WEIRD growth

zthaynes

New member
Hello all... I am new to the forums and I really have no idea about saltwater tanks in general. My mother in law has a tank that she" inherited" and she knows nothing either :-D

That said, any help would be appreciated.

The tank is one of those 20-30 gallon deals like you would get at Walmart. There is currently a clown fish, a yellow tang, a little blue tinted fish I have yet to identify, a star fish and three rocks that originally came from topsail island. The tank had been set up for about six months now, and probably has the wrong lighting and the wrong filter.

The filter (and a growth on it) is the reason for my post. It is a cheap filter from Walmart that completely submerges and has a "lip"that extends forward. The old filter died and we had to get something in there because the water was getting nasty. On the" lip" which is where the clean water runs out is a growth. I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures but I will try to describe it for you. (I can't find any pictures on the internet that even come close)

The growth is thick, rubbery looking, and appears gelatinous. It is primarily hot pink with other colors thrown in here or there, giving out a jello mold / fruit cake appearance. As the water flows, little feelers or "jello stalagtites" are "growing" from the spout.

Obviously the filter will be replaced... But does anyone have any ideas on what this is our if it will come back?
 
788f40aa414c0af5dadd7826bbc38c8a.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The starfish is a chocolate chip star and should probably be removed, they do better in larger tanks.
The fish appears to be a green chromis. It and the clownfish are fine in there.
The yellow tang needs to be removed IMMEDIATELY, the tank is far too small. Tangs get large and are very active.
You're going to need more live rock. Look into the nitrogen cycle on this forum, and also look for a place to obtain cycled live rock. Are there any good fish stores in the area?
The stuff seems to be just algae. Turn off the filter and get another picture, a clear one, with no water flow. I doubt it's something harmful.
 
I wondered about the tang... She got it several months ago and there was a lot of algae in the tank... The clerk at the store said it would be fine and the tang might help control the algae too. With the picture do you still think I need more rock?
 
No way to keep the tang? It seems to be well adjusted to the tank and the other fish... She had others before and they didn't get along.
 
The starfish is a chocolate chip star and should probably be removed, they do better in larger tanks.
The fish appears to be a green chromis. It and the clownfish are fine in there.
The yellow tang needs to be removed IMMEDIATELY, the tank is far too small. Tangs get large and are very active.
You're going to need more live rock. Look into the nitrogen cycle on this forum, and also look for a place to obtain cycled live rock. Are there any good fish stores in the area?
The stuff seems to be just algae. Turn off the filter and get another picture, a clear one, with no water flow. I doubt it's something harmful.

+1 on getting rid of the tang, and the blue fish might actually be a Chrysiptera cyanea (Blue Damselfish).

Also I had a chocolate chip starfish live in a 5g for 6 months and then another 6 months in a 10g (volume upgrade), and then got rid of it for corals. Maybe I was just lucky, but from my personal experience it was not hard to keep in a nano.

How much live rock you need is entirely dependent on your bioload and your tank maintenance. But yes, more live rock will offer natural filtration and make things much simpler.

Pink/red stuff looks like cyanobacteria.
 
The growth appears to be Cyanobacteria and is a result of biological imbalance. The tang needs a much larger tank and it pains me that he is even temporarily confined to this environment. Your tank will be in much better shape with just the damsel and clown. Are you doing regular water changes? What are your water parameters? We want to help, but it requires information for us to contribute.
 
The tang is going to grow a lot and it needs much more space. A fully grown yellow tang is 8" or so and needs 5' of swimming space, at the very, very least.
Don't trust anything that store says if they told you to keep a tang in a 20g. They're either stupid or they don't care in the slightest and just want to sell you things. I suggest you ask about all future purchases on here, to avoid any issues.
 
Back
Top