Please Help!!!!!!!1 I Dont Know What This Is

[lost boyz]

Ok I Had My 180 Gallon Up And Running For Like Maybe 4 Months...
I Near Really Noticed It Until A Friend Came Over And Pointed It Out..maybe Because I Look At The Tank Everyday....
My Question Is I Have Like A (white Like Powder Or Somehting Of The Sort All Over My Rocks...its Alot Of Powder Look But Also Some Spot Comes Off In Flakes When I Hit It With A Power Head...
I Been Running The Power Heads Over It For Like The Last 4 Days And Scrubbing The Rock With A Tooth Brush....man It Doesnt Ever Seem To Go Away...buy The Time I Do The Left Side And Go To The Right Side That I Just Did Its Already Laying Over The Rocks Again....
What Could This Be?
What Can I Do To Get Rid Of It?
Will It Ever All Go Away?
Its Driving My Crazy....please Help And Let Me Know What Else I Can Try Or Do!!!!!!!!

 

[michaeltx]

its rock fragments from the description as the critters bore into the rocks like crabs, clams, worms, and others will cause a white silt to apear on the rocks.
if this is what it is.
what are you r calcium levels at?
if calcium is to high it can prepitate back as a solid so thats might be another cause.
Is there anyway to get a picture of it?
Mike

 

[mike22cha]

If you're going to do a fowlr, I'd get a UV sterilizer. They are not good for reefs, becuase they deystroy the reef supplements you add, but they take out algae and deises like ick through the water that passes through. Also get a clean up crew. I'd get a couple of turbos and lots of astrea. Also some hermits but make sure there are plenty of shells laying around so the hermits won't kill the snails for their shell.

 

[lost boyz]

I Have Alot Of Clean Up Crews But It Still Seems Like This Powder Is Over Taking Them...
Im Going To Try To Take A Pic Of It Maybe That Would Help To Show What I Been Going Threw!

 

[lost boyz]

Ok Got Some Pics Its Still Alittle Hard To See Because The Dusty Powder Just Sits There...
Its Like A White To Almost Gray Look...
Very Lighty Coated On Rocks...i Took Pics Of It On The Rocks And Then Hit It With The Power Head To Move It To Show You Like I Said Its A Little Hard To See Because It Is A Powder....

 

[michaeltx]

what fish do have in the tank also does it look like the sand same size comparison?
Mike

 

[lost boyz]

Now A Buddy Of Mine Said It Could Be A Diatom Build Up Is This True...
He Put A Diatom Filter On The Side Of My Tank For The Last 2 Days But The Filter Wasnt In The Best Condition Becayuse He Was Using The Filter For 3 Months...should I But A New Filter And Try It Over Because So Far Nothing Has Worked...just Moves Around Fro Me Power Heading It And Just Lays Back On The Rock Once It Settels...
What Else Could I Try Or Do?????????
Could This Harm My Tank????

 

[michaeltx]

its not diatoms they are much darker in color than what you have.

 

[lost boyz]

I Have A Brittle Star.
A Powder Brown Tann
A Lion
Domino Damel
A Squeirrl Big Eye ( Spelled That Wrong)lol
A Nother Tank Dont Know The Nbame On Him Just Looked Pretty
A Type Of Fox Face
Little Damels ( 2 Of Them)
2 Crowns
A Clean Up Crew
Yeah The Powder Stuff Looks Like The Size Of Sand...very Fine But Looks Like Crap On Rocks...

 

[michaeltx]

is your sand real light and can be blown real easy?
has any of your powerheads dropped or changed position in the tank?
next thing to look at is the sand behind the rocks if you can has it moved to one side or piled up anywhere back there?
Mike

 

[lost boyz]

1 More Thing I Forget To Mention I Been Using Purple Up Everyday Like Stated On The Bottle....
Could That Be The Problem???

 

[michaeltx]

no purple up isnt a good product but wouldnt cause this.
do you have a calcium test kit?
mike

 

[lost boyz]

Yeah My Power Heads Did Hit The Sand A Couple Of Times Because The Suction Cups Stink And They Fell Off....
Not Really Sure If Its Sand Thow My Sand Is Really Light Beige Color But On The Rocks It Looks More Like White To A Gray Color...
What Color Is Algae?

 

[lost boyz]

Yeah Do You Want Me To Go Test It Quick...
Ill Be Right Back And Let You Know What The Number Are....
Thaks You Been A Great Help!!!

 

[michaeltx]

there is a wide range of colors for algae from black to a white color but 99% of all algaes will not blow off the rocks.
I think what you are seeing is sand that has manged to work its way up on the rocks instead of useing a powerhead try useing a turkey baster to lightly blow the rocks off and it should settle to the sand I think the powerhead is stirring the sand up into the water and its traveling and landing on the other side of the tank on the rocks.
the powerhead dropping could have blwon enough sand to cover the rocks and useing a powerhead to blow them off is just moving the sand to other rocks in the tank instead of pushing it back down to the sand bottom.
mike

 

[ophiura]

Your calcium and alkalinity numbers at a minimum are required...

 

[lost boyz]

NO calcium test kit...
I HAD ONE AND I JUST CALLED MY BUDDY HE TOOK IT BACK HOME TO TEST HIS TANKS SO I DONT HAVE ONE HERE ON HAND...
GRRRRRRRRRRRR YOU WOULD THINK HE WOULD OF ASKED BEFORE TAKING!

 

[mcbdz]

You may just syphon it off with your water syphon, and see if it comes back. That way you are takin it out of the tank all together. Then see if it builds back up. Also run a sample of your water up to you lfs and get a run of all your test. Get them to give you the numbers.

 

[dmschiff]

I have the same thing on my rocks too. Not quite as much, but is looks the same--especialy your last picture. I have cc, so I'm sure it's not sand blowing around. It is definitely white and not tan like the waste build up that often accumulates on the rocks or in areas of low flow. I had this a whild back and it seemed to just disappear after syphoning during a water change. However, it is back again and I just wondered what it is. Please let me know if you figure it out.