Diatoms/dinoflagellate and some algae?

[Latte]

Hey all, just cycling my first tank (20g red sea max nano) and curious if anyone can help with my IDs on these things are?

Suspected Dino or diatoms:

Suspected hair algae and others I'm not sure of

In that last picture there is some random macro algae that's been dying off during the cycle (I way overdosed ammonia I think even though I followed the instructions) but just above it to the right is a weird carpet of very fine algae that I can't even guess at.

Anyways, thanks for the help in advanced! I'm mostly worried about the dinos and hoping it is just diatoms!

 

[Lavey29]

Dinos usually get positively ID with micrsope. If your tank is new it's probably diatomes. Reduce lights to help it clear out. It generally will pass on its own with time in a tank.

What are your water parameters?

 

[Latte]

Dinos usually get positively ID with micrsope. If your tank is new it's probably diatomes. Reduce lights to help it clear out. It generally will pass on its own with time in a tank.

What are your water parameters?

Oh so I'd need to purchase a microscope? That's a bit annoying. I assumed it's diatoms also, but read some horror stories over the last few days about dinos that's made me a bit paranoid. Thanks for your help!

Parameters:

My ammonia is finally coming down (it's around 1ppm now, has been way way off the chart until a few days ago).

Nitrate is ridiculous (50+, off the charts on my kit)

Nitrite is also very high (1+, off the charts on my kit)

pH is around 7.9-8.1

I don't have a phosphate kit yet (planning on grabbing one next time I go to my LFS.

These are all brand new red sea kits for what it is worth.

 

[Lavey29]

Oh so I'd need to purchase a microscope? That's a bit annoying. I assumed it's diatoms also, but read some horror stories over the last few days about dinos that's made me a bit paranoid. Thanks for your help!

Parameters:

My ammonia is finally coming down (it's around 1ppm now, has been way way off the chart until a few days ago).

Nitrate is ridiculous (50+, off the charts on my kit)

Nitrite is also very high (1+, off the charts on my kit)

pH is around 7.9-8.1

I don't have a phosphate kit yet (planning on grabbing one next time I go to my LFS.

These are all brand new red sea kits for what it is worth.

With a new tank it's most likely diatoms which should go away on their own over a few weeks to a month. Limit your light time and intensity. Use blue and uv with no white light or very minimal.

Yes. Microscope, a cheap one is needed for positive ID of dinos but that is probably not your case right now.

 

[Latte]

With a new tank it's most likely diatoms which should go away on their own over a few weeks to a month. Limit your light time and intensity. Use blue and uv with no white light or very minimal.

Yes. Microscope, a cheap one is needed for positive ID of dinos but that is probably not your case right now.

Ok thanks, I guess I'll just wait and see. I was thinking about picking up a conch snail to clean it up, so hopefully he'll take care of it all (once the cycle has settled down a bunch of course)

 

[Lavey29]

Ok thanks, I guess I'll just wait and see. I was thinking about picking up a conch snail to clean it up, so hopefully he'll take care of it all (once the cycle has settled down a bunch of course)

Probably a good idea to start getting some cleaner crew members now. Start with a few and add as needed. Your numbers will start to come down to reasonable amounts in a month or so. Just don't let your nitrates and phosphate hit 0. That's what triggers the cyano and dinos. If you can avoid that you will probably wind up with GHA after the diatoms. But it's easier to manage.

 

[Gqch]

looks more like a diatoms to me!

 

[Latte]

Probably a good idea to start getting some cleaner crew members now. Start with a few and add as needed. Your numbers will start to come down to reasonable amounts in a month or so. Just don't let your nitrates and phosphate hit 0. That's what triggers the cyano and dinos. If you can avoid that you will probably wind up with GHA after the diatoms. But it's easier to manage.

Is it really ok to add some CUC already? I don't want to cause them any discomfort with ammonia levels. What kind of things could I start adding soon?

 

[Lavey29]

Is it really ok to add some CUC already? I don't want to cause them any discomfort with ammonia levels. What kind of things could I start adding soon?

If you used something like dr. Tim's and added the nitifying bacteria after ammonia levels rose, your cycle should move along and be completed in a few weeks. You will know when you add ammonia one night and check it in the morning and it's 0 along with nitrite being 0 but nitrate with reading number. I went 3 months before turning my lights on which helped create a minimal ugly phase for me.

Once your tank is cycled you can start with a fish or two and some clean up crew members to if you have visible algae and elect to use your lights which aren't necessary until you get corals.

 

[vetteguy53081]

With zero readings, I ask what test kits are you using? If API, you are likely getting false readings.
To me appears also as diatoms. Diatoms are a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. They can cover sand, rock, pumps, glass, you name it. Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.
Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates but also consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. Unfiltered tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to jump start a bloom if you use it to mix salt or to replace water that evaporated from the tank. The best way to prevent this from happening is to filter water through a RODI unit, although you can still get a diatom bloom when using RODI if the cartridge that removes silicates expires.
diatoms are typically harmless to a captive reef and can be beaten once their food source expires. Once you put the kibosh on the source, the outbreak should last a couple of weeks so just be patient and it will pass. For major outbreaks you may want to consider the three day blackout. Diatoms are easily wiped from the glass with a mag float, a turkey baster or a toothbrush can access other areas of the tank. Be prepared for them to re-establish themselves quickly, they are likely to be able to resettle and have exponential growth rates.
To prevent their return, practice good aquarium husbandry by doing regular water changes, keep the substrate clean, don’t overfeed the fish, ensure your skimmer is running at an optimal level and rinse out filter socks and sponges on a regular basis.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

 

[Latte]

If you used something like dr. Tim's and added the nitifying bacteria after ammonia levels rose, your cycle should move along and be completed in a few weeks. You will know when you add ammonia one night and check it in the morning and it's 0 along with nitrite being 0 but nitrate with reading number. I went 3 months before turning my lights on which helped create a minimal ugly phase for me.

Once your tank is cycled you can start with a fish or two and some clean up crew members to if you have visible algae and elect to use your lights which aren't necessary until you get corals.

Ok thanks for the help!

With zero readings, I ask what test kits are you using? If API, you are likely getting false readings.
To me appears also as diatoms. Diatoms are a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. They can cover sand, rock, pumps, glass, you name it. Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.
Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates but also consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. Unfiltered tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to jump start a bloom if you use it to mix salt or to replace water that evaporated from the tank. The best way to prevent this from happening is to filter water through a RODI unit, although you can still get a diatom bloom when using RODI if the cartridge that removes silicates expires.
diatoms are typically harmless to a captive reef and can be beaten once their food source expires. Once you put the kibosh on the source, the outbreak should last a couple of weeks so just be patient and it will pass. For major outbreaks you may want to consider the three day blackout. Diatoms are easily wiped from the glass with a mag float, a turkey baster or a toothbrush can access other areas of the tank. Be prepared for them to re-establish themselves quickly, they are likely to be able to resettle and have exponential growth rates.
To prevent their return, practice good aquarium husbandry by doing regular water changes, keep the substrate clean, don’t overfeed the fish, ensure your skimmer is running at an optimal level and rinse out filter socks and sponges on a regular basis.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

Thanks I mentioned before I used red sea kit, but when I said my readings were off the charts I meant they were very high not really low, sorry for ambiguity. My tap water is already stupid clean to the point that I though my Meter was broken after reading stuff online. I looked up my cities water report though and it seems to match what I'm reading through the meter.
It comes out of the tap at about 40 TDS (I think Australia has much cleaner water than other countries?) and I run it through an RO that brings it to 0-1 TDS so I'm not sure where the silicates would be getting in unless I'm doing something wrong.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ok thanks for the help!

Thanks I mentioned before I used red sea kit, but when I said my readings were off the charts I meant they were very high not really low, sorry for ambiguity. My tap water is already stupid clean to the point that I though my Meter was broken after reading stuff online. I looked up my cities water report though and it seems to match what I'm reading through the meter.
It comes out of the tap at about 40 TDS (I think Australia has much cleaner water than other countries?) and I run it through an RO that brings it to 0-1 TDS so I'm not sure where the silicates would be getting in unless I'm doing something wrong.

silicates are generally from water source. expired RO cartridges, bypassing resin or resin leaking from DI housing

 

[Latte]

silicates are generally from water source. expired RO cartridges, bypassing resin or resin leaking from DI housing

Hmm, my RO system is all brand new and before expiration and it registers at 1 or 0 TDS.