This may be a stupid question but ...

[petcrazy213]

I just read the tread on air bubbles below and someone there had said that aeration bubbles only cause a problem with SW creep (or something like that) and I was wondering what "creep" was? If it is a dark algea growth on the lighting shield between the water surface and the light then that explains A LOT!!! I seem to get this dark algea crap growing on the plastic shield under my light all the time and ever since I moved my airstone bubble column directly under that, instead of off the the side, the green gunk seemed to grow doublely fast. Is this growth the "creep" stuff refered to in the below post? Also, besides removing the airstone (which I will do anyway now) are there other ways of getting rid of this stuff or is it a normal part of a SW tank and just regular cleaning? Normally I was cleaning off the shield every 2 weeks (give or take a few days) and now, since the bubble columns been under the sheild, I have to clean it at least 1 time every week if not more often.

Thanks again.

[mogurnda]

Salt creep is the salty crust that builds up when salt water splashes on stuff. The more splash, the more salty crust. Mostly an annoyance, although it can apparently harm corals or anemones if crystals fall on them.

Sounds like you have algae. It's related, in that the splash from your airstone is keeping the surface wet enough for it to grow. If it keeps growing after you get rid of the airstone, it's probably a good idea to move the lights up a little, if possible.

Hope that helps.