White Slime
 

Hey all,
So far my tank has been a nightmare. It started with ammonia spikes after the cycle was over, zoas that refuse to open and now I have this strange white slime over some of my rocks. I went to two stores, one said it's a sponge and the other has no idea, but told me the lack of live rock is probably a problem. He also told me to test my water for phosphates, which I did and I got 0ppm. While we are on the subject, NO2=NO3=NH3=0, pH = 8.2, NaCl= 1.024, Ca= 480, KH=11 and that's about it. I have no idea what's going on inside. I've found baby nassarius snails, which is cool, but everything else is going wrong. My blue gudgeon is also showing signs of wear and tear. I don't know why, but still. I've added pictures of the slime to hopefully get an answer. Thanks guys,
Ren

looks like a bacteria film, are you carbon dosing ?

+1 are you running bio pellets

No carbon nor bio pellets.

I did, however, use some Kent Tech-I, Kent Coral Accel and Kent Coral-Vite. I used a half dose only, to be safe.
Ren

I was also told by a local reefer, it might be due to the lack of live rock in the tank. Does that make any sense? I only have 15 lbs of live rock in a 30 gallons tank. I think I'll go pick up some more tomorrow morning.
Ren

I don't think its for the amount of LR you have (I might be totally wrong) but you definitely need more LR for the system!!! That's just way too less. As far as science goes, less LR = less filtration = more problems given that you don't have other form of denitrifying bacteria host.

The amount of live rock won't be the cause of the slime. The amount of LR has ore to do with the amount of livestock in the tank than the water volume of the tank.

What are the additives you added for? I am not familiar with them. If one of them is a carbon source they could be the cause. (It's not carbon for filtering it's Carbon source like vinegar or Vodka to increase the bacteria in the Aquarium)

Iodine for a better release, read iodine is good for zoas.
Vitae to help give essential amino acids and trace elements.
Accel to help frags grow faster.
Only thing that i can see why i have slime.
Ren

What do you have for livestock?
What kind of salt?
Anything die lately?
What's your water change schedule?

*I see you stock list in the signature now*

I lost my shrimp a few months ago...unfortunately. I loved that little bugger.

I have Red Sea Salt and Instant Ocean Reef.

Nothing seems dead. I count all my crabs and snails. My blue gudgeon isn't looking too good, but I'm assuming poor water elements or lack of.

I change my water once a month, but I have an ATO. I've been told two theories behind water changes. Many and rarely. I tried rarely it seemed to be ok, now I have this white junk. I'll increase to twice a month, see if that helps.

Also, I realized one of the Kent products I added contained a partial percent of crude protein. Perhaps that is the key to this white junk.

Ren

It is hard to make a definitive call on what it is without a clearer picture. To me it looks like it could be the start of a white sponge colony. I have rocks that started this way and over time the sponge got thicker. However, when it starts out it can look like a thin white slime coating. Sponges are good by the way. The help take up nutrients.

Also, you don't seem to have a very large bio load so your live rock should be fine. It should be more than enough to support your one fish and a few invertebrates. Or do you have more fish in there?

Anyway, if you don't like the white "Junk" then brush it off and suck it out of your tank. Otherwise I wouldn't panic. :-)

how do you define not looking good? Do you have a picture?

His eyes are darker than usual. He has trouble swimming and when he does come out of hiding, he's always hanging off the rocks. He used to be an "open swimmer" but now he seems to be dragging himself along. Unless he's entering his teenage years, I have no other explanation.
Ren

PS: I'll try to get a picture of him or a video.

I also got the same diagnostic from my friend. He told me not to worry and it's probably just sponges. However, how did they come to be?
Ren

They hitch hike quite easily on live rock. Often times they are there but you just can't see them at first. They filter feed and take up nutrients in the water so if all of a sudden you start to see an explosive growth in a sponge colony (kinda like what you're seeing), it could be because it has found an abundance of nutrients in the water.

I don't think it's sponges but with out a better picture I can't be sure. I had a very similar slime before and lost everything except the hardiest leathers and polyps. In my case it was from running bio pellets. I started out with you much and the bacteria exploded in population and the high population of bacteria used most of the available oxygen.
I would do a good sized water change, and start that skimmer and don't add any more additives.

Lighting spectrum? new or old bulbs? all sorts of funky things grow in poor light:mrgreen:

Poor lighting, I have a Radion working at 40% of its intensity.

I bought some live rock to help the biological filtration out.

The skimmer is skimming. I believe my gudgeon died. While I changed my reef scape I didn't see him once and I've been staring at the tank since 4:30pm and he hasn't made an appearance. My corals are starting to open slowly but surely and I increased the temperature of the water. The LFS has his tanks at 26(79) C(F). Breaking news, the gudgeon isn't dead. He seems to be frightened by the new rocks. Hopefully he'll begin to feel better after the water change.

I'll keep you all posted.

Ren