Algae I.D. and help?

[tescalante]

D



Does it blow away wit ha turkey baster? Or do you have to pick it off?


Also to increase bio-diversity, another clown, skunk cleaner OR peppermint cleaner shrimp, Rock flower anemones are hardy and good should do fine with basic lighting.

It seems I have to pick it off??? Definitely need to increase nutrients, think that is the root of my problem. Do you have a link to your 10G build, would like to read.

 

[tescalante]

I don’t recommend black out.

With respect to your protein skimmer, if you are able to run wet skimmate, consider draining skimmate into sump. You will no longer be exporting carbon and you will be maximizing air exchange which is critical in a reef tank.

Running a AIO 14 gallon NUVO don't think that's possible?

 

[terraincognita]

If you really can't blow it away with some good blasts, I don't think it's dino's then. Doesn't totally look like it, the photos are a bit rough TBH.

Do they also disappear at night or no?

Try to make your lights WHITE and take off all blue, and take the photo completely level so you are parallel with the tank glass.

Might be GHA or some similar type of Algae.

Build Thread - My, I started you as an experiment, and now I'm not sure tank.

Alright.... I haven't stuck my hand in this tank since September this year..... This is in no way an ode to my horrible husbandry, I'm only mentioning it because there's a lot to be said for KISS in Saltwater and just letting a tank do it's thing. I've fed it. I don't know every 3 days...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Subsea]

Running a AIO 14 gallon NUVO don't think that's possible?

Does the protein skimmer in your AIO produce skimmate?

How do you export skimmate?

 

[tescalante]

Does the protein skimmer in your AIO produce skimmate?

How do you export skimmate?

think I misunderstood. Are you suggesting what it collects in the cup dump back into one of the compartments?

 

[terraincognita]

Oh this is the 13.5

Yeah that skimmer is meh.

In such a small tank it's really a tough call on how beneficial it is.

this was my 13.5 before I upgraded to my 45 in my profile build link.

 

[terraincognita]

think I misunderstood. Are you suggesting what it collects in the cup dump back into one of the compartments?

that is what he was saying, and yes that would increase nutrients as that's the export of nutrients the skimmer did., but don't do that just yet, lets get a proper id on what it is.

 

[tescalante]

If you really can't blow it away with some good blasts, I don't think it's dino's then. Doesn't totally look like it, the photos are a bit rough TBH.

Do they also disappear at night or no?

Try to make your lights WHITE and take off all blue, and take the photo completely level so you are parallel with the tank glass.

Might be GHA or some similar type of Algae.

Build Thread - My, I started you as an experiment, and now I'm not sure tank.

Alright.... I haven't stuck my hand in this tank since September this year..... This is in no way an ode to my horrible husbandry, I'm only mentioning it because there's a lot to be said for KISS in Saltwater and just letting a tank do it's thing. I've fed it. I don't know every 3 days...

www.reef2reef.com

Hope this helps to I.D.

If you really can't blow it away with some good blasts, I don't think it's dino's then. Doesn't totally look like it, the photos are a bit rough TBH.

Do they also disappear at night or no?

Try to make your lights WHITE and take off all blue, and take the photo completely level so you are parallel with the tank glass.

Might be GHA or some similar type of Algae.

Build Thread - My, I started you as an experiment, and now I'm not sure tank.

Alright.... I haven't stuck my hand in this tank since September this year..... This is in no way an ode to my horrible husbandry, I'm only mentioning it because there's a lot to be said for KISS in Saltwater and just letting a tank do it's thing. I've fed it. I don't know every 3 days...

www.reef2reef.com

Hope this helps to I.D.

 

[Subsea]

I am not a small tank person so the particulars of your AIO are unknown to me. Continue listening to @terraincognita


How efficient is your protein skimmer at gas exchange? During the dark, oxygen is consumed by bacteria and all photosynthetic organisms produce carbon dioxide. While the pH fluctuation is not critical, oxygen deprivation is lethal. PROVIDE GOOD GAS EXCHANGE DURING LIGHTS OUT CAN NOT BE OVEREMPHASISED.

I asked you how much skimmate did your protein skimmer produce and what color to better understand the maturity & biodiversity of your system?

 

[Subsea]

From the last picture, the dark green looks like GHA.

Reef Cleaners

A good guide to identify most of the nuisance algae that plagues the hobby. Complete with pictures and suggested treatments

www.reefcleaners.org

Green Hair Algae
hair algae 300x225 hairalgae2 300x181

Green Hair Algae or "GHA" is really a broad term that covers hundreds of species of green simple filamentous algae. These species tend to be simple, fine in texture, and have few distinguishable features. True species level identification requires a microscope.

Distinguishing it from look-a-likes: GHA is not coarse or wiry, it should break apart easily when pulled, and should lose form quickly when removed from water. If you can make out a root structure, or a stiff branching structure it is probably not GHA.

Manual Removal: Green hair algae can be pulled out easily, and tooth brushed or scrubbed off the rock work. This is easier to do if the rock is outside of the tank. If it is growing from the sand sift it out with a net.

Clean Up Crew: Assorted Hermits, Blue Legs, Florida Ceriths, Chitons, Turbograzers, Sea Hares, Conchs, Emerald Crabs, Urchins and a few others. It is readily accepted by many herbivores, but because it grows quickly it may persist even in a tank with a fair amount of cleaners.

 

[GregDaKeg]

Hope this helps to I.D.

Hope this helps to I.D.

I am dealing with the same thing. I have been dealing with this for a while. I started dosing Nitrate and Po4. Now my previously undetectable Nitrate and Phosphate tank is at 9Nitrate .06 Po4. The problem algae/bacteria is down about 50% and the corals have colored up.

 

[tescalante]

I would also recommend increasing your bio diversity. i.e. adding more species of coral, some Zoanthids, and maybe a few Euphyllia are easy.

Also increasing nutrients, if your tank is too "clean" dino's can invade.

I strongly recommend using the least amount of chemicals as possible. I try to have all new reefers stay away from different chemicals. As generally while you may have Dino's as visible symptom there could be other things going wrong in your tank as well you're un-aware of just because you've never had to check for it or even deal with it. Things in water parameters etc.

Sometimes dosing chemicals or treatments to handle 1 thing, can make an unknown thing pop up suddenly as an adverse reaction. Then starting a "dwindling spiral" of inevitable tank crash. I've seen it hundreds of times.

UV is fine, skimmer is fine, lighting could be reduced while fighting dinos, but not needed per se but will help 100%.

Look over my 10G Build thread. I handled Dino's with bio-diversity alone.


Increasing nutrients without doing anything else though like adding bio-diversity or carbon dosing, or adding UV or, or ,or could possibly make dinos WORSE and make other problems appear.

So don't just feed more and hope it'll handle the problem lol. Just a disclaimer.

Thank you for all the help. These are my latest parameters taken today. (Salifert tests)
Besides increasing biodiversity what would you recommend to raise Nitrate and Phosphate.

Temp 78.1
Salinity 1.026
PH 8.15-8.3
Nitrate 0-2 (from the top view it looks like zero per directions, but from the side maybe 2)
Alkalinity 10.2
Phosphate 0