Help with ID please(dinos?)

Jman76 · Jan 7, 2021

Evening...so I have what i think is some kind of algae (first thought was diatoms) rapidly overtaking my nano. Tanks 2 yrs old mixed with lots of coraline. I did replace sandbed 6 months ago. Any ideas? Nutes are 3/.03, rodi used since day 1. Getting to where its covering and closing up coral. Its also really bad the day after a water change. Thanks for looking, i usually have a pretty good handle on this tank

GoVols · Jan 8, 2021

You have a wonderful reef!

If it's not dino's then cyano comes to mind.

Noticed you put in a black sandbed, might want to pull an ATI ICP test to check your parameters and see if the black sand is leaching things that white sand does not.

Jman76 · Jan 9, 2021

Thanks @GoVols for the compliment and response. I didnt want to say dinos, i know nothing of them from experience. I tried a Chemi-clean app a few days ago, as I also thought cyano. Just need to work on exact ID.

GoVols · Jan 9, 2021

Jman76 said:
Thanks @GoVols for the compliment and response. I didnt want to say dinos, i know nothing of them from experience. I tried a Chemi-clean app a few days ago, as I also thought cyano. Just need to work on exact ID.

Yeah,
You're going to need to scope it so you know what you're dealing with.

If you post some good microscope shots, we'll call in the guru's

Jman76 · Jan 10, 2021

Scope should be here sometime today. I opted for the slightly nicer one than the $17 kids one. In the meantime, are there any visual clues that would lean towards one type or the other? I feel like it may be amphidium. Its all over sand, and most rock. Some coral. Minimal strings and bubbles...seems like it stays low. Really looks a lot.like heavy diatoms. Keeping nutes at 5/.12 ish. Nice green film on glass with morning pods. Will have some scope shots sometime today