Looking to ID Algae in Sump

[DKoKoMan]

Hey folks,

I’m looking to identify this weird cream / brown colored stringy snot like algae which has showed up shortly after my chaeto disintegrated. The “nasty stuff” is not present in my display, however is attached to my overflow pipes and in my sump area. I do biweekly WC’s (reef crystals) 30g on my 150g tank and siphon out this stuff on a regular basis in clumps. Looking for any help on how to rid my tanks of this nasty stuff!!!


Salinity: 1.026
Temperature: 80 degrees Fahrenheit
Alkalinity: 8.9 dKh
Calcium: 450 ppm
Nitrate: 2-5ppm
Phosphate: 0.02ppm

I currently dose 15ml NOPO-X daily to keep nitrates in check as I have a heavy bio load. I dose 2-part for Alk/Cal, run GAC and GFO in reactors. Nothing else is added to the tank.


I no longer have a refuge in after the chaeto didn’t last. I don’t know if it is coincidence or completely an aside but the last chaeto to melt was when the slime appeared.

Here are a couple photos of the sump and filters which are constantly plugged up with this stuff. I’m stuck every couple days cleaning out my reactor pumps which suck up this stuff... please help!

[kien]

wow, that's some nasty crap. Sorry, I'm no help on ID here. To me it looks like fish poop mixed in with something that died or is in the processing of dying and decomposing. Gross.

[DKoKoMan]

Originally Posted by kien

wow, that's some nasty crap. Sorry, I'm no help on ID here. To me it looks like fish poop mixed in with something that died or is in the processing of dying and decomposing. Gross.

Nothing has died in the tank other then my chaeto. I swear it grows though!!! I pull it out all the time with a turkey baster and it comes back. That’s why I think it’s an algae of some sort.

I literally take my prefilters to the car wash to spray this crap out as it does t rinse away.

Hopefully someone knows what it is and how do I get rid of it...

[kien]

Originally Posted by DKoKoMan

Nothing has died in the tank other then my chaeto. I swear it grows though!!! I pull it out all the time with a turkey baster and it comes back. That’s why I think it’s an algae of some sort.

I literally take my prefilters to the car wash to spray this crap out as it does t rinse away.

Hopefully someone knows what it is and how do I get rid of it...

That's kinda what I was alluding to. The fibrous chaeto breaking down and mixing with detritus. Algae can tend to turn clear and snotty when it breaks down. Also, I'm not saying that's what it is. I'm saying that's what it looks like :-)

[DKoKoMan]

Originally Posted by kien

That's kinda what I was alluding to. The fibrous chaeto breaking down and mixing with detritus. Algae can tend to turn clear and snotty when it breaks down. Also, I'm not saying that's what it is. I'm saying that's what it looks like :-)

ok well that makes two of us thinking that! Now if I don’t hear anything else how do I get rid of it haha. I’m thinking of bleaching my LR in one of my sump sections as it’s sticking to it.

[kien]

Originally Posted by DKoKoMan

ok well that makes two of us thinking that! Now if I don’t hear anything else how do I get rid of it haha. I’m thinking of bleaching my LR in one of my sump sections as it’s sticking to it.

If it's alive (algae), then I have no clue. If it's dead (stuff), then probably just keep rinsing and siphoning it out until it's all (mostly) gone?

[DKoKoMan]

ya I thought it was just dead stuff (it might be) but seems to be so much that I thought maybe an algae... I will keep doing what I’m doing (siphoning, washing filters etc.) and hopefully it leaves.

[DKoKoMan]

Anyone else want to take a stab at what this stuff may be?

[Myka]

That's bacteria from the NoPoX dosing. If you switched to biopellets in a reactor with the output hose going directly into your skimmer intake then you won't get that bacteria in the sump.

[DKoKoMan]

Hmm interesting... I ran vertex biopellets in a reactor placed in my skimmer section for months with no real effect on nitrates. I may have to reconsider plumbing in a biopellets reactor in my new build as I don’t want a slime covered sump.

Just when things were nice and stable something like this happens