Cyano vs diatoms vs dinos

[Mikedawg]

Maybe this pic (Ostreopsis ovata) will help you identify your organism; unfortunately, I am pretty sure I know what I am battling and have just begun dosing Dino X.

 

[jazzdude87]

The picture looks like prorocentrum. I can't look at the vids right now but will take a look when I get home.
The UV can help with that but may need to be "encouraged" into the water column. Using a powerhead to blast after lights out and even a day or 2 with lights out as well. Lights out alone doesn't do anything but used to get into the water column in conjunction with the UV can be effective. I also siphoned into a low micron (5 micron in my case) filter sock for physical removal.

I missed your post from yesterday, somehow. Thank you for your reply. I just took a look in your media folder and found my sample in the picture and the first video of my most recent post to closely resemble your sample picture of the large cell amphidinium. This makes me nervous as I believe that this is the one we don't really know how to treat very well... Looking forward to your review of the videos when you have a chance to view them later.

@NotASpammerDude, thanks for your thoughts on pods. I've been seeding every three or four weeks with 3 bottles of AlgaeBarn's 5280 pods, but the tiggers were readily available for dumping in at my LFS when I was there the other day. They have disappeared, even in my 3 gallon low-flow refugium with ulva, so I think I'll move on to other species to attempt again.

@Mikedawg, thanks for the ostreopsis picture. Definitely not what I've got. What do you have, and besides the DinoX what is your treatment regimen?

I've got a canister filter in the mail with filter floss that I was planning to use for more manual removal on Wednesday. In regards to blackouts, I'll do a search later, but how long do people typically do it? 2 days? 3 days? Sincere thanks, guys.

 

[saltyhog]

Post that video on the stickied dino thread on the Nuisance Algae channel. I thought it looked more like amphidinium but I'm not great with ID (other than the easy ones ...ostreopsis and coolia). I've had a long battle with amphidinium but seem to have it under control now with growing SPS and zoas.

I agree on the Tig pods. I use Tisbe and apocalypse pods to seed my refugium/tank.

 

[Beardo]

I was able to view the video and still think prorocentrum. If you look at these 2 pictures you can see the differences. The prorocenteum has the slightly concave end while the large cell amphidinium has the 2 grooves shall we say. The prorocentrum image was pulled from the web.
You are looking at them direct and can see details as they move that we are unable to, so you are the best judge. I just wanted to point out some differences to help with identification

 

[saltyhog]

@Beardo I had both amphidinium and prorocentrum and can't find any evidence of them in the tank just looking at the tank. Everything looks good except for a few places with some small amounts of cyano. When I look at the cyano under the scope I see just a few of these guys at the edges of the cyano mat. Do you think these are prorocentrum? I'd feel a lot better if they are.

 

[jazzdude87]

@Beardo, with the pictures you shared and the explanation of the slight concavity vs the two bars, I am very hopeful that you are correct as it sounds like prorocentrum has a better track record of treatment that works vs amphidinium. Sincere thanks for taking the time to view the pictures and movies. I'll probably take another sample to study myself with this new knowledge on Wednesday when I hope to use the canister filter for a cleanup again.

@saltyhog, I'm pulling for you that it's prorocentrum as well!

 

[Beardo]

@Beardo I had both amphidinium and prorocentrum and can't find any evidence of them in the tank just looking at the tank. Everything looks good except for a few places with some small amounts of cyano. When I look at the cyano under the scope I see just a few of these guys at the edges of the cyano mat. Do you think these are prorocentrum? I'd feel a lot better if they are.

I can't be absolutley positive from the video but going by movement I'm thinking amphidinium. There may be a few small cell amphidinium as well. It has been a year and a half since I was really studying them and I need to spend some time going through my pics and vids to get things fresh in my mind again.
I wouldn't sweat it with a few, just keep doing what you are doing and keep them under control.

 

[Beardo]

@Beardo, with the pictures you shared and the explanation of the slight concavity vs the two bars, I am very hopeful that you are correct as it sounds like prorocentrum has a better track record of treatment that works vs amphidinium. Sincere thanks for taking the time to view the pictures and movies. I'll probably take another sample to study myself with this new knowledge on Wednesday when I hope to use the canister filter for a cleanup again.

@saltyhog, I'm pulling for you that it's prorocentrum as well!

Prorocenteum responded well to UV for me but they were not my dominant species. Large cell amphidinium just faded and went away. It was the small cell amphidiniums and 2 unidentified species that took the longest for me though the ostis and coolia popped up ocassion. The cysts can last for a long time waiting for conditions to be right.

Share more pics and vids when you do.
I spent so many hours with the scope when I was struggling with dinos.
I do find them and all the other microscopic organisms pretty fascinsting though.