Weird growths after disaster

[aquamom92]

20 gal reef tank, hob filter, 1 Pixy hawkfish

So a few things.
1) I'm super new to the hobby.
2) about a week ago my son dumped an entire bag of food in my tank .
3) I now have these weird patches of white (blue under light) all over my tank.

It's on the gravel, rocks, everything. I noticed it appears to be in spots food may have fallen. I gravel vacced the tank as best as I could when it happened and added fresh saltwater. Now I have what appears to be protein buildup (foam on surface) which I assumed would happen after all the food was dumped in there. And my tank reeks!

Anyway, should I be concerned? Should I clean the substrate again? And the filter?

*Bonus points if anyone can help with hair algae. Unfortunately, the only place we could put the tank was across from an eastern facing window so I'm battling that as well.*

 

[TX_REEF]

Is the fish still alive? Did you do a water change? Did you test the water?

Continue to remove as much of the food as you can. For hair algae, if you keep nutrients down (don't overfeed) and add appropriate cleanup crew (trochus snails and small hermit crabs are great) you should be able to keep it under control.

 

[aquamom92]

Is the fish still alive? Did you do a water change? Did you test the water?

Continue to remove as much of the food as you can. For hair algae, if you keep nutrients down (don't overfeed) and add appropriate cleanup crew (trochus snails and small hermit crabs are great) you should be able to keep it under control.

Sorry I thought I answered that but it must've been on the other forum I posted on.

When I vacuumed the gravel I took out about 1/3 of the water then replaced with fresh saltwater. That was about 5 days ago. The fish is alive but less active than usual. Corals have just started opening up again though my Duncan is now floppy. I haven't done a test yet. I'm hoping to get to the LFS today to stock back up.

I'm just worried cleaning the gravel will cause a spike in nitrites or ammonia.

 

[TX_REEF]

you definitely need to do a water test as soon as possible. It's quite important to have a reliable test kit at home. I recommend red sea, but anything is better than nothing: https://amzn.to/4asphKn

You need to find out whether the load of food dumped in the water has caused a life-threatening buildup of ammonia and/or nitrate. It's entirely possible that a 30% water change is not enough of a water change to reduce the nutrients given the amount of food dumped into the water.

 

[aquamom92]

you definitely need to do a water test as soon as possible. It's quite important to have a reliable test kit at home. I recommend red sea, but anything is better than nothing: https://amzn.to/4asphKn

You need to find out whether the load of food dumped in the water has caused a life-threatening buildup of ammonia and/or nitrate. It's entirely possible that a 30% water change is not enough of a water change to reduce the nutrients given the amount of food dumped into the water.

Ok thanks for the info! I'll go get one now

 

[Lavey29]

Agree with the above. More sand siphon and water changes needed along with daily tests till balance is returned. For GHA lots of manual removal and diverse cleaner crew that includes tuxedo urchins and turbos.

 

[aquamom92]

I got my cuc, rinsed filter, siphoned the sand, gave everything a scrub, and added fresh saltwater with prime. I had a bit of ammonia and nitrites but surprisingly not a lot. Cuc is acclimated and already at work. Looks and smells so much better!

 

[TX_REEF]

I got my cuc, rinsed filter, siphoned the sand, gave everything a scrub, and added fresh saltwater with prime. I had a bit of ammonia and nitrites but surprisingly not a lot. Cuc is acclimated and already at work. Looks and smells so much better!

Awesome! keep us updated

 

[aquamom92]

Awesome! keep us updated

Will do! Thanks for your help!

 

[aquamom92]

Alright experts, my coral are not doing great my Kenya tree is almost fully disintegrated, my other tree looking one looks twiggy, my Xmas haven't opened, and my Duncan is floppy. My urchin is also sitting on the bottom sideways but I don't see any missing spines. When I tested the water at the LFS my ammonia and nitrites were near zero, which is much better than I expected after the pellet blizzard my son caused.

I'm going to test the water again today but is there anything I can do to save my coral? Should I put them in a bucket of fresh water? Should I put the urchin in a bucket?

Thanks again!

 

[Rjukan]

Alright experts, my coral are not doing great my Kenya tree is almost fully disintegrated, my other tree looking one looks twiggy, my Xmas haven't opened, and my Duncan is floppy. My urchin is also sitting on the bottom sideways but I don't see any missing spines. When I tested the water at the LFS my ammonia and nitrites were near zero, which is much better than I expected after the pellet blizzard my son caused.

I'm going to test the water again today but is there anything I can do to save my coral? Should I put them in a bucket of fresh water? Should I put the urchin in a bucket?

Thanks again!

I think the best thing you can do is keep things as steady as possible, and let everything ride it out without doing anything drastic now that you have it cleaned. I would do small volume water changes every couple days. It will take some time, but it's better than shocking anything more with fresh saltwater.