white stuff on my rocks and sand?

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porksoda

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Joined
Feb 1, 2007
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163
Location
Clovis New Mexico
Well i have noticed in my tank today, there is alot of white stuff on my rocks and sand bed. It has been there for like a week or 2 now. I thought it would just go away but it didnt. Thanks for the help guys. Ill get pics soon.

Porksoda
 
Do you guys think it is from over feeding? I am just not sure what it is. I dont think i over feed my fish. They eat everything i throw in there.
I feed my fish dried flake food. I bought some frozen food today tho. Some Frozen Cyclopes and Frozen Mysis Shrimp start feeding.
 
Here are the pics:
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Is it on your glass or other fixtures in your tank? If so it is precipitate. What are you Ca and Alk parameters?
 
no it is only on my rocks and sand. There is none on my glass or anyother things. I think it might be food. I was out of town for a 3 days like 2 weeks ago and my dad took care of the tank. He might have feed too too much. I was thinking my snails would just eat it or my lawnmower blenny. Any ideas what might eat it? I bought a emerald crab today will that help?
 
Nuke those aptasia with joes juice or kalk paste. A couple peppermint shrimps should do the trick as well.

Looks like detritoius to me as well. A turkey baster and a water change is in order.
 
I do have powerheads. I have two mj 1200's. You guys thing i should just get a powerhead and shoot off the stuff? How should i get rid of the anenomes? Get a peppermint shrimp?
 
are you dosing any supplements in your tank, like carbonate alkalinity? could be overdosing. need to add calcium. only way to find out is to get a test kit.
distrius (sp?) blow off with power head and do water change.
for the aptasia, i read somewhere in the forum that if you can take the rock out and you can get one of them plunger doser thingamajig, boil some hot water and shoot some hot water inside them i heard they just melt. might want to rinse the rock in old tank water from water change before you put back in display tank. kalwasser concentrate works well too.
 
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You can go Berghia Nudibranchs, but in your situation, kill them off with boiling RO or tank water (or joes juice, but water wont screw your params like alk if you use too much) and get a couple peppermint shrimps for just in case. The shrimps are hit or miss, they wont always go after your aiptasia, but they are fun to watch :)

About your LFS, did you bring a picture in to show them or did you just describe them? Point something out that was similar in their store? If they were jerking you around I would go elsewhere, but maybe they just misunderstood? Those are FOR SURE aiptasia. Oh yea, and that crap on your rocks/sand IS FOR SURE detritus. blow it off with a turkey baster/power head only right before you do your WC. Even better, if you can suck the crap right off the rocks and sand during the WC, that might work better for you. Might want to think about bumping up that cleanup crew also, what do you have currently as far as snails/crabs? Oh, and what size tank/bio load?
 
Ok the rocks are small and i read that you can boil the rocks. If i were to do that how long would i do that? Thanks for the help
 
You can go Berghia Nudibranchs, but in your situation, kill them off with boiling RO or tank water (or joes juice, but water wont screw your params like alk if you use too much) and get a couple peppermint shrimps for just in case. The shrimps are hit or miss, they wont always go after your aiptasia, but they are fun to watch :)

About your LFS, did you bring a picture in to show them or did you just describe them? Point something out that was similar in their store? If they were jerking you around I would go elsewhere, but maybe they just misunderstood? Those are FOR SURE aiptasia. Oh yea, and that crap on your rocks/sand IS FOR SURE detritus. blow it off with a turkey baster/power head only right before you do your WC. Even better, if you can suck the crap right off the rocks and sand during the WC, that might work better for you. Might want to think about bumping up that cleanup crew also, what do you have currently as far as snails/crabs? Oh, and what size tank/bio load?

In my clean up crew i have about 5 turbos, 30 nasarius snails, 1 emerald crab, about 15 hermit crabs. I have a 55 gallon tank. I have 1 yellow tang, 1 hippo tang, 1 lawnmower blenny, 1 royal gramma, 1 blue damsel, oh and 1 brittle star. I have 2 MJ 1200 powerheads blowing all the time and my lights are 4 40 watt lights 2 10k's and 2 actinics. I hope this helps.
 
Holy aptasia batman! I recently had a problem with only a few of those buggers, i've been killing them as I see them by boiling tank water and using a syringe to blast the little bastards. Works like a charm, they melt into nothing and don't come back(at that spot anyway). My hermit crabs seem to eat the leftovers.

As for the powder stuff, I agree that its detritus and that you need to do a good syphoning and increase your waterflow somehow. Do you have your powerheads are different levels, or just at the top?
 

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