on for about 11-12.

Like i said im not disagreeing with anyone just asking questions.
 
So.... Exactly huh???
What about Stuprilinutina arcomsata from Mars????

Hard to tell with the pics and low info of the "thing"

I guess it is a sponge, anyway, i recommend you do this:

1- syphon it out and see how fast it comes back.... and don't forget to lets us know what happens... this way you could discard detritus
2- If it grows in low light i dont think is algae.... (could be wrong!!)
3- I have sponges growing in low current areas... so i say, increase current after syphoning

Try searching in RC images for a better response...
 
Would a sponge grow throughout an entire tank and sump? I wont be able to siphon all of it out because its everywhere including backs of rocks and on the sand.

Also that last picture of the stuff in my sump, that light was a flashlight so i could get a picture other wise theres no light source under there.

Ill try to clean off as much as i can and see what happens.

Should i try any chemicals?
 
How old is your tank? Is it fairly new? Is that the real color of it, or is that from the light and camera? I'm thinking its some kind of sponge but now quite sure. Can you get a closer up shot of it by chance?
 
Dont try any chemicals yet, we dont know what it is so hold your horses
Try syphoning out, change current directions and wait 2-3 days to see what happens...
 
I second no chemicals. How would treat what you dont know what is? I second the sponge thing. syphon and test your water parameters. Purple up will add calcium weather or not you need it and may be detrimental to other trace elements.
 
+1 for detritus. I use a filter pad to catch debris as it goes through the overflow, and some still makes it through. If left to its own devices in low flow, it will cling together in fluffy little clumps like what you have.

As already stated, try to syphon out and increase flow. If you have an extra powerhead around, you can put it in the affected parts of your sump to stir things up. This will give your filtration a better chance at getting it dealt with.

HTH
 
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