Dinos but Nitrates and Phosphates are ok

[Floyd-]

Ive been dealing with this bubble trapping snot for weeks now. I keep cleaning it out of the tank but it keeps coming back.
Nitrates are at 8.2 and Phosphate is at .08 checked with Hanna checkers. Any other way I can get rid of this junk?

 

[blaxsun]

Temporarily turn any red LED channels off, drop the white levels 10% and frequent water and filter changes are the most common. A UV also helps. Others have had success with blackouts.

 

[Timfish]

I would just use manual removal until it passes. Here's a video using steel straws you might find helpful. I would suggest you check out these two links:

Establishing a Healthy Microbiome in a New Aquarium Using Live Rock

Studying the effects of live rock in a newly established aquarium shows that high-quality live rock promotes the rapid establishment of an effective biological filter and a microbial community similar to those found in mature reef tanks.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Floyd-]

Temporarily turn any red LED channels off, drop the white levels 10% and frequent water and filter changes are the most common. A UV also helps. Others have had success with blackouts.

-I dont run red or green channels
-I can drop the whites a little
-I do 10% changes once a week and now have a reefmat 1200 so its very clean, cleaner than its ever been.
-I have looked into UV but they are horribly expensive.
-Dont want to blackout and tick off my corals.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

Regular 3 day tank blackouts and a uv sterilizer worked for me. Corals won't mind at all. Just turn on lights to feed fish and blackout tank again.

 

[Floyd-]

Regular tank blackouts and a uv sterilizer worked for me.

How large of a UV for a 175 gallon tank?

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

How large of a UV for a 175 gallon tank?

They are all different. I use a coralife turbotwist on my 75 gallon as it is the least expensive, and works for me. They should have the tank sizes listed per model on various ones. I use a separate pump with it.

 

[wtdenk]

Before you buy an expensive UV I'd recommend a cheap microscope and identify your dinos. After you know what they are you can be slightly more targeted in your attack.

Identification Thread

 

[sixty_reefer]

Ive been dealing with this bubble trapping snot for weeks now. I keep cleaning it out of the tank but it keeps coming back.
Nitrates are at 8.2 and Phosphate is at .08 checked with Hanna checkers. Any other way I can get rid of this junk?

Can I see how they look like?

 

[Floyd-]

Can I see how they look like?

I dont have a picture at the moment but I can take one tonight. Its on rocks and on the sand. Long (maybe 2-4") in some spots. Easily vacuumed up and traps a ton of bubbles. Once I clean it up as much as I can its back in a day or two maybe.

When I clean this up i'm siphoning from the tank into a filter sock in the sump. Is that ok or should I be going out of the tank and then just fill up with new salt water after?

 

[DE FISH]

How old is the tank ?

 

[Floyd-]

How old is the tank ?

Little over a year old.

 

[Uncle99]

Need a pic
Are you sure your not talking Diatoms as your description “bubble trapping snot” seems more likely.
It would be common and is normal, and will pass on its own with time, and a little bit you.
If they stay on the sand and rock at night, probably not Dinos. Many of these leave the sand for the water column every night, then, when lights on, go back to sand and rock.
Does this happen? If it does, for sure Dinos.

Suck it out, brush rock, keep parameters both on targets and with as little change as possible within 24 hours, everyday, forever.

Maybe a month or so, will disappear.

 

[Floyd-]

They do stay on the rocks and sand at night from what ive seen. Ill shoot some pictures tonight.

 

[Uncle99]

Likely Diatoms or maybe Cyano, the strings of snot like stuff with trapped bubbles.
Pic should tell us.
1 year old tank with balanced nutrient level is a bit of a surprise though.

 

[Floyd-]

1 year old tank with balanced nutrient level is a bit of a surprise though.

Thats why im scratching my head about it. Everything has been fine and then all of a sudden they popped up. I havent added anything for months other than a montipora frag. Nothing else has changed. Even my Triton ICP came back just fine other than high Mag (Overdosed a couple months ago)

 

[sixty_reefer]

I dont have a picture at the moment but I can take one tonight. Its on rocks and on the sand. Long (maybe 2-4") in some spots. Easily vacuumed up and traps a ton of bubbles. Once I clean it up as much as I can its back in a day or two maybe.

When I clean this up i'm siphoning from the tank into a filter sock in the sump. Is that ok or should I be going out of the tank and then just fill up with new salt water after?

It sound like photosynthetic dinoflagellates, black out is normally the way to go with this ones although some have the ability of being mixathrophic, meaning that they can become heterotrophic in the absence of light.
Are your nitrates and phosphates stable at the moment?

 

[MnFish1]

I dont have a picture at the moment but I can take one tonight. Its on rocks and on the sand. Long (maybe 2-4") in some spots. Easily vacuumed up and traps a ton of bubbles. Once I clean it up as much as I can its back in a day or two maybe.

When I clean this up i'm siphoning from the tank into a filter sock in the sump. Is that ok or should I be going out of the tank and then just fill up with new salt water after?

I would siphon it out of the tank. Additionally do the siphoning at the time of day when the Dino's are the most visible. Hope this helps

 

[Floyd-]

Are your nitrates and phosphates stable at the moment?

They have been stable for quite some time. Around .03-.1 phos and 5-15 Nitrates.

 

[Idech]

Thats why im scratching my head about it. Everything has been fine and then all of a sudden they popped up. I havent added anything for months other than a montipora frag. Nothing else has changed. Even my Triton ICP came back just fine other than high Mag (Overdosed a couple months ago)

I started having dinos when my nitrates and phosphates were still at acceptable levels (about 12 ppm nitrates, 0,08 phosphates). I managed to get rid of the first batch of dinos but then they came back (a different kind).

Now that I have some perspective, I believe my nutrients were slowly decreasing and dinos took advantage of it. I did not know it because it happened very slowly, over a long period. The tank was still relatively new and over the course of 3-4 months, nitrates and phosphates went down to 0.

I kept my tank very clean. Now I know that’s not a good practice.

Just a thought.