Algae ID help, Diatoms or Dinos

[wmv]

Hi all,

I recently won a battle against GHA in my IM 15 cube with water changes and adding a UV. And I’m now starting to get this film algae on my sand bed mostly. I don’t have access to a microscope and I was wondering if anyone could help me ID it with an eye test. In the one pic you can see it has some short strings but for the most part it’s not stringy and I’ve never seen any bubbles so I don’t think it’s Dino’s but I want to be sure.

And any tips for getting rid of whatever it might be would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[blaxsun]

Looks like diatoms to me.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all,

I recently won a battle against GHA in my IM 15 cube with water changes and adding a UV. And I’m now starting to get this film algae on my sand bed mostly. I don’t have access to a microscope and I was wondering if anyone could help me ID it with an eye test. In the one pic you can see it has some short strings but for the most part it’s not stringy and I’ve never seen any bubbles so I don’t think it’s Dino’s but I want to be sure.

And any tips for getting rid of whatever it might be would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Its indeed diatoms which are merely
are a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. They can cover sand, rock, pumps, glass, you name it. Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.
Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates but also consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. Unfiltered tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to jump start a bloom if you use it to mix salt or to replace water that evaporated from the tank. The best way to prevent this from happening is to filter water through a RODI unit, although you can still get a diatom bloom when using RODI if the cartridge that removes silicates expires.
Diatoms are typically harmless to a captive reef and can be beaten once their food source expires. Once you put the end to the source, the outbreak should last a couple of weeks so just be patient and it will pass.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

 

[saltyhog]

How old is your tank? Any recent dry rock or substrate additions?

There's no way to say for sure just by looking at it in the tank. Diatoms and some types of dinos (usually LCA or SCA) can look EXACTLY like diatoms. Bubbles just means gas exchange and isn't specific to either (in fact they are pretty rare for LCA, SCA).

 

[wmv]

Its indeed diatoms which are merely
are a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. They can cover sand, rock, pumps, glass, you name it. Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.
Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates but also consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. Unfiltered tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to jump start a bloom if you use it to mix salt or to replace water that evaporated from the tank. The best way to prevent this from happening is to filter water through a RODI unit, although you can still get a diatom bloom when using RODI if the cartridge that removes silicates expires.
Diatoms are typically harmless to a captive reef and can be beaten once their food source expires. Once you put the end to the source, the outbreak should last a couple of weeks so just be patient and it will pass.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

Thanks for the reply! I figured it was diatoms but just wanted to be as sure as possible. I have a couple of cerith snails that I just added last week which will hopefully help keep the sand cleaner. I get my water from my LFS but I’m going to try to buy from a new store soon and see if that makes a difference

 

[wmv]

T

How old is your tank? Any recent dry rock or substrate additions?

There's no way to say for sure just by looking at it in the tank. Diatoms and some types of dinos (usually LCA or SCA) can look EXACTLY like diatoms. Bubbles just means gas exchange and isn't specific to either (in fact they are pretty rare for LCA, SCA).

Interesting, my tank is about 9 months old. I haven’t added any dry rock too recently but I’m going to try and find out what brand of sand I used to see if it may be high in silicates because I have a hunch that could be the root cause.

 

[saltyhog]

T

Interesting, my tank is about 9 months old. I haven’t added any dry rock too recently but I’m going to try and find out what brand of sand I used to see if it may be high in silicates because I have a hunch that could be the root cause.

If you've done an ICP lately it will have your silicon level on it. This may well not be diatoms.

You can also check with your local public library....many of them have microscopes you can use. I think having one is a fun, educational and useful thing to have for anyone with a reef tank.