Help with nuisance ID

[citres]

Hey guys! Been lurking for months. Also, been battling this stuff mostly on my sand bed for the same amount of time. I DO keep my nitrates and phosphates fairly low. Last reading on Hanna ULR was .01 for phosphate. Do this with carbon dosing and bacteria. These mats just love to cover my sand. I can clear it out with aggressive carbon dosing and waste-away. But it comes back when I stop. Looks red in blue light, greenish brown in white light. Any thoughts?

 

[taricha]

That's typical presentation for Dinoflagellates.

 

[citres]

Hmm. It does not seem very interested in leaving the sand bed at night. Amphidinium for sure? Or not necessarily? It loves to grow long wispy single strands up to 6" seemingly overnight that can easily be blown off with a turkey baster.

Edit: I've shut off the protein skimmer for around 48 hours now to "go dirty" and got my n03 up to ~.75ppm and p04 reading .02ppm. Hoping that does something.

 

[sixty_reefer]

What’s your current parameters? Mainly no3 and po4

 

[citres]

What’s your current parameters? Mainly no3 and po4

n03: 0.75ppm
p04: 0.02ppm

But they were definitely lower before. Possibly "bottomed out." I've turned off the carbon doser pump and protein skimmer for the last 48 hours to try and raise them up.

 

[sixty_reefer]

n03: 0.75ppm
p04: 0.02ppm

But they were definitely lower before. Possibly "bottomed out." I've turned off the carbon doser pump and protein skimmer for the last 48 hours to try and raise them up.

probably worth carry on bringing no3 up only and monitor, I would aim for 5 no3 and try and keep it around der for a few weeks.