Can you confirm

GamerDadof4 · Mar 3, 2020

Microscope has been ordered - will be here tomorrow. Is x1200 magnification good?

I will wait to have positive ID (tomorrow night) before I choose the next route. It seems there is different ways to handle both Cyano and Dino's.

GamerDadof4 · Mar 4, 2020

Microscope has arrived. Spent the last 30 mins burning my cornea.... I have no idea what I am doing.

I got a small bit of the slime and put it on a tray and dialed in the focus/magnification etc. And I see'stuff' maybe lol. What is the best way to get a sample of one of these and how do I know it's something I should be looking at or something that is just in water...

old salt reefer · Mar 4, 2020

Nice tank. sorry about the black stuff growing.

Mhart032 · Mar 4, 2020

look at it at 400X that should be enough magnification, More than likey this is what you will prob have Ostreopsis Dinos, look at the picture on this site and confirm.

GamerDadof4 · Mar 4, 2020

Here is a small video at like 1200 mag I think..

Yes there is more right now, then there was this morning. Pictures for reference:

GamerDadof4 · Mar 4, 2020

tnw50cal said:
Nice tank. sorry about the black stuff growing.

You didn't have to edit your post

It's probably true

GamerDadof4 · Mar 4, 2020

Mhart032 said:
look at it at 400X that should be enough magnification, More than likey this is what you will prob have Ostreopsis Dinos, look at the picture on this site and confirm.

Can you post the link?

GamerDadof4 · Mar 4, 2020

GamerDadof4 · Mar 4, 2020

I should have splurged... this is so cool...

GamerDadof4 · Mar 4, 2020

I don't even know if this is helping lol

Mhart032 · Mar 5, 2020

It looks like cyano under the microscope.

SMSREEF · Mar 5, 2020

That looks like cyano under microscope to me too.

Here is a good article

Hunting With A Microscope

Diatoms and blue-green algae are only two of many groups of organisms that can be studied using a microscope.

www.advancedaquarist.com

kireek · Mar 5, 2020

It's possible that your tank is just going through the dreaded ugly phase.This has only been set up for 2 months,correct?

GamerDadof4 · Mar 5, 2020

kireek said:
It's possible that your tank is just going through the dreaded ugly phase.This has only been set up for 2 months,correct?

It might. I wanted to post it here as I think it might be more involved then that since my Nitrates tanked. This is the worst case of 'uglies' I've ever had if that's what it is.

How do you tell...

Was the drop in Nitrates a result of the algae or was the algae a result of drop in Nitrates?

GamerDadof4 · Mar 9, 2020

Well I did a thorough cleaning of the sand and rock - did a blackout for 3 days with minimal feeding. I was able to get rid of all the algae and my nitrates are no longer consistently ready 0 but are sitting around 5ppm. Going to keep the light cycle smaller still just to ease back into it.

May not be related - but may.... The ICH on my blue tang seems to have disappeared...

I went out and get a UV sterilizer that I will be throwing on in a couple of days as well to really work on keeping the algae away.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Dan_P · Mar 9, 2020

GamerDadof4 said:
Sorry another algea ID thread.. I am guessing Cyano's and Diatoms? No microscope. Blackish algea on sand comes off in mats and on the rock a turkey baster knocks it right off. Sometime the black algea will be on top of the brown algea and then as you can see in the pics below in some areas the brown algea is by itself. Brown algea doesn't seem to be matted and can blow off easily.

I went through and cleaned the sand off and toothbrushed the rocks and got most of it out about a weeks ago but it's back. I do not notice it leaving at night and reappearing.

-Tank has been set up for 2 months now.
-250 gals total
-Corals: 2 BT anenomes and a Torch
-Fish: Yellow Tang, Blue Tang, 2 clowns, Domino Damsel, Foxface, CUC, and a zebra morray.
My Nitrates bottomed out.
TDS: 0
pH: 8.1
Alk: 8.5
Ca: 445
Mag: 1395
Nitrate: 0
PO4: .03

No reactors. No dosing

I have a refugium that runs opposite light schedule (has been set up for 1.5 weeks) - but I'm not running chaeoto I have some - Red Spike sphere, red ogo, and some leafy ogo. There's small growth but not a lot.

There seems to be several types of outbreaks.

kireek · Mar 9, 2020

I just found this link today.Maybe it could help with the Dino portion of this.

Dinoflagellate Identification Guide

I've had this laying around for a while. Had some recent interest, so I tweaked it a bit and am posting it. Not really about cures just ID pictures, videos, and a few short facts. Hope it can be helpful.

www.reef2reef.com

Do you have a quarantine tank for treating the fish as needed?

GamerDadof4 · Mar 10, 2020

I have a quarentine tank to set up as need but right now they are all doing well. I did notice that the more my light where on the dark algae started to come back.

I can't hook my UV light up until Thursday so I am going to do another cleaning and a water change before then. Hook up the light and bring my lights up slowly.