Mysterious White Stuff

[Sea Turtle]

I was cleaning my tank tonight after purchasing a beautiful small yellow tang from LFS. I checked on my sump like usual and to my total surprise one of the sumps’ chambers was filled with tons of white fluff hanging in the water, tons of it!!!! I just finished the cycle about two weeks ago. Not sure if this has anything to do with it? I really need some help with this one? Is it good, bad, or ok but just nasty looking? Take a look at these rad pics.

Thanx,
Sea Turtle

 

[Colin_T]

It looks like you have dumped a load of salt in there and it hasn't dissolved.
If it was growing over rocks I would say fungus feeding on dead stuff but no idea, sorry. It is kind of cool, snow in the tank

I'm posting here so I can follow this thread and see what it turns out to be.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I haven't put salt in the tank for at least 2 or 3 days. Can it coagulate sometimes for some reason? I am racking my brain for something that I might have done, but nothing comes to mind. The only thing is that I got this fish today and today if the first time I have ever seen it.

 

[Colin_T]

Salt can sometimes get a thin layer of air over the top of it when it is put into the water. If there isn't much water movement around it then it can look a bit like snow and will remain in a salt form until the water is able to mix with it.
If it is salt it will feel like wet salt when you touch it, slippery but gritty like very fine sand. You could try lifting some up and seeing if it dissolves as it falls back through the water. If it doesn't then it isn't salt.
The other option is fungus that was feeding on stuff in the filter. Sometimes you get something like that on the bottom of filter sponges and it is caused from a bit of gunk being consumed by fungus and slow water movement through the sponge.
Try syphoning it out and see what happens.
When you add salt to a marine tank you should try to dissolve it in dechlorinated water first. Then add the salt water to the tank.

 

[littleme1969]

That looks pretty nasty to me. and I personally wouldnt say its salt. How are all your water stats? Maybe some kind of fungus as said above. If it was mine Id suction it out and see if it grows back. It deffo wouldnt leave it there to grow and fester

 

[Sea Turtle]

I woke up this morning and the white fluff was gone!!! I was thinking, maybe it could have been the B-Ionic alkalininty solution. I have a literMeter III with calcium and alk dosing into the sump and haven't really got it down to a science yet. Is it possible that it could have been too much alkalinity just gathering at the bottom of the sump?

I will look tonight and see if it is there again and let you know.

 

[Colin_T]

yeah it might have been. We get a layer of white stuff on the bottom of the pool sometimes if they put too much PH buffer in it. It's the undissolved bicarb or whatever they use.
Yours still looked pretty good tho. It's snowing in the fish tank

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, that was either sodium bicarbonate salt, or calcium carbonate salt probably the result from imbalanced dosing. Make sure you keep your magnesium high while twiddling with your calc and alk. Will help prevent supersaturation and/or precipitation reactions like you experienced.