Need ID on brown goo

[Scoffer]

Hi all. Well, got home after Thanksgiving, less the 24 hrs later, and I have this brown goo on my glass and sand bed. On the sand, it looks kinda stringy, not really like hair to me. Like snot. ewwwwwww. Ill have some pictures in a bit. But this stuff happened real quick. I tried touching it. It just slimes away. Please help! What should I do? Just vacumm it out and clean it up?

Nittrite 0
Ammonia 0
temp 75 (have new 200watt heater running)
calcium 350
nitrate 20-40 ppm

can't seem to get my nitrates any lower than this. I've cut back on feedings, but I just don't get the reason for my nitrates.

Also, maybe important, my PH is high . Either 8.8 , or its higher than my scale will show. Can I add some PH/Alk buffer alone to bring this down?

I've been adding Calcium/PH buffer to try to get my calcium to 400-450. (thats another post).

This brown goo has me worried though. Can a dead snail cause brown, stringy goo to development??

Please help!!

thanks

Scoffer

[Scoffer]

To update the prior, I got to looking at the stuff on the glass, and it does seem to be little "hairs" mixed in brown goo. Algae I assume. Heres the photos I took.

You can see where my Bleeny has been "kissing" the glass, or goo really.

One of the bottom, with the goo swaying in the current,

and one on the whole tank. All the brown on the sand wasn't there yesterday afternoon!! ewwww!!!

any help would be appt'd!!!

Scoffer

[Birdlady]

Hi Scoffer!

Looks like maybe Cyanobacteria. I have it right now too.

It fixes nitrates which is good, but if you have nitrates, it will continue to plague you as that is one of the things it feed on. Just clean off the glass and siphon off the sandbed and loose stuff if it bugs you terribly. It is a normal part of the tank cycle and will calm down.

What are you using for nitrate control? DSB or denitrifying coil? If you had more LR it may help as well. How long has your tank been up?


I shouldn't really hurt anything unless it overgrows corals.

[Scoffer]

helps nitrates??? wahoooo!!!!

Nitrate control-- Water changes and Prime (additive)

2-3 inches of sand bed--thats not considered a DSB is it?

55lbs live rock, need more?

set up for about 6 months now....should I start removing the bio-balls?

I hove very little corals. green buttons and the Xenia....but the goo hasn't hit any of the rock yet....if my nitrates are at the 20 ppm level, won't the consume them pretty quick?

thanks birdlady...always great to hear from you!

I still use a wet/dry system...maybe in the future I'll swap over to a fuge...to much happening in life right now for such a project.....

must save the world ....or at least a couple of feet of it!!!

Scoffer

[Birdlady]

Hi Scoffer....

Nope, not a DSB which is fine...I don't have one in my main tank, only in the fuge. I have 0 nitrates.

The general rule on live rock is 1 - 1.5 pounds per gallon capacity. I have 80 pounds in my 58 gallon tank plus 12 gallon fuge.

Maybe you could add the extra LR, (you could get base rock...cheaper stuff) wait for it to cycle in...then start removing bioballs...maybe 20% per week? As you can see, there are no real rules in this hobby ...just what works for you in each individual case.

Try that if you can, and don't worry about the brown goo! just suck it out with water changes.....

Mine went pretty wild and is just now starting to settle down. Additional circulation helps if you can point your powerheads at the worst areas for a while, that may help too.

Happy to help as I feel most here know more than I do, but the basics, those I know pretty well now.**sigh**

[Scoffer]

how much LV do you think can be added at a time to my extablished tnk not to casue too much trouble? could I add 5 lbs at a time and be ok? Or is that too much at once???

Thanks birdlady.
And theres nothing wrong not knowing everything, as long as you know enough. Which is where I'm trying to get...

[amcarrig]

[quote author=Scoffer link=board=ASAP;num=1101600351;start=0#1 date=11/27/04 at 17:53:19]To update the prior, I got to looking at the stuff on the glass, and it does seem to be little "hairs" mixed in brown goo. Algae I assume. Heres the photos I took.

You can see where my Bleeny has been "kissing" the glass, or goo really.

One of the bottom, with the goo swaying in the current,

and one on the whole tank. All the brown on the sand wasn't there yesterday afternoon!! *ewwww!!!

any help would be appt'd!!!

Scoffer[/quote]
Brown slime with hairs mixed in makes me think dinoflagellates, not cyano.

[Birdlady]

See! What the heck do I know! LOL! Dinoflagellates is one problem I have never had to deal with....lucky me...

What do you do for that Amcarrig??

[Scoffer]

Well, I vacuumed 'em up and cleaned the glass for an hour, changed 10 gal.s of water, and ran the diatom filter for about 3 hours. It looks great again. better than before..and the brown stuff isn't coming back yet!

nice to see clean again...thank all!

Scoffer

[amcarrig]

Gotta love that diatom filter Are you also running carbon?