Bad outbreak, Diatoms or Bryopsis

[sk8elenex92]

This is the 4th tank I have set up and I've never had such a bad outbreak. The tank was started Nov20th with dry rock, bag of live sand, and turbo start. I am hoping this is a case of the normal diatoms, but why so bad.

 

[HuduVudu]

Because you have created a monolithic system that will favor the diatoms. They have no competition and so they flourish.

It is like a monopoly in the market. The company that has the monopoly will be the one that dictates the price.

EDIT: Dinos not diatoms.

 

[sk8elenex92]

Thank you for your reply. Totally makes sense. I didn't mean bryopsis but dinoflagellates, opps

 

[Zbryant]

The stringy-ness makes me lean towards dinos. A cheap micro scope would tell you for sure.

 

[Flux Capacitor]

It looks like it could be dinos. Does it get better when the lights are off at night, and get worse throughout the day? What are your Nitrates and Phosphate numbers? Do you have a microscope?

 

[sk8elenex92]

Yea it does get better during the night and morning looks great and then throughout the day gets worse. Where the turbos go on the rock seems like they are deft eating it up so assuming it’s diatoms in this case.
nitrates: 5-10
Phos: .08

 

[Flux Capacitor]

Yea it does get better during the night and morning looks great and then throughout the day gets worse. Where the turbos go on the rock seems like they are deft eating it up so assuming it’s diatoms in this case.
nitrates: 5-10
Phos: .08

If it has those cycles and is stringy like yours seems to be it is more than likely dinos. If you have a microscope you can confirm. If you can take a photo though the scope and post it here we could identify it.

BRS has a few good videos on how to treat them, but if I had to guess adding UV would help a ton since they disappear at night. That means they enter the water column after the lights go out, which makes UV very effective against them. I would check out those videos.

With all that said the only way to be sure is to get a look under a scope. Even a cheap scope from walmart should be good enough to confirm.

There is a also a great thread on dinos here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dinoflagellates-–-are-you-tired-of-battling-altogether.293318/

 

[sk8elenex92]

If it has those cycles and is stringy like yours seems to be it is more than likely dinos. If you have a microscope you can confirm. If you can take a photo though the scope and post it here we could identify it.

BRS has a few good videos on how to treat them, but if I had to guess adding UV would help a ton since they disappear at night. That means they enter the water column after the lights go out, which makes UV very effective against them. I would check out those videos.

With all that said the only way to be sure is to get a look under a scope. Even a cheap scope from walmart should be good enough to confirm.

There is a also a great thread on dinos here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dinoflagellates-–-are-you-tired-of-battling-altogether.293318/

Not what I wanted to hear, heh. In 8 years of reefing, I've never had Dinos, but I guess there's always a first for everything.
Next time I go into the office I'll use the microscope there and hopefully we can get a definite answer to what is it. If it ends up being Dinos I will get a UV.

Thanks again

 

[HuduVudu]

This tank has dinos.

There is nothing to fear. Stay calm and promote good biodiversity.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Appears as dinos. To be sure before reacting-
Blow stuff loose with a turkey baster and net or force to your overflow. Clean filters afterwards. Lower white intensity to 25% or even less.
See how fast it returns. Dinos in full activity appears as snot with bubbles. If you want- next night or two add 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons to counteract dino activity

One last thing: Test Phosphates and Nitrates for elevated levels.

 

[FLReefer101]

If you have nothing in the tank shut the lights off and let it cycle for a couple of weeks. They will disappear. Also if you haven’t already add a bottle of bacteria add some fish food to dirty up the tank.

 

[saltyhog]

That sure looks like what ostreopsis does. Need to get a positive ID and consider running GAC as soon as possible. If it is ostreopsis, it's the most toxic strain there is. Fortunately, it's one of the easier to get rid of......with exceptions of course.

 

[sk8elenex92]

I shortened my T5s for about 3 hours and only run the two bulbs now. This morning the water was clouder and the lights haven't even come on yet. I think I am gearing towards Dinos as well but hoping that it's not.
Ammonia is 0
Phos was 0.08 and nitrate 10 the other day.

At this point, I just really need to identify what it may be with the microscope

 

[sk8elenex92]

So I totally forgot to grab a sample of the algae when I went into the office but it looks like I’m making some progress.
After making the lighting changes and adding a few turbo snails and a fighting conch it looks promising. The rocks no longer have any of the algae. No stringy crap all over the the rock or sand.
it does look like red cyano is starting but not to worried. Just going to keep it stable and do some water changes.

 

[sk8elenex92]

I have noticed in the last 3 days is my ph fluctuating around 8.0. Since the start of the tank the PH would always stay around 8.2 8.3.
not sure if PH would be effected by the algae die off?

Also my ATO container under the tank was reading 850 on the handheld TDS meter! I always check the brute and transfer container which reads 0 even after a week of sitting. I put a cover over the ATO container under the tank and Going to clean it as well tomorrow. Assuming this was a big cause of some of the algae???

 

[Nixibabie]

I have noticed in the last 3 days is my ph fluctuating around 8.0. Since the start of the tank the PH would always stay around 8.2 8.3.
not sure if PH would be effected by the algae die off?

Also my ATO container under the tank was reading 850 on the handheld TDS meter! I always check the brute and transfer container which reads 0 even after a week of sitting. I put a cover over the ATO container under the tank and Going to clean it as well tomorrow. Assuming this was a big cause of some of the algae???

Was it dinos ? Did you check with microscope