Thin clear "fur" on rocks...help

[thorsky]

I'm seeing a very thin layer of what I can only describe as fur on some of my rocks. It is translucent and looks almost like a gel coating the rock surface. I'd guess it is about 1mm thick. I regularly use a baster to blow off my rocks and have noticed that the sand and other particulates I blow off the rocks will stick to the coated rocks a bit.

Params:
Temp: 79
PH: 7.9-8.1
Cal: 450
Alk: 9
Mag: 1400
Phos: 0 with salifert
Nitrates: <5 with salifert and elos

Tank is about 2 years old. Run Kalk and use 2 part to fill in the gaps.

I'll try to get a pic tomorrow but it's gonna be tough to see. Anyone have any idea what this is based on my lousy description?

 

[Willi]

I have had what sounds like the same thing. I had some success with changing my RO/DI filters, 3 day black out periods, using a toothbrush on the rocks, and its seems the Margarita snails, Black foot trochus, and Turbo snails are keeping it in check. My last thought is that it could be old bulbs that are fueling this wierd algae. I will be interested in seeing the response you get from this post. I even have taken a piece of live rock to my LFS and could not get a ID.

 

[Anemonebuff]

Sounds like bacteria clusters. I have some in my overflows and under rocks, but not out in the open.

 

[rendogg]

Yeah, sounds like bacterial mat to me. Are you dosing a carbon source ie: vinegar, sugar, vodka?

 

[sreefs]

I had some thing that sounds the same looked like rocks had a clear short coating or fuzz on them!
I used Brightwells Micro Bacter7 and it went away in 2 weeks!

 

[thorsky]

Thanks for the replies. I am not dosing anything at this time. RO/DI is a MaxCap unit and reads 0 TDS. Lights are T5 and replaced about 6 weeks ago running about 9 hours. I will look into the Micro Bacter.

This looks like it's starting to affect some of my corals so I want to get rid of it ASAP. I'll try for a picture as soon as I get home.

 

[thorsky]

Here is a pic of what I'm talking about. The circled spot is about 2" long so we're talking pretty thin stuff here. It's barely visible to the naked eye.

 

[thorsky]

I've looked through pics of dinos, cyanos, diatoms, etc... and don't see any matches. I'm at a loss here. Anyone?

 

[blennymower]

I have the same thing...ALgae if you ask me. But I could be very wrong so I'm tagging along to find out what it is.

Its really not that bad on the eyes.

 

[njdevilsfan]

i had the same thing and a brownish rust looking stuff on my sand bed
how deep is your sand bed
what i did was
toothbrush everything
added 2 plus inches to my sand bed
used filtersocks
added an extra skimmer and skimmed wet
added a ton of snails all types
feed less
keep my lights on less
got 2 urchins
added an extra power head
did nothing chemical wise
tried to keep my ph up
soory this is so much but something worked
i dont have anymore and my sand bed cleared up
good luck and keep us up to date on how things are going

 

[thorsky]

I think the rust colored stuff you mentioned would be dino's. I haven't seen any sign of those luckily.

Thanks for the other recommendations. Some of them I have done already, some I haven’t. I'll look at making some changes.

I still want a diagnoses of what this is. It looks right for a bacteria mass but I just don't know enough about it to make a determination. And why did it show up? Right now it seems to have spread to one of my little acro frags and it's going down hill real fast. I may do a couple days without lights right away just to see if that slows it down.

 

[rendogg]

It's bacteria.

 

[thorsky]

Considering I'm not dosing anything, what is the proper course of action? I can scrub a rock, and it starts coming back within a couple days.

 

[rendogg]

Not dosing anything? How about supplements....nothing?

 

[LockeOak]

Bacterial film, I think. It comes and goes in many tanks, not much that you can do about it and it doesn't do any harm. Snails probably clear it away, but it grows very quickly. If you dive on an actual reef most of the otherwise bare rock is covered in these films.

 

[rendogg]

^^ Yeah, that's true, i've seen it on dives. The reason why I asked what or if you are dosing supplements is because some additives contain gluconates which would spur or enhance the bacterial film. If that is the source just discontinue use and find an alternative. Grazers and competition for nutrients should keep it in check.

 

[njdevilsfan]

thor
how deep is your sand bed or is it bb?

 

[OneReef]

Funny that I just came across this thread since I found the same thing in my tank last night and wondered what it was. Mine is on back of the rocks in the back of the tank. I tried to get a picture, but it is hard to get a good pic. Easier to see with the eye than it is with the camera. Anyways, you might can see it in the crevice between the two rocks.

 

[austin93]

I have this stuff in plague proportions on the glass and the rocks. I run a neozeo system and I was originally told it was white dinoflagellates but was advised by others it was a bacterial bloom. I have discontinued my carbon dosing and have seen minor improvements. Very interested in the solution as its a major problem fo rme. I can not imagine that adding mb7 would help the situation, it would probably make it worse if its a bacteria. I will be following closely.

 

[thorsky]

My sandbed in the display ranges from 2 - 4" (30G display). The sandbed in my fuge area is more like 4-5" and fuge is about 18" x 18".

I do use Kalk for topoff and dose a very small amount of 2 part to keep everything in balance. The appearance itself doesn't bother me as it's just about un-noticeable, but as I mentioned, it seams to have spread to one of my acros and looks to be suffocating it.