0 nitrates and brown hair algae! What do I do?

[Reeferbo619]

Brown hairy algae covers sand and back glass .. also build up behind my rock wall. 3 days after water change sand is covered.

PH: 8.4
Alk: 8.0
Calcium: 410
Mag: 1230
Nitrates: 0
Phos: .00
I am dosing NeoNitro daily for 3 days now still no sign of nitrates. Suggestions to raise nitrates without promoting algae growth?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Looks to be either cyanobacteria or dinoflagellates.

 

[Reeferbo619]

Looks to be either cyanobacteria or dinoflagellates.

Must be dyno.. does cyano come in brown? I had red before and Treated for it

 

[35ppt]

Must be dyno.. does cyano come in brown? I had red before and Treated for it

Even if it is dinos, it's good to know what type you have. I always like to recommend people get a cheap microscope. It's a great piece of reefing gear imo.

/And with zero detectable No3 and Po4 I'd suspect dinos.

 

[Reeferbo619]

Even if it is dinos, it's good to know what type you have. I always like to recommend people get a cheap microscope. It's a great piece of reefing gear imo.

/And with zero detectable No3 and Po4 I'd suspect dinos.

I may look into one thanks for the advice. If it is Dino’s how do you suggest I raise Nitrates without promoting algae growth

 

[35ppt]

I may look into one thanks for the advice. If it is Dino’s how do you suggest I raise Nitrates without promoting algae growth

You want algae growth. It's what's out competing the dinos. What I see in the photos is mostly what I assume to be dinos not algae. Depending on the type of dinos you have a UV plumbed to the display knocks them out fairly effectively. I would keep dosing the nutrients until I'm seeing over 10 No3 and over .08 Po4.

 

[Reeferbo619]

You want algae growth. It's what's out competing the dinos. What I see in the photos is mostly what I assume to be dinos not algae. Depending on the type of dinos you have a UV plumbed to the display knocks them out fairly effectively. I would keep dosing the nutrients until I'm seeing over 10 No3 and over .08 Po4.

ok I can dose for now and possibly look into the UV. I only have 6 fish as of today in my 100 gallon with 60 gallon sump.. I’m going to up my livestock and feed twice a day, turned skinner off, also Gfo reactor, and reducing refuge light to 10 hours a day.

 

[35ppt]

ok I can dose for now and possibly look into the UV. I only have 6 fish as of today in my 100 gallon with 60 gallon sump.. I’m going to up my livestock and feed twice a day, turned skinner off, also Gfo reactor, and reducing refuge light to 10 hours a day.

Look at getting a microscope before getting a UV, you might have the kind UV doesn't do much for.

 

[Reeferbo619]

Even if it is dinos, it's good to know what type you have. I always like to recommend people get a cheap microscope. It's a great piece of reefing gear imo.

/And with zero detectable No3 and Po4 I'd suspect dinos.

i took your advice and bought a microscope..could you ID this?

 

[Paulie069]

Look at getting a microscope before getting a UV, you might have the kind UV doesn't do much for.

I’d get a UV anyway it’s a great piece of equipment to have regardless. It’s the best thing I ever bought

 

[Reeferbo619]

I’d get a UV anyway it’s a great piece of equipment to have regardless. It’s the best thing I ever bought

ive ordered one but doesn’t get here until April 28th. In the meantime any suggestions ? Could I get some help identifying this ?

 

[35ppt]

i took your advice and bought a microscope..could you ID this?

Video's don't show up. Can you upload to YouTube? Or just snap a photo.

 

[brandon429]

Why wait for ID here

you can simply take your tank apart, rinse out the dirty sand, reassemble a non invaded reef if its worth it to have a clean system

how many gallons is this tank

id/wait/treat via water/ wait is strictly for giant tanks that have no other method of access avail. If you ran this tank through the sand rinse thread you’d have a clean tank April 5th

right now if you reach in and grab sand and drop it, a massive cloud of mixed invader and invader feed wells the whole tank.


if you dose a med or adjust params to starve out the invader over months, then reach in and grab sand, a massive cloud of just waste feed clouds the whole tank (water treatments leave waste in the tank for next battle: gha)

but if you clean the sand, then it passes a drop test and doesnt require waiting... it removes feed for future predicted invasions.

 

[brandon429]

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

case in point


params, ID, not factored

it works like this: resolved human with accessible aquarium runs steps 1-10, results are sparkling clean reef without delay.

 

[Reeferbo619]

Video's don't show up. Can you upload to YouTube? Or just snap a photo.

 

[Reeferbo619]

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

case in point


params, ID, not factored

it works like this: resolved human with accessible aquarium runs steps 1-10, results are sparkling clean reef without delay.

theres no chemistry or biology in that, it’s psychology. Curing reef tank invasions in accessible tanks has nothing to do with chemistry or biology from the part of the owner, it’s merely a matter of will. We choose to apply a working method or we don’t.

strange tenet we are testing but it’s not killing tanks, it’s enhancing them.

i like to set the arbitrary breakpoint at fifty gallons, i.e. one full brute trashcan drain. If we own a reef sized such that one easy brute trash can can hold all our water, allowing direct access to sand and rocks, then there’s no excuse to be invaded as you can fix the mess and put the water back on top of clean vs cloudy materials.


above fifty gallons, hesitation is understandable. Under fifty gallons and invaded? We want it that way. It could be changed as soon as motivation finds us.


we waste and lose a lot of corals in this hobby by requiring all accessible tanks to remedy their challenges using only the means of inaccessible large tanks.

my display is 100 gallons, sump is 60 gallons.. I siphon the sand bed over the layer where Dino’s seem to be present .. I do that through a filter sock and put dirty water back in.. I’ve heard from multiple sources that newfresh mixed salt water can contribute to Dino outbreak

 

[brandon429]

If it helps any, heres a 100 gallon job

at least handy for tracking outcomes:

120 gallon rip clean

I’ve decided to perform a rip clean on my 120 with 100% new water. The tank has been running for 5 years and was battling Dino for several months. I used the bacteria method from elegant corals and worked great I haven’t seen Dino in months now. But I tried several other methods including...

www.reef2reef.com

Jon takes it next level. Gets ICP measures afterwards

the key is start your dinos battle in the clean condition. Not the invaded one

then if it happens to be cyano that won’t be hard to beat anyway. he cleaned them out and is now dosing competing strains of life from refugium charger kits. *he didn’t add that to the invaded, waste filled sandbed. current methods that keep waste in the tank take months and months sometimes. We get an astounding number of dirty-dinos battle method as entrants in total GHA wipeout help thread, months after dinos


im thinking beyond this light, easy challenge above. Giving the tank a good cleaning is at least an option, agreed it’s a lot of work.

draining off your water, cleaning, and putting it back is viable. Any degree of new water added back including all new adds positivity to the outcome he shows.

 

[35ppt]

It is difficult to make out, I'm thinking Prorocentrum or Amphidinium. Check out this guide and maybe you can make it out by eye better.


If it's basically anything but Amphidinium I would recommend getting a UV. But also work to get those nutrients to delectable levels.