Attack Of The Brown Fuzz

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Donya

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My 1 gallon pico's walls are growing brown furry stuff, which I havn't seen before in my other tanks. It disintigrates into dust-like particles upon being disturbed, but comes back within a couple days. Feels like diatoms to the touch, but looks like a microalgae. I'd just like to figure out what sort of thing I'm dealing with so I can know how to deal with it...that being in a way that doesn't involve me scrubbing the tank down every 2-3 days lol. Water params seem fine so far, although all I have been able to check currently are ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, & pH readings. I havn't seen any diatom growth or microalgaes that look like this so I'm not really sure what's going on. Pictures don't come out clear enough to be useful, sorry about that (am looking for advice on good, not too expensive digital cameras on the market too currently if anyone has suggestions -_- ). I'll be running more water tests later in the week but any possible IDs for this stuff would be appreciated in the mean time.
 
Uh-oh, I am afraid your tank may be doomed.

I don't know the origins of this algae, I don't know what it feeds on, and I don't know it's taxonomy, but I can tell you this:

-nothing I have seen eats it
-nothing but hair algae outcompetes it
-it will outcompete coralline and other benefitial and benign algaes
-there is no way to get rid of it excepting a full restarting of the tank
-it it present in all tanks, usually deep in the crannies of live rock
-it thrives in lower light levels
-it's decomposition fuels ammonia spikes
-it will pile up when dislodged, forming huge, extremely unattractive piles
-as hard as you try, you can never, ever vacuum all of the piles away
-it is really ugly and everybody hates it :sick:

It's infection rate seems quite random. Some tanks are plagued, some never even see it.
The above information was compiled from when it plagued my tank :sick:

-Lynden
 
Did you ever get an ID on what type of organism the fuzz is? I guess I could break out the microscope and put it together again but it's such a pain just to look at one slide... :S I may wind up doing that eventually if a solution doesn't materialize.

nothing I have seen eats it
I have an as-of-yet unidentified snail in the tank that nibbles at the fuzz sometimes. It hasn't made a dent yet, but I've seen it munch away some patches.

nothing but hair algae outcompetes it
I have no hair algae...probably because of my hermits. There was some green stubble on one LR fragment briefly but it was no more as soon as the crabs saw it.

it will outcompete coralline and other benefitial and benign algaes
I have some macro that's doing fine. It's sending up new shoots, but growing slowly compared to my other tanks. It's razor caulerpa, which seems to be able to stomp out most stuff through nutrient depletion. Maybe I need to give it a boost to get the edge over the fuzz.

it thrives in lower light levels
I'll bet that's it, or at least a good part of it in my case. The lighting is minimal...this could be corrected though. I put off getting a decent desk lamp since I found one that was "ok" and was enough for the macro, but to be honest it would hardly take any change in setup to get more light lol. I would prefer to try that first rather than break down and restart. Increased light might enable the macro to starve out the fuzz.

as hard as you try, you can never, ever vacuum all of the piles away
Given that my fist barely fits through the opening, there is no way to vaccume this thing. I'm relying on an absurd number of gigantic bristleworms to turn the substrate.

it is really ugly and everybody hates it
Yeah, it's really bugging me. I wouldn't care if it got going in one of my other tanks (provided it didn't cause chemical spikes) since those arn't for looks and arn't even glass/acrylic, but this one is more of a desk ornament...I liked it when I could actually see into it without squinting. Yuck. :sad:


I will bet that there is some pattern to what makes it show up. My guess at the moment is that low light causes natural competitors to not be able to thrive, and therefore gives it a foothold. It's a pattern I've seen before with other things in my pico and nano. Add onto that a nutrient excess like nitrates or phosphates and I bet it takes off like....well...brown fuzzy lightning.

I am also willing to bet that something out there does eat it. I collect oddball snails when I find them, and have come accross some that eat pretty odd food preferences. Something that jumps out at me is that my snail's favorite spots on the rock are fuzz-free. If one snail nibbles at it, there will surely be another that chows down on it...maybe not easy to find. I'm limited though because my hermits are dwarf zebras. They're full of personality which is why I got them, but they're evil incarnate with snails of certain shell types. The trials and tribulations of marine keeping... :/
 
I think I have the same thing. My tank is a 55 gallon. But it doesn't sound the same as what chestnutMoray55 is describing.

The stuff I have:

Thrives on light.
Cleanup crew eats it
Coralline is thriving.
My water parameters check fine.
Useing RO water.

What is it??
 
Cyanobacteria or Dinoflagellates (if you're sure its brown and not red). If you have a microscope, check em out and see if they have a nucleus. If they do they're Dino's (protists) and if they dont... Cyano. Either way, very very very difficult to get rid of, especially in a 1g pico :crazy: If you had a larger reef I might be able to make some suggestions, but in that little guy, my knowledge is limited.
 
It's definitely brown stuff. I've seen several forms of cyano; my Nerites think its candy. Guess I'll break out the 'scope in the next day or so. What suggestions would you have for larger reefs? It might give me a base to start from looking for solutions. Do you think a light improvement would help?
 
I'd say skim, add phosphate remover and vaccum it up. In a severe case you could try antibiotics (only if its cyano). I'd also reccomend water changes with RO and a lot of patience. Lighting MIGHT be the cause of your troubles byt I doubt it. Dino/cyano are both very tough microalgaes and can do their thing under low or high light, they dont care. They also rarely compete with macro algaes for the same nutrients.
 
Hmmm....the water going into the tank is the same (RO and saltwater made from RO), so my other tanks must have something else that is using up those nutrients. Are phosphates usually a key cause?
 
Sometimes yes. Other times no. My real question would be where did the rock come from? Just to humor my own hypothesis about nutrients being released from LR itself. Remember, while phosphates are often a favorite "food" of these microalgaes, some can use ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, silicate, sulfate, pretty much any amino acid with nitrogen in it, and even a rare few can fix N2 gas itself. This wide variety of appetite makes it very hard to target their food source and starve them. Unfortunately often times its best to let nuisance algae consume whatever nutrient its found until it starves itself to death :(
 
Rock:
- 1 piece of limestone from the same "batch" (original rock chunk) as another piece I have that's doing fine.
- some pieces of live rubble that I broke up myself from a new piece I baught. The source LR had been in the LFS for several months. I have the remainder of the piece in my 12g with no signs of brown fuzz. It did bring in some brittle stars but that's about it.

I will try a new light first, and add some more macro, probably more razor caulerpa. I will see how it goes and proceed from there. If more light hurts the situation then I know for sure I have a real nutrient export issue, since light alone won't feed a bloom of something.

-----Donya
 
Huh, so that LR didnt create brown slime in any of your other tanks? Thats interesting :/
 
Huh, so that LR didnt create brown slime in any of your other tanks? Thats interesting

Yeah, I would have thought if it was a "hitchhiker" sort of thing I'd be seeing brown everywhere. That's why I've started looking at what I've done differently between my two squeeky-clean tanks/tubs and the bowl.

One new observation: it is most abundant in high flow areas, seemingly independent of lighting intensity. I have one dead-ish zone behind the limetstone that is the most well lit, and there is hardly any brown fuzz there. That seems counterintuitive to me, but may be a clue. What would grow best in high flow areas... :sly:
 
Well, cyano is likely present in all forms of live rock coming from the sea in a dormant phase. Its probably impossible to have a piece without it. Its the presence of a specific nutrient that wakes it up.
 
It really doesn't have the cyano look though...it's like hair made from gritty dust particles stuck together. I'll have to quit being lazy and get the microscope out tonight.
 

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