algae or bacteria problem

[bjledbetter]

Hey all I have had this problem going on for about 4 weeks now and need some help to get rid of it. Ive talked to several local people and nothing has helped. The algae /bacteria depending on who ive talked to is bownish in color and has bubbles in it and grows out in long hair like structurs. The more i seam to scrub it off the more it comes back. Ive had the water tested and they said it was fine on two different occasions. I am running about 4 week old MH lighting on a 90 gallon take. The lights have been cut back to about 4 hours a day to try and keep it under control but to no help. I have also cut back feeding to both the fish and coral to once a week to try and take any extra nutrience out. Filtration includes a over flow into the trickle filter into the sump with the protien skimmer, a 360 canister filter and two hang on the back filters. I also have one powerhead (not a wavemaker). One place told me to raise the ph and turrn the lights off for a few days but that did nothing but almost kill my toadstool. I do use tap water and I know that that can be a problem but it hasnt in the past. Are there any other Ideas of how to get rid of this without spending alot of money or completly restarting?:squigglemouth:

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Will the algae blow off with a turkey baster?

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Try using hydrogen perixide, 1 mililiter per ten gallons. There is an article on this forum about, Im sure someone can post a link (im on my phone)

 

[bjledbetter]

yes it comes off easly, if the fish or something blows by it, it comes right off

 

[bjledbetter]

"Brad, this looks like dinoflagellates. Directed waterflow will help. I would also try a chemical filter such as seagel to aid in the removal" some one just told me this do yall think it will help i dont want to spend alot of money on things that isnt going to work. he also said to add some black turbo snails?

 

[Monroereef]

Dino for sure. Use hydrogen peroxide as suggested above. There is an awesome post here on it.

 

[bjledbetter]

Ok so I read all 40 pages of the thread ya'll mention and went ahead and started trying it last night . Im going to does it for around 5 days and do a black out for the first 3 and see what I get. Ive tried everything else so what can this hurt. I will keep yall informed on how it goes.

 

[Otter_rs]

Seems to me you have made three major mistakes in setting up your system. In my experience, no matter what you do, you will keep having problems with nutrient load and nutrient import into your aquarium. You may be able to fix a problem temporarily, but these problems will keep acuring until you adress the causes. When you say your water is fine, what Perameters were tested? No matter where you live, your tapwater is never clean enough for a reef aquarium. Aquariums are closed systems and as H2O evaporates all the dissolved solids and impurities in your tapwater builds up until it causes problems. Remember, a reef is a nutrient desert, and nutrients like Phosphates are a death sentense to a coral reef. You may not have seen initial problems with your tapwater, but now that you have used it for a while it is now causing issues for you. I agree that what you have is Dinoflagulates and tapwater is a common cause of this type of algae. This is a very difficult and time consuming algae to get rid of once you have let it take hold. The other two mistakes in my opinion are within your filtration. If I had to guess, I would say you probably have high nitrates too. Your trickle filter can be causing nitrate buildup in your system because that is what they are designed to do. Your canister and power filters trap debris and detritus that then decomposes and creates both Phosphates and Nitrogen waste. Until you adress these nutrient issues, you will keep having problems. Hope this helps.

 

[bjledbetter]

The nitrates have been tested and show to be within check.Im not good at testing my own water so i take samples to two different stores close to where i live and have each place test it for me and all test have come back good. As for the filters i change them out about once a month so there shouldnt be much build up in there. I have also started to use RO water in the tank. Any more sugestions on how to treat it would be greatly appericated

 

[Otter_rs]

Again, I'm not sure what parameters you are testing and what the local fish stores are telling you is ok. Most things that cause problems in tapwater is not typically tested for. As for the nitrates, it should be as close to zero as possible. The only cures for this that I know of are the ones already stated. Hydrogen peroxide dosing(be careful) and maintaining a pH of 8.6 with lights out for at least 3 days(less likely to work right away)

 

[Otter_rs]

It is good that you are now using RO water instead of tap, but it will take a while to dilute the tapwater issues with many water changes. As for the mechanical filtration, it only takes days for things to decompose and degrade water quality. I normally only use mechanical filtration for about 2 hours after I clean or stir things up. This exports the detritus without forcing water through long periods of decomposition. If you would like more help, please let us know what you are testing and what the exact test result numbers are. I'm just trying to keep you from having this happen again and again. It can be frustrating.

 

[bjledbetter]

Ok so I removed the canister and hang on filters from the tank completly and added another hang on protien skimmer for the time being. Also i did about at 20 % water change and suctioned out alot of the mess and cleaned the sand bed. Been doing the 1 ml per 10 gallons of hydrogen peroxde the last three days and it has seamed to help to keep it from growing, Alot of what was in the tank seamed to be dieing and comming loose from the rock,

 

[bjledbetter]

I will take a water sample in tomorrow and have it tested and see what they are reading and what exactly they are testing. I was told sense i had the extra skimmer i might as well use it right now to try and strip as much nutrience and other stuff out as i could to help get rid of that mess,

 

[specvjeff]

Here is how I got rid of dinos. Cut lighting to 4 hours of actinic only. Raised alk. to 11 dkh and STOPPED water changes. Cutting the light is obvious. By stopping water changes I basically allowed the algae to use up the available nutrients and then starve. Don't maunually remove it as it will cause it to bloom. These instructions were given to me by Julian Sprung and it worked. Took about 2 weeks for it to fully clear up. Once it's gone increase the photo period by an hour a week till you get back to your normal lighting schedule.


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[Congaken]

Here is how I got rid of dinos. Cut lighting to 4 hours of actinic only. Raised alk. to 11 dkh and STOPPED water changes. Cutting the light is obvious. By stopping water changes I basically allowed the algae to use up the available nutrients and then starve. Don't maunually remove it as it will cause it to bloom. These instructions were given to me by Julian Sprung and it worked. Took about 2 weeks for it to fully clear up. Once it's gone increase the photo period by an hour a week till you get back to your normal lighting schedule.


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Is it the actinic that is encouraging the algae?...or is it the white light...do you keep actinics on with the white light after the 4 hours or what???

 

[twilliard]

It may be dinoflagellates but would have to be positively identified with a scope.
First H2O2 will NOT stop these guys. Metronidazole will slow them but not stop them. Lighting.. they don't care. They may look like they are gone but all they have done is let go of each other to swim freely. A person can not see a single cell with the human eye. One of these "strands" consists of thousands of cells.
Stop blowing them around as all this will do is spread them into the pores of rocks and all your equipment that they can get ahold of.
Siphon when you can and sterilize what you can.
If you have multiple tanks be aware of cross contamination, you will never know until it is too late.
Some are toxic so keep this in mind. They also have an amazing ability to survive by forming into cysts.
Also it is not an algae, its a protozoan
Is there a cure? Yes depending on what you are willing to do to rid of them.