Dinoflagellates or something else?

[Aquaman6410]

Nitrates are at 5ppm and phosphates about .1 ppm. Zoas are starting to open again. Hammer and torch are getting bigger again and are not shrinking!

The brown algae is still growing but maybe not as fast. I still have to scrape it off glass every other day so still fast. No signs of other algae yet. Staying patient. Hooked up ATO for more stability. Still haven't done a water change since it didn't appear to help. Perhaps it wasn't algae aggravating corals and just the lack of nitrates/phosphates. Well at least they are still hanging in. I just need to kick this chrysophytes/dinos out and replace it with better algae or at least something less terrible.

 

[Aquaman6410]

Another update for anyone following along with similar issues. So I'm holding nitrate and phosphate around 5ppm and .1 ppm, respectively with dosing as needed. Corals are really bouncing back from the dosing. Some zoa colonies that have been closed for weeks since the outbreak are opening again! Good signs there! However, algae still hanging in but tonight I had time and got aggravated to a manually cleaned big patches up and cleaned my powerheads in RO as they were caked in the stuff. Water has already cleared up and I keep changing out filter floss to mechanically remove it from column and polish water. After cleaning, the filter floss was brown in minutes. But with constant fresh changing, water was polished clear in 15 minutes tops. Also added some new fresh ROX carbon. I'm contemplating a water change soon because it's just in my nature to do water changes with all my aquariums but I'm still afraid of what that could trigger. I could always dose nitrates and phosphates after to get levels back but I'm afraid the fresh water may fuel the issue more. Yikes... Patience.

 

[Aquaman6410]

Another update, still dosing and still battling. Have not done a water change, just top off. I see some light lime green spots on the rocks if I put on the white lights but not a ton. Brown algae still coming, mainly in the high flow areas. Not sure what else to do. I can use a turkey baster to blow the thicker brown hairy patches off the rock along with some rock debris. I then wait a few minutes and change out the floss that caught all the debris. The floss is usually a nice brown color after a few days anyway. Should I increase nitrates above 10ppm and phosphates above .1ppm? I usually dose every other day once I test and see the levels go down. Should I add another lb of live rock and risk the hitchhikers?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Dr Tim’s one and only. And Fiji mud.

Keep up the good work. Sounds like the corals approve.

If your running a plane Jane salt , a wc may not hurt. I’d avoid any pro biotic. Etc etc.

If the coral are happy at those n/p numbers , keep it there IMO.

And yes Patience. The worst cases took a month.
And 16 toothbrushes.

 

[Aquaman6410]

I'm using fritz RPM... Not plain enough?

Also, I don't have a refugium set up yet as I'm having trouble keeping nitrates and phosphates present. Where else can I add the fiji mud to my biocube?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

That should be fine salt. Lowish alk and not a lot of extra elements.
Might be worth the test.

I swirl it in the water. It’s mud. I leave a clump behind the rocks too.

 

[mcarroll]

@Aquaman6410 dino test?

Before making more changes it would also be cool if you had one of those $10 microscopes to get a picture and/or movie of some of what you're growing.

 

[Aquaman6410]

Do you recommend a microscope that isn't too expensive but still decent for our hobby? Maybe I missed the $10 one somewhere. I apologize if I did.

Edit: I found the $15 one in the microscope thread but still that be good enough for ID'ing things?

Edit 2: Also, it may just be in my head but I feel like there might be less of it today, like it may be on the decline on its own. That would great if this is the case.

 

[Aquaman6410]

Update. The brown stuff is definitely declining at this point. The water is also smelling much better. Still no water change or any other changes. I'm just keeping things the same since its declining!

I've been having to keep dosing the seachem nitrogen and phosphate every other day to keep numbers up. Will I ever get to a point where I'll need to export nutrients instead of dosing them?

 

[chefjpaul]

Update. The brown stuff is definitely declining at this point. The water is also smelling much better. Still no water change or any other changes. I'm just keeping things the same since its declining!

I've been having to keep dosing the seachem nitrogen and phosphate every other day to keep numbers up. Will I ever get to a point where I'll need to export nutrients instead of dosing them?

You will once a bio load and ecosystem are established and healthy. I'm in same situation pulling out of it. Takes time, expecially with this dry rock.

 

[mcarroll]

Edit: I found the $15 one in the microscope thread but still that be good enough for ID'ing things?

Selecting a microscope in case that's not where you were already looking. And yes that cheapie scope works fine. It's not great, but does work. Check out the pics in the dino stick for lots of examples. That said you get QUITE A BIT FOR YOUR MONEY if you spend >$50 on a scope......I just had no idea what I would want since I'd never even used a scope. I haven't had a lot of time to use mine, but I like having it more and more each time. I'm definitely going to upgrade......probably to a binocular scope, or at least one with a built-in camera. Just need the money.

 

[Aquaman6410]

Just an update for everyone. With continuing what I was already doing, the stuff has definitely died down and my water no longer smells horrible! Thank you all for all the advice on this battle. I have some new algae of course but that's fine! On to the next phase.