Another

[drmantistoboggan]

Hi everyone. Recently had some algae start appearing in my tank. I have been scrubbing it off my rocks in RO water with a toothbrush. I did a scrub on Sunday and had to do another this morning (wed) so it grows back fairly quickly.

Couple of changes to note in my aquarium, my last post was for an elegance coral not doing too great. Did some testing and my alkalinity was low at around 6.7. I started dosing ESV two part, mostly just the alkalinity portion to raise the alk slowly. That’s when the algae appeared but could be coincidence. I also regularly dose NoPOX. Final flux in my aquarium is my salinity. I went to measure it last night before a water change and it was low 1.022. I typically shoot for 1.025, I am currently running salt water in my ato to raise it slowly.

here are my current parameters
Tank is 80 gallons
Salinity 1.022
Ph 7.94 (peaks around 8.12 for the day)
Alkalinity 8.0 (May be slightly higher. Did a 5 gallon water change last night with Red Sea coral pro)
Calcium 420
Magnesium 1360
Nitrate 4.0
Phosphate 0.01

I thought it might be Dino but my nitrates are good and phosphate could be raised but it isn’t bottomed out.

I did do a 5 gallon water change last night and alkalinity, calcium, mag, nitrate and phosphate were all taken prior to the change.

I feed twice a day, pellets and flakes in the morning and frozen at night.
nopox is dosed at 4.3ml daily on a DOS
I also run chemipure blue in my sump in a filter cup.

 

[drmantistoboggan]

No idea why my phone submitted only a partial title. I was still typing when it just posted. Sorry for the bad title

 

[vetteguy53081]

That’s because it’s not algae- it’s Dino
Prepare for a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off for 5 days and st night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights and work your white lights up slowly

 

[drmantistoboggan]

That’s because it’s not algae- it’s Dino
Prepare for a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off for 5 days and st night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights and work your white lights up slowly

Slow down a sec. cut off NoPOX completely? I’ve always read that can have detrimental affects since the tank is now used to the added NoPOX. Also, a black out is difficult for me because I live in a high rise where our walls are windows. It’s extremely difficult to actually cut out light in the tank. I’ll cut out coral food and start the hydrogen peroxide

 

[drmantistoboggan]

@Randy Holmes-Farley hi randy, hate to call you out but do you know of any bad side effects from using carbon dosing and H2O2 together? Should I cut out all NoPOX prior to dosing H2O2 and how quickly should I reduce NoPOX

 

[gentlefish]

+1 yup dreaded Dinos
There are long threads in R2R. This will not solve overnight and I do suggest you try to ID your problem on a microscopic level (if possible) as treatment may be different.

 

[drmantistoboggan]

+1 yup dreaded Dinos
There are long threads in R2R. This will not solve overnight and I do suggest you try to ID your problem on a microscopic level (if possible) as treatment may be different.

I’ve read a lot of threads on Dino’s and it seems like nutrients bottoming out is a key point in a lot of that. My nutrients don’t appear to be bottomed out. I do think a microscope may be needed here though.

 

[gentlefish]

I’ve read a lot of threads on Dino’s and it seems like nutrients bottoming out is a key point in a lot of that. My nutrients don’t appear to be bottomed out. I do think a microscope may be needed here though.

Going through the forums, different methods have been used: agitation vs decreased pumps, nutrient low vs high. It’s a confusing and frustrating part of the hobby. I promote UV sterilization, activated charcoal if toxins are suspected ( snails falling off the glass).
Vibrant seems to be getting a better than average feedback.
Tank blackouts and H202 have been tried. Metronidazole has been tried. Dosing P04 and Nitrate...
Anyway, got to start somewhere. ID sounds like the first step in the right direction!

 

[drmantistoboggan]

Going through the forums, different methods have been used: agitation vs decreased pumps, nutrient low vs high. It’s a confusing and frustrating part of the hobby. I promote UV sterilization, activated charcoal if toxins are suspected ( snails falling off the glass).
Vibrant seems to be getting a better than average feedback.
Tank blackouts and H202 have been tried. Metronidazole has been tried. Dosing P04 and Nitrate...
Anyway, got to start somewhere. ID sounds like the first step in the right direction!

Think your right. can’t fight what I don’t know. Luckily this doesn’t seem to be a toxic form, snails aren’t dying and my urchin has eaten some of it and is still kicking.
I’ve started to lower my NoPOX dose and ordered a bottle of microbacter7. I’m going to do a blackout while I’m out of town this weekend and am working on stabilizing all parameters.