White silky looking strings

[jprince]

Hi All

I need some more advice. My tank is going on 3 weeks old. I have added 2 False Perc Clowns and they are doing great.I have a question though. About 2 days ago, I started noticing these silky white very thin strings floating in the water. They are now multiplying like no ones business, and I can see them coming from my live rock. I am getting some Diatom bloom, which is fine, but I can't identify this white stuff. It's starting to cloud my water. I am going to try to post a link to a video. The pictures don't capture it. If the link doesn't work, bear with me, I'm computer illiterate. Tank parameters below.

PH = 8.2
Ammo = 0
Trites = 0
Trates = 0
SG = 1.022 @ 75F

"C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\My Pictures\tank\tank.mov"

 

[melosu58]

Says page not found.

 

[jprince]

Sorry, I don't know how to link to the video. Any guess based on description?

 

[roka64]

Maybe a spaghetti worm, but the "clouding of the tank" has me a little confused.

 

[marchmaxima]

Sorry, I don't know how to link to the video. Any guess based on description?

you need to upload the video to either a video website or a web server and then provide the link (URL) to that. We can't see it if it's on your hard drive.

Know how to upload a vid to You Tube?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Sorry, I don't know how to link to the video. Any guess based on description?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but did you cycle your tank? Three weeks seems pretty quick. If you didn't cycle, then maybe you're at the beginning of a cycle (even though your water tests OK) and some type of worms are dieing off from your rock?

Don't think spaghetti worms leave the rock in mass quantities, but without a picture or something we're all just guessing.

 

[jprince]

OK Guys

I think I have a video of the white string things. Try here.

White string things

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

So did you cycle your tank after adding the live rock? Was the rock cured, or uncured when you bought it?

 

[jprince]

The rock was uncured, but had been in the LFS for a few weeks in their holding tank which is approx. 400 gallons. Under the advice of the LFS guy, I cycled my tank with the LR and LS. I brushed the rock and rinsed in SW before adding it to the tank. I got recordings as high as 2.0 Ammo and 5.0 Nitrite during the cycle, then a drop to zero. After doing a 30% water change and a few days of stable readings, I added the Clowns. Then the white strings came. I thought at first some worm, but they kept appearing in the water. Then more and more and more. I'm stumped.

 

[ezy33]

http://http://http//www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Here's a corrected link for that previous post, which is the best page of its type I've seen out there...

Xtalreef

OK... so the tank cycled fine, and you scrubbed the rock before curing it in your tank. I was thinking that maybe you didn't cycle and this was just the normal crud coming off your rock as things died off. Very glad to hear I was wrong!

That's really a bizarre video... you're right - there's a lot of those little stings flying around in there. Seems like whatever would've come out of your rock would've done so when it cured/cycled. Got me stumped.

If it were my tank, I think I'd be in there with a fine mesh net, scooping out as much of that stuff as I could on a daily basis. Running some GAC (granulated activated charcoal) probably wouldn't hurt either, just to be on the safe side.

 

[jprince]

Thanks for that link. Looks like all kinds of good info. So here is a question. Should I take out the rock and scrub it again? If I do, am I doing more harm than good to anything else inhabiting the rock? I am just starting to get some good purple and green coraline on them. I wouldn't want to upset the balance I have now, but the strings are weirding me out some.