Diatoms or..?

[ArnoldosAquariums]

My tank is about a year old. What I thought were diatoms still have not gone away.

it’s a thin brownish found it gets all over the glass and occasionally covers my rocks/sand.

I was wondering if it’s Dino, but I’ve been told by a few people it’s not.

now I’m starting to wonder… Since I use reef crystals, is it the same brown residue that builds up on the sides of the mixing tank?

Second question, the residue that builds up on the sides of the mixing tank… Is it bad? I have some people clean it once a year, but didn’t know specifically why.

Thx! I just ran out of salt and before I buy more I was wanting to research to see if it’s worth spending close to twice as much for what could be the same result.

 

[ArnoldosAquariums]

Bump?

 

[Cory]

Man why a video? How about a pic with flash on?

 

[eea60123]

I can’t get the video to load

 

[Cory]

But from the video at nighttime... it looks like diatoms lol

 

[S.Pepper]

Really tough to tell if it's diatoms. But in a year old tank? The only experience I have with diatoms is in my 10 week old system and they were gone very quickly. My hermit crabs devoured them.

Salt question. lol I hesitate to answer... however, I will say I use Tropic Marin Pro Reef and luv it. Why? It's pharmaceutical grade salt that mixes quickly and you never have a residue build up. In the overall scheme of a reef tank (for me), the extra $$ spent for it is almost unnoticeable. YMMV.

 

[ArnoldosAquariums]

But from the video at nighttime... it looks like diatoms lol

Diatoms on an established tank, though?

 

[ArnoldosAquariums]

Man why a video? How about a pic with flash on?

I'll get some pics.. stand by.

 

[Cory]

Diatoms on an established tank, though?

Yeah its not likely unless a massive silicate source was added.

 

[ArnoldosAquariums]

Attached are a couple of photos showing what it looks like in person and then some photos taken magnified with a small microscope.

this has been since I stopped the tank with fish back in May… I use RODI, so I really doubt silicates are the issue.

 

[Cory]

Attached are a couple of photos showing what it looks like in person and then some photos taken magnified with a small microscope.

this has been since I stopped the tank with fish back in May… I use RODI, so I really doubt silicates are the issue.

Is it stringy or just a matt of slime?

 

[Cory]

It may be dinoflagellets. Ive had some just like that. Dont touch it. It can make you sick. Wash your hands dont put finger in mouth. Donr bite nails.If your po4 and no3 are undetectable, its likely dinoflagellets. Raising both with chemicals will get rid of it.

 

[ArnoldosAquariums]

Who cleans their tank and then sticks their fingers in their mouth?! Lol.

so it’s not stringy... but when in mass, I see lots of tiny bubbles.

my nitrates are about 10-15. I’d have to check phosphates.

What do you recommend? I did remove my socks last week.

Thanks!

 

[Cory]

Who cleans their tank and then sticks their fingers in their mouth?! Lol.

so it’s not stringy... but when in mass, I see lots of tiny bubbles.

my nitrates are about 10-15. I’d have to check phosphates.

What do you recommend? I did remove my socks last week.

Thanks!

Lol. Youd be surprised! I bite my nails when i think of reef related worries haha. Even after you wash it there may be palytoxin- one of the most potent poisons in the world. Trust me ive been bad from this. Try not being able to stand for two weeks.

The bubbles are a classic sighn. I had high no3 and 0 po4 on hanna. I raised po4 to .74ppm for a week and it died away. Snails will die from this stuff if its dinos. My hermits though, still kicking!

 

[ArnoldosAquariums]

Lol. Youd be surprised! I bite my nails when i think of reef related worries haha. Even after you wash it there may be palytoxin- one of the most potent poisons in the world. Trust me ive been bad from this. Try not being able to stand for two weeks.

The bubbles are a classic sighn. I had high no3 and 0 po4 on hanna. I raised po4 to .74ppm for a week and it died away. Snails will die from this stuff if its dinos. My hermits though, still kicking!

My turbos and astreas are all good, thought.
My ceriths do seem to be missing.

 

[ArnoldosAquariums]

hmm. Is this what you mean by stringy?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Beginning of dyno and yes on diatoms.
At least you caught it early. Seems like not much or any corals, so here is the battle. . . . . .

Increase water flow. Loosen dino with turkey baster and siphon up right away. Turn off white lights and reduce blue to 5% or off. At night . apply hydrogen Peroxide at 1ml per 10 gallons. Each day loosen and net or vacuum up dino. Do NOT feed any coral foods if you do, and also add Bacteria supplement during day such as Bacter 7.
Do this for 3-5 days and you will/should notice it gone or close to gone.
After treatment...… continue with peroxide at .5 ml per 10 gals for 3-4 weeks and gradually increase lights starting with blues.

 

[ArnoldosAquariums]

Beginning of dyno and yes on diatoms.
At least you caught it early. Seems like not much or any corals, so here is the battle. . . . . .

Increase water flow. Loosen dino with turkey baster and siphon up right away. Turn off white lights and reduce blue to 5% or off. At night . apply hydrogen Peroxide at 1ml per 10 gallons. Each day loosen and net or vacuum up dino. Do NOT feed any coral foods if you do, and also add Bacteria supplement during day such as Bacter 7.
Do this for 3-5 days and you will/should notice it gone or close to gone.
After treatment...… continue with peroxide at .5 ml per 10 gals for 3-4 weeks and gradually increase lights starting with blues.

I scrape daily. And it goes down to the sump.

here’s the thing that I don’t understand… If it’s Dinos, then it has been like this since May, and none of it is still on the corals.

turning off whites and shutting off blues gives me no light. I’m not killing my corals.

I’ve added bacteria weekly in the past.

I really don’t think it’s Dinos, even though it looks like it.. it doesn’t act like it, does that make sense?

 

[novanosis]

I think it's a specific form of cyano. Does it look like a type of hair algae and does it have longer growth in high flow areas?

 

[novanosis]

Calothrix

Here is the info from reef cleaners.

"
These species of cyano often appear as a light slimy yet hairy/fuzzy nastiness that loosely attaches to your rock work. Air bubbles are usually trapped while eascaping the "algae", just like in the picture to the left. Calothrix is a type of blue green algae that looks very similar to Dinos. We have them next to each other in the guide to help you distinguish the difference between the two.
Manual Removal: Remove the rock and scrub, and then fine tune with a toothbrush. Let the cleaners get the rest. It helps to use a net to collect the debris that will occur as a result of the toothbrushing.
Starving it out: Use a phosban reactor or a macro like chaeto to take down phosphate. If you have a nitrate problem too, you can add more live rock or rubble to the tank, do some more wcs, add macro, add dsb, etc..."