What the Heck is This???

suzmax

New member
So today I saw these little pellet things in our tank. For those following (or not), we got it a week ago (tomorrow) from someone else & moved it. It was way overstocked. We took out a lot of the rock & dumped his sand & got new. Two of the blue hippos didn't make the hour long trip. It's a 125 gallon w/a 50 or so gallon refugium. We have a huge cyano problem that we are working on & high nitrates that we are also working on. I don't need advice on those things right now but wonder what this pellet stuff is. It's not moving like worms. Is something big pooping in our tank? :eek1: It's only on one side.

In addition to a lot of LR & corals, we have:
1 Hippo Tang
Black & White Clownfish
Small Rose Anemone
Green Coris Wrasse (who just went missing...hoping he's in the sand even though he hasn't been once all week)
Six Line Wrasse
Long Spined Black Sea Urchin
2 Red Serpent Starfish
2 Brown Sea Serpent Starfish
2 Snails of some sort crawling all over the glass

Thanks!

Pellets.jpg
 
I'm only guessing, but you might have some sort of sea cucumber in your tank. Keep your eyes peeled.
 
Looks like snail poop. Probably turbo snails. They can produce a lot of waste.

But then again, I've never had a cuke.
 
Aha! Just went down & looked at the tank...lights haven't come on yet for the day & there is this MASSIVE snail that was at the top of the glass on his way back down. He's twice the size of the other two snails that are in there. By the time I got the camera & went back down to take pics, he was just about gone. He moves pretty fast...for a snail! :) So he must be the turbo snail, and the culprit!

Thanks for all your replies!
 
Yes it is the snail... I have 6 LARGE snails... and just added two conchs... My turbos... well... Lets just say....

OK you get the picture... That is exactly what it looks like... It gets broken up by the flow and cleanup in the tank. A small suction hose (large enough to get that poop) might help you to just go around and suction it...

Depending on the cleanup crew... it will dissapear... but like you said.... you are not ready to tackle that part yet.... (But you might want to just think about it at the sametime... so it does not seem like you are doing the same steps weeks later and realize that you could have done an extra step and saved the time)



Also since it is only on one side... Check the flow... I wonder if that is a dead spot and it is collecting there because of SLOW flow...Put some flake food in... (crumble it to make small peices so you can see the flow better) and watch where it goes. If it slows down over there then you know you need to adjust the power heads/discharges.

Good luck and keep asking questions... Please!
 
Just fyi, if snail poop like that is accumulating in that corner like that, you know that is an area of low flow.... Not a bad thing necessarily. Just remember that if you have low flow corals, you want to put them there.
 
Yes it is the snail... I have 6 LARGE snails... and just added two conchs... My turbos... well... Lets just say....

OK you get the picture... That is exactly what it looks like... It gets broken up by the flow and cleanup in the tank. A small suction hose (large enough to get that poop) might help you to just go around and suction it...

Depending on the cleanup crew... it will dissapear... but like you said.... you are not ready to tackle that part yet.... (But you might want to just think about it at the sametime... so it does not seem like you are doing the same steps weeks later and realize that you could have done an extra step and saved the time)



Also since it is only on one side... Check the flow... I wonder if that is a dead spot and it is collecting there because of SLOW flow...Put some flake food in... (crumble it to make small peices so you can see the flow better) and watch where it goes. If it slows down over there then you know you need to adjust the power heads/discharges.

Good luck and keep asking questions... Please!

Thank you! And it's not that I'm not ready to tackle the cyano or nitrates yet...totally doing that! I just know from my little experience on here already that if I mention I have a cyano problem in a thread then the whole thread takes on a new life of its own on that topic & why I probably have it & what I need to do about it & how I'm not handling it right, blah, blah, blah & my original question never gets answered. ;) I only mentioned it here in case it had something to do with those poop pellets.
 
Thank you! And it's not that I'm not ready to tackle the cyano or nitrates yet...totally doing that! I just know from my little experience on here already that if I mention I have a cyano problem in a thread then the whole thread takes on a new life of its own on that topic & why I probably have it & what I need to do about it & how I'm not handling it right, blah, blah, blah & my original question never gets answered. ;) I only mentioned it here in case it had something to do with those poop pellets.

Can you get a picture of the "so called" culprit? It's a lot easier that way. ;)
 
+1.

I had a reef-safe snail in my tank one time that was about the size of a golfball if not bigger. I never saw it $h!t like that. JME.

Yup...I would say this one is a little bit bigger than a golfball. you should see all the crap it had to eat in the tank before we moved it. No wonder! :)
 
Can you get a picture of the "so called" culprit? It's a lot easier that way. ;)

I tried this morning but that little sucker doesn't move at a snail's pace! He's turbo charged for sure! By the time I got the camera & went back downstairs that slippery sucker had slithered almost all the way back to the bottom of the tank. Now that I know he's there I can see him in the back, but he's not in a place where I can get his picture. But I'll be watching for him.
 
Turbos tend to poop a lot when they find a comfy spot to sleep. I have a large, 1 1/4-1 1/2" zebra stripe turbo that can dump quite a load.
 
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