Algae ID and course of action needed.

Hotelbravo · May 14, 2016

I have this brown slime all over everything in the tank and water changes are not helping. at first i thought it was a brown cyanobacteria but i bought some chemiclean and it did absolutely nothing.
can someone give me an ID and a course of action to solve my issue. I do have some phosphates at about .08 and will be buying a phosban reactor very soon.

I apologize for the blue pictures

Darbna · May 14, 2016

I have some of the same stuff. Someone told me Ditotoms? I dont think DIatoms are algae

Hotelbravo · May 15, 2016

If these are diatoms than they are the worst diatoms ive ever experienced or seen. I am wondering if its dinoflagellates.

Duke4Life · May 15, 2016

@twilliard

Darbna · May 15, 2016

Following cause it's making me crazy and would love an answer. All my water parameters are perfect. Calcium is a little low at 400 but I don't see that being the cause. Anyone got an answer?

cloak · May 15, 2016

Dinoflagellates would be my guess as well.

http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker/algaedinoflagellates.shtml

http://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide

Darbna · May 15, 2016

My local guy jst told me what @lionfishlair wrote. Gonna do a blackout for 3 days and then dose with H2O2 for 5 days. I will let u know how it goes

twilliard · May 15, 2016

Dose the h2o2 in 12 hour intervals
May have to hit it hard though more than the typical 1ml per 10g.
I don't have an exact amount as this next study I do with them is a few months out.

Hotelbravo · May 17, 2016

So yesterday i began dosing the tank with H202. right after i siphoned up a large majority of the dino while changing about 40 gallons. i am doing a black out with a tarp for 3-5 days and will continue to dose the h202. i am going to the store tomorrow to pick up some more carbon and will be getting some micron filters to help trap some of this stuff that comes loose in the coming days. i plan to hit this hard but i dont have a GFO or a doser to bring my PH up. the methods i read said the PH being above 8.4 helps tremendously so i may end up buying one but not sure yet.

Tori · May 17, 2016

Hotelbravo said:
So yesterday i began dosing the tank with H202. right after i siphoned up a large majority of the dino while changing about 40 gallons. i am doing a black out with a tarp for 3-5 days and will continue to dose the h202. i am going to the store tomorrow to pick up some more carbon and will be getting some micron filters to help trap some of this stuff that comes loose in the coming days. i plan to hit this hard but i dont have a GFO or a doser to bring my PH up. the methods i read said the PH being above 8.4 helps tremendously so i may end up buying one but not sure yet.

Good luck man, I'm going through the same battle right now. FWIW, I read doing water changes are not recommended for dealing with Dinos.

Hotelbravo · May 17, 2016

i read conflicting things about water changes to battle dino. some sources said it was a necessity to change water as you siphon the dino out of the tank. others said adding new water will increase nutrients in the water further fueling dino.

Darbna · May 17, 2016

I am on day 2 of lights out. Dosing 1MG per 10 Gallon 2 x a day, A peek inside I dont see any more Dino. Gonna continue 1 time a day for another 4 days after tomarrow when I put the lights back on tommarrow. My question is how long should I go back to lights on, I am hearing only 4-5 hours, and do I do a water change after the 7 day stretch. I am also hearing mixed reviews on that too.

smh254 · May 17, 2016

I'm get ready to start the same process for my Dinos. I just got confirmation today from @twilliard. I've been dosing H202 for the past 6 days. Tomorrow I'm going to siphon out as much Dino through a filter sock and return the water. I'm going to wrap the tank and cardboard and go lights out for three days. Should I leave the light in the sump on? what do you guys think about adding microbacteria to fight the dinos for nutrient? Just something I saw on YouTube.

twilliard · May 17, 2016

Dinoflagellates are still to the day not very well understood.
What do they eat?
I can say what they do eat is small, very small.

Hotelbravo · May 17, 2016

I'm not sure about the microbacteria @smh254 but I most definitely turn the sump light off for the complete duration of the blackout. Even though I have read mixed reviews about the water changes I strongly believe them to be beneficial because from reading the Dino die off will be slightly toxic and I see no reason that you should not want to remove that from the water.