Algae ID

[CWalters]

Feels like this is a never ending battle if this is still GHA

Doing weekly water changes and scrubbing the rocks
0 TDS RODI
.01 Phostphate (being consumed by algae I’d assume) I tried adding Rowaphos didn’t see a change
.5 nitrates, should I dose nitrates?

No open blinds for sun to shine on the tank etc. I do have a CUC but doesn’t seem like enough

 

[SnazzyUrchin792]

It’s GHA. I’m currently in the same situation. You NEED cuc. Also, what lights do you use and what are the settings? Are they running blue dominant or white dominant?

 

[CWalters]

It’s GHA. I’m currently in the same situation. You NEED cuc. Also, what lights do you use and what are the settings? Are they running blue dominant or white dominant?

XR30 straight blue. Dropped the whites and reds off of it.

I do have CUC but not sure… Turbo snails seem to die within a day in my tank. Have many blue leg hermits. Nerite, astrea, trochus snails. Lawnmower and Midas Blenny, tomini tang.

Doesn’t seem they do too much. I understand they won’t go after long stuff, that’s why I scrub the rocks weekly

 

[SnazzyUrchin792]

it seems like in your original post you wrote don’t instead of do for cuc. What you have should be good. Keep fighting, my gha problem is slowly starting to get better.

 

[CWalters]

it seems like in your original post you wrote don’t instead of do for cuc. What you have should be good. Keep fighting, my gha problem is slowly starting to get better.

Whoops… fixed it

 

[SnazzyUrchin792]

How long have you had it?

 

[CWalters]

How long have you had it?

Since a few months in with the tank

 

[kevgib67]

The best cuc for hair algae for me has been my tuxedo urchin. Keep doing what you’re doing and drop a couple tuxedo urchins in.

 

[CWalters]

The best cuc for hair algae for me has been my tuxedo urchin. Keep doing what you’re doing and drop a couple tuxedo urchins in.

Have 2. Not sure what’s up with them not working hard

 

[BetterJake]

You sure it's not dinos? I see some bubbles and that can be a sign that it's Dinos and not GHA. Can you grab some and put it under a microscope to know for sure. Something with 500x or more would work

 

[CWalters]

You sure it's not dinos? I see some bubbles and that can be a sign that it's Dinos and not GHA. Can you grab some and put it under a microscope to know for sure. Something with 500x or more would work

Bubbles were coming from my return pump. My ATO was off for some reason

 

[BetterJake]

Bubbles were coming from my return pump. My ATO was off for some reason

I would still recommend confirming with a microscope. If it it dinos and not GHA the treatment plan is very different

 

[CWalters]

I would still recommend confirming with a microscope. If it it dinos and not GHA the treatment plan is very different

If it is Dinos, what is the approach? I will look into getting a picture under microscope

 

[BetterJake]

If it is Dinos, what is the approach? I will look into getting a picture under microscope

Depends on the type of dino. Some will need UV treatment others silicate dosing to induce a diatom bloom to outcompete the dinos. This attached guide should help. No mater the dino some combination of increasing nutrients, phyto, pods can be helpful as well.

 

[CWalters]

Depends on the type of dino. Some will need UV treatment others silicate dosing to induce a diatom bloom to outcompete the dinos. This attached guide should help. No mater the dino some combination of increasing nutrients, phyto, pods can be helpful as well.

When I scrub it comes off pretty easily. Doesn’t bryopsis root in pretty good?

 

[CWalters]

Just had a thought... and did some digging. So I always assumed it was GHA so I would constantly buy new CUC's with turbo, trochus, astrea snails and they would all end up dying. Apparently Dinos can kill snails...so I would assume that is it.

 

[Rocktron1]

There's also the paper towel filtering test to check for Dino's if you don't have microscope

 

[Dan_P]

Just had a thought... and did some digging. So I always assumed it was GHA so I would constantly buy new CUC's with turbo, trochus, astrea snails and they would all end up dying. Apparently Dinos can kill snails...so I would assume that is it.

The growth might also be cyanobacteria, though not dinoflagellates. It could also be GHA and cyanobacteria growing together and that combination might not be palatable to snails. Your snails are dying probably because they are starving to death.

 

[CWalters]

There's also the paper towel filtering test to check for Dino's if you don't have microscope

Tell me more! I am going to try a microscope at work and see what I can see.

 

[CWalters]

The growth might also be cyanobacteria, though not dinoflagellates. It could also be GHA and cyanobacteria growing together and that combination might not be palatable to snails. Your snails are dying probably because they are starving to death.

So I did notice almost a bright red algae almost hair like in a few spots the other day. What could that have been?