Something is taking over! Help quick

[selador]

I have added a bunch of new rock recently to my 55 gallon reef tank. The rock was basically taken straight out of the ocean in Tampa bay and put into the tank and quite a bit of green algae growing on it. Now (4 days later) some kind of white slime is growing on the rocks, very rapidly. It is making air bubbles underneath the surface (just like red slime except it is white). I just noticed it this morning on the sponges and it has already taken over about 5% of the rock surface and the back of a starfish. I need to do something very quickly as this is the fastest growing (thing) I have ever seen. I have looked all over the web and have found nothing about anything white taking over the rocks like this. Please somebody help!

 

[K9coral]

I have seen something like this, it was white slime almost like a mucus. It showed up after 3 days and went away after about a week. I think it is just die off. Can you get a pic?

 

[selador]

This is the best pic I could get. I have been sucking everything I can off of the rocks. This spot was all orange yesterday.

 

[FranklinP]

FWIW: I got the exact same rock over on the east cost. the green hair algae is dying and I have been pulling it off. My tank is cycling now so I dont really care about it damaging anything in the tank. My guess is that it is getting to much light. My sponges that were on them have opened up and are doing whatever it is that they do. The barnacles are scooping away too. For kicks go out at night and turn on a flashlight to see all the crazy stuff sticking out of the rock. Did you get the prized Aiptasia anemone? I purposely picked up rock with them on it not knowing what they were. I think the moral of the story is to not collect wild stuff.

http://www.iongun.com/reef pics are burried in there somewhere

 

[K9coral]

Is it like a spider web? Looks like the same stuff I saw. It should go away withing a week. Maybe a extra water change or 2 or 3 would help. Any chance of a close up or clearer pic?

 

[selador]

Update next morning. Completely covering 3 square feet of rock overnight. It seems like it might be bugs that are making webs (like spider mites on plants). I'm having no faith that it will die off, I don't think that there is much that I can do to save anything in my tank.

As far as collecting from the wild, I actually prefer to do that. Normally I have not had a problem with anything bad and I have collected rock from the same site before. There is a lot more stuff on the rock and yes I have picked up the aptasia anemone. In fact, I also picked up a nudibranch that eats anemones and we are now breeding those to sell to pet stores. I just hope it survives the white invasion.

The second picture below is the same site as the first posted picture, only 12 hours later

 

[Anonymous]

I had the same problem with my gulf rock. Lasted for a couple of weeks then slught off and was gone. It's just die off, do frequent water changes and you should be ok. Here's a picture of what mine looked like when it started.

 

[nanocat]

This is typical "die-off" and yes, it looks like slobber or webbing. You can turkey baster blast it right off, but it will be right back a few hours later. After about 7 days it should disipate. Wait till you see the diatom bloom that follows

 

[Anonymous]

i think it would be prudent, and will help the overall cycle, to siphon as much of that as possible out of your tank

flooding the system w/organics as the result of decaying organisms is NOT what you're trying to accomplish during the /cycle/curing phase of the rock-the more gunk you leave in the system now, the more nuisance algae/cyano/diatoms etc., you will have later on


hth