Cyano, algae, or something else?

NMreef · Jan 19, 2019

Greetings,

I have a 5 month old tank and am dealing with some algae or cyano or ??? issues.

The problem manifests itself as a very wispy brownish filaments that get no longer than 1/8 inch long.
It virtually disintegrates if it is grabbed with fingers or forceps, so it is hard to remove from the tank manually
It loves high flow areas. The rocks nearest direct flow from powerhead is thickest.
It not associated with a gas bubble and it does form a mat or web
The tank is death on snails. Snails get very lethargic and then die after a week or two.
I am running a refugium with chaeto, which is nice and healthy
Fish and corals seem unaffected, although I am not settings much growth
Nitrate and phosophate test at zero.
Ph is on the low side, generally 7.7- 7.8. I just got a CO2 scrubber to try to bring that up
Alk is 8ish, generally. I dose Kalk with a Tunze calcium dispenser.
The microscope picture below is taken at 480. It is a cheap kids scope. I am going to get my Grandfather's (he was a microbiologist) old brass microscope he used when he is in the army during WW2, but I do not have it yet.

Any help with identification and eradication techniques would be appreciated!

marvelousone · Jan 20, 2019

It is hard to tell. I would say it is not cyano. Looks like brown algea or brown slime. What is your no3 and po4 levels. You could try 3 day black out. Wrap the tank.

NMreef · Jan 20, 2019

marvelousone said:
It is hard to tell. I would say it is not cyano. Looks like brown algea or brown slime. What is your no3 and po4 levels. You could try 3 day black out. Wrap the tank.

Nitrate and phosphate are zero.

marvelousone · Jan 20, 2019

That could be a false reading. Your tank is still young. I would get some biodigest. Getting good bacteria will out compete the bad. Blow the rocks off and suck out what you can. Let your cheato grow and keep light on it 24/7.

NMreef · Jan 20, 2019

marvelousone said:
That could be a false reading. Your tank is still young. I would get some biodigest. Getting good bacteria will out compete the bad. Blow the rocks off and suck out what you can. Let your cheato grow and keep light on it 24/7.

I thought it may be a mistake too, but both Nyos and Red Sea nitrate tests agree. Also, I use the Hanna Checker for phosphate and I calibrated it with the phosphate reference solution. I am leaning towards a blackout since no CUC seems to want to eat it.

marvelousone · Jan 20, 2019

well if po4 and no3 is zero and you getting algae. your tank is not balance yet.

KrisReef · Jan 20, 2019

It might be good to add a poly filter to this system, and carbon if you don’t have these already? Not keeping snails is a bit worrisome about what is in the water besides O2 and salt?

NMreef · Jan 21, 2019

KrisReef said:
It might be good to add a poly filter to this system, and carbon if you don’t have these already? Not keeping snails is a bit worrisome about what is in the water besides O2 and salt?

I do run carbon in a reactor. Polyfilter is a good idea. I think I will run out and get some. I am also going to do an ICP test to look for weird elements out of balance.

Subsea · Jan 21, 2019

NMreef said:
Greetings,

I have a 5 month old tank and am dealing with some algae or cyano or ??? issues.

The problem manifests itself as a very wispy brownish filaments that get no longer than 1/8 inch long.

It virtually disintegrates if it is grabbed with fingers or forceps, so it is hard to remove from the tank manually

It loves high flow areas. The rocks nearest direct flow from powerhead is thickest.

It not associated with a gas bubble and it does form a mat or web

The tank is death on snails. Snails get very lethargic and then die after a week or two.

I am running a refugium with chaeto, which is nice and healthy

Fish and corals seem unaffected, although I am not settings much growth

Nitrate and phosophate test at zero.

Ph is on the low side, generally 7.7- 7.8. I just got a CO2 scrubber to try to bring that up

Alk is 8ish, generally. I dose Kalk with a Tunze calcium dispenser.

The microscope picture below is taken at 480. It is a cheap kids scope. I am going to get my Grandfather's (he was a microbiologist) old brass microscope he used when he is in the army during WW2, but I do not have it yet.

Any help with identification and eradication techniques would be appreciated!