Algae ID

[Babayaga]

Hello, Looks to me like red slime . I did one treatment with ultralife red slime remover and it cleared up a little but still present. Ideas? Sorry for the bad pics

 

[maleks.reef]

Have you checked your NO3 & PO4? Also, that doesn't fully like cyano so are you sure it is? I can't really tell by the pics but cyano is usually more jelly-like and almost like a carpet.

 

[Babayaga]

Have you checked your NO3 & PO4? Also, that doesn't fully like cyano so are you sure it is? I can't really tell by the pics but cyano is usually more jelly-like and almost like a carpet.

Thanks for the response. It was thicker before the first treatment of red slime remover. My nitrates are 10ppm but I suspect higher cause I have some hair algae that must be consuming it. I cut back on my feeding, I use to feed heavy and i only have a pair of clowns and a pintail wrasse. I don’t have a test kit yet to check po4 , thinking of getting a Hanna .

 

[vetteguy53081]

Flagellates- not yet quite dino
Siphon up, clean filters and empty skimmer cup next 5 days and add liquid bacteria for the next week at 1.5ml per 10 gals and also reduce or turn off white lights for the next 5-6 days

 

[Babayaga]

Thank you! My biggest fear is Dinos, just hope I caught it in time.

 

[saltyhog]

Flagellates- not yet quite dino
Siphon up, clean filters and empty skimmer cup next 5 days and add liquid bacteria for the next week at 1.5ml per 10 gals and also reduce or turn off white lights for the next 5-6 days

What do you mean when you say flagellates but not yet quite dino?

The only way to say for certain what that is would be to look at it under the microscope. Prorocentrum dinoflagellates can sometimes look like that. If you have or can gain access to a microscope take about a tablespoon of the sand that contains that stuff, just enough tank water to cover it and shake it vigorously. One drop on a slide and add a cover slip.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What do you mean when you say flagellates but not yet quite dino?

The only way to say for certain what that is would be to look at it under the microscope. Prorocentrum dinoflagellates can sometimes look like that. If you have or can gain access to a microscope take about a tablespoon of the sand that contains that stuff, just enough tank water to cover it and shake it vigorously. One drop on a slide and add a cover slip.

Flagellates are dingle cell biflagella that is photosynthetic and thread like
It’s when you get dual cell structure that it become dinoflagella and the snotty looking structure
Dino itself is detectable without microscope
It’s when you want to identify type such as amphi that you would use such instrument

 

[saltyhog]

I'll have to respectfully disagree. Ostreopsis,coolia,prorocentrum, amphidinium are all single cell organisms and I've seen both prorocentrum and amphidinium look exactly like the pictures above in a tank. Ostreopsis is the most reliably identifiable dino by just looking at the tank but even then chrysophytes can look very similar(with color...which is not reliable when looking at pictures....being the only difference).

 

[Babayaga]

Thank you guys for the responses. The tank in an innovative marine 30L and I just ordered the innovative marine UV sterilizer with hopes that will help clear it up. I had Dinos in my previous tank which also lead me to get out the hobby for awhile so I’m praying it isn’t dinos again. In my last tank when I had it there were air bubbles on the slime and on the rock work , this time it’s just slime so fingers crossed .

 

[saltyhog]

Thank you guys for the responses. The tank in an innovative marine 30L and I just ordered the innovative marine UV sterilizer with hopes that will help clear it up. I had Dinos in my previous tank which also lead me to get out the hobby for awhile so I’m praying it isn’t dinos again. In my last tank when I had it there were air bubbles on the slime and on the rock work , this time it’s just slime so fingers crossed .

Honestly that doesn't look like one of the dinos that's most responsive to UV. Hate for you to spend money on something that may very well not help.

 

[Babayaga]

Honestly that doesn't look like one of the dinos that's most responsive to UV. Hate for you to spend money on something that may very well not help.

Oh man just my luck lol . Thankfully the UV wasn’t that expensive so I’ll give it a shot. I’ve also read that slowly raising my nitrates might help get rid of it? Something about other algae competing for nitrates and P04

 

[Tcook]

Need to check your PO4. It's probably zero.

 

[saltyhog]

Oh man just my luck lol . Thankfully the UV wasn’t that expensive so I’ll give it a shot. I’ve also read that slowly raising my nitrates might help get rid of it? Something about other algae competing for nitrates and P04

Again, without a definite ID with a microscope it's hard to be too specific. However, yes keeping nitrates (5-10) and PO4 (0.06-0.1) elevated is helpful for all types. Providing competition by dosing silicates to elicit a diatom bloom also helps. Dosing phyto/pods also helps provide competition.

 

[Babayaga]

It’s gone! I raised my nitrates to 15ppm by feeding heavy and not changing my filter floss. I’m going to continue this for a few more days to make sure it’s gone then I will do a small wc. Thank you everyone for the help!