Algae ID help

[optimisticdingo]

Hey everyone! So I've been battling algae in my tank for about a month now and everything is starting to get under control. However, this new type of algae has popped up and it's really slimy and snotty looking.

My Nitrate is 25ppm and Phosphate is .21ppm. I'm doing large water changes to try and get levels down.

Here are some pictures of the algae, as well as a video under a microscope.

Weird Algae

 

[Spare time]

I am interested in this. Is it this translucent (kinda looks like it from the pics)? Looks almost like bacteria from carbon dosing.

Phosphate at .21 is going to promote algae so I would definitely get some phosphate remover in there.

 

[optimisticdingo]

I am interested in this. Is it this translucent (kinda looks like it from the pics)? Looks almost like bacteria from carbon dosing.

Phosphate at .21 is going to promote algae so I would definitely get some phosphate remover in there.

It's brown when pulled out of the water but Transluscent when in the water.

I was dosing ElimiNP by Tropic Marin but eventually weened the system off of it because I was afraid the carbon dosing was fueling the algae.

I've got some GFO I can run in a reactor to try and get the phosphate down if needed. Or, if you think I can go back to dosing ElimiNP then I'll do that as well.

 

[Spare time]

It's brown when pulled out of the water but Transluscent when in the water.

I was dosing ElimiNP by Tropic Marin but eventually weened the system off of it because I was afraid the carbon dosing was fueling the algae.

I've got some GFO I can run in a reactor to try and get the phosphate down if needed. Or, if you think I can go back to dosing ElimiNP then I'll do that as well.

The only stringy algae I know of that are cyano (and its many forms) and dinos but it doesn't look like either. Being brown out of water is what confuses me. A lot of times I see stringy clear looking stuff pop up with carbon dosing. Did it pop up with elimini np? And out of curiosity, do you have an air freshener near by?

I would run the gfo till your phosphates get to 0.05 ish or so (I say that number as it should be within the safe bounds of a test kit error)

 

[Spare time]

Also, what magnification is that at? It looks very high and those look like bacteria to me.

 

[optimisticdingo]

Also, what magnification is that at? It looks very high and those look like bacteria to me.

300x w/ a 20x optical lens

 

[optimisticdingo]

The only stringy algae I know of that are cyano (and its many forms) and dinos but it doesn't look like either. Being brown out of water is what confuses me. A lot of times I see stringy clear looking stuff pop up with carbon dosing. Did it pop up with elimini np? And out of curiosity, do you have an air freshener near by?

I would run the gfo till your phosphates get to 0.05 ish or so (I say that number as it should be within the safe bounds of a test kit error)

I had Ostreopsis and Cyano so I added a UV Sterilizer. I've been dosing Vibrant for about a month as well.

I was dosing ElimiNP for about a week before the algae outbreak happened. I slowly weened off of it and now I'm not dosing.

I lessened my photoperiod and cut out white light and all of the other algae is taken care of. I put the white light back for 1 day and that's when this algae popped up. UV hasn't helped anything and Vibrant hasn't helped. I've noticed that it even extends under the blue light as well. I think the only thing that might kill it is a blackout

 

[Spare time]

I had Ostreopsis and Cyano so I added a UV Sterilizer. I've been dosing Vibrant for about a month as well.

I was dosing ElimiNP for about a week before the algae outbreak happened. I slowly weened off of it and now I'm not dosing.

I lessened my photoperiod and cut out white light and all of the other algae is taken care of. I put the white light back for 1 day and that's when this algae popped up. UV hasn't helped anything and Vibrant hasn't helped. I've noticed that it even extends under the blue light as well. I think the only thing that might kill it is a blackout

I would get the phosphate down for now and go from there. Light color won't matter. I think it will go away since you stopped carbon dosing. If it is bacterial then lighting doesn't actually do anything. A lot of times a clear snot like bacteria can form when using liquid carbon dosing which is why I have become more of a fan of biopellets if someone needs to get nitrates down.


When you had dino and cyano, were your nitrate and phosphate at 0?

 

[optimisticdingo]

I would get the phosphate down for now and go from there. Light color won't matter. I think it will go away since you stopped carbon dosing. If it is bacterial then lighting doesn't actually do anything. A lot of times a clear snot like bacteria can form when using liquid carbon dosing which is why I have become more of a fan of biopellets if someone needs to get nitrates down.


When you had dino and cyano, were your nitrate and phosphate at 0?

Nope

 

[optimisticdingo]

I would get the phosphate down for now and go from there. Light color won't matter. I think it will go away since you stopped carbon dosing. If it is bacterial then lighting doesn't actually do anything. A lot of times a clear snot like bacteria can form when using liquid carbon dosing which is why I have become more of a fan of biopellets if someone needs to get nitrates down.


When you had dino and cyano, were your nitrate and phosphate at 0?

So will I be able to start carbon dosing in the future? I like the idea of using carbon dosing to help grow my corals like Lou Ekus talked about at MACNA

 

[Spare time]

So will I be able to start carbon dosing in the future? I like the idea of using carbon dosing to help grow my corals like Lou Ekus talked about at MACNA

Probably? I would give it some time before starting again. However, I am curious as to how many corals can eat bacteria, as well as does carbon dosing promote the species that corals eat. I think this topic is interesting as reef tanks have pretty much sterile water compared to reefs when using things such as skimmers. This is why I do not use a skimmer (I think my nearly 1 year old flame scallop supports that this is working)