white stuff

Question

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The text above is a follow-up to ...

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Hi there i have searched and searched for the answer to this question and havent found anything about it, I have a 75 gallon and 47 gallon saltwater tanks and recently i have seen white stringy stuff on the live rock and in the filter and on the powerheads, its not alive like any worms,its like white balls and its hard to get off the live rock, so i use a toothbrush and it flots off after scrubbing it but comes back a few days later.. What is this? an algae or excessive nitrates? Thanks so much
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Hi Trevor,
    Seems like we have a little mystery here. Let's see if we can figure this out. I'll have to ask you a couple of questions. Does this material appear in both tanks? How long ago did it start and how long were the tanks set up before it started? Did you do a water change recently and did you do it to both tanks at the same time? Have you changed any filter material to something you haven't used before? What creatures have you added lately and did you allow their water to enter the tank or tanks affected? Please send me some answers and maybe together we can figure this out. Could it be you have an egglayer reproducing? Have any of your creatures disappeared {anenomes, nudibranchs, slugs, etc.?} When you scrub it off the rock do you net any of it for examination, or do you allow it to float back into the system? There is a method you can use to clean the rock without getting contaminants or other debris back into the system. Looking forward to hearing from you. Gerry.

Thanks so much Gerry thats was so fast of a response... Ok the 47 gallon has been set up for about 16mths now and the 75 gallon for about 5 mths... It started in both tanks about the same time,first just on the live rock and its white,hairy looking and scrubs right off with the toothbrush,and yes it floats back into the systems, i use the same bucket for changing both systems water.No new fish have been added except a new trigger but this white stuff apperared before i got him..the shite stuff looks way too big to be any type of eggs to me..its almost like an anoeme tip of some sort on the live rock too and its hard to scrub off with the brush. I can try and pull a few off and snap a photo maybe that could help in the morning if that would maybe take the mystery out of this...Let me know and thanks so much for your time and help i appreciate so much

Trevor

Answer
Hi Trevor,

  Please do take a picture or two and email me at gnorrell@optonline.net. By the way, if you take a piece of live rock to clean this off, you can remove it from the tank as long as you keep it wet. You take an empty spray bottle of tank water and keep the rock wet as you clean it, that way the substance does not return to your system and you can examine the substance more closely. Is it slimy? Does it dissapate or change color after you remove it from the water? By the way, did you say that both tanks developed this problem after your last water change? Get back to me, thanks Gerry.