ID help

[SaltyMermaid86]

Can anyone tell me (or best guess) what this is? I've been dosing Microbacter7 but nothing is working. Perameters good and stable and I do a 10% water change weekly. My next step is to do a 3 day blackout but want to get thoughts first. I don't have a microscope to get a sample. It's taking over my sand bed. Increased flow, no change. Change my filter sock daily, no change. Cut whites to 10% and I felt like it got worse. I'm lost.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Diatoms.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

If u disturb the sandbed, do they clump or disperse? If they clump they are Dino if they disperse like the sand then diatoms

 

[Dburr1014]

Looks like red cyano to me.

 

[SaltyMermaid86]

Here's a picture under whites

 

[Dburr1014]

Here's a picture under whites

Stringy, like dinos but I don't see any air bubbles. Could still be dinos or could be cyano.

Edit; where are your nutrients at?

 

[SaltyMermaid86]

Stringy, like dinos but I don't see any air bubbles. Could still be dinos or could be cyano.

Edit; where are your nutrients at?

Just retested. Let me know if you need magnesium. Hubby has to test for that one but he said he just tested for mag 2 days ago and it was in range.

 

[reefz]

for sure diatoms

 

[SaltyMermaid86]

Just retested. Let me know if you need magnesium. Hubby has to test for that one but he said he just tested for mag 2 days ago and it was in range.

Magnesium 1400
Calcium 380

 

[SaltyMermaid86]

Just retested. Let me know if you need magnesium. Hubby has to test for that one but he said he just tested for mag 2 days ago and

for sure diatoms

That was my thought but wanted to make sure.

 

[Dburr1014]

For your 9.7 alk you have really low po4.
No3 is fine.. May I suggest feeding more flake or pellets or reef roids to bump up po4.

 

[SaltyMermaid86]

For your 9.7 alk you have really low po4.
No3 is fine.. May I suggest feeding more flake or pellets or reef roids to bump up po4.

He said he thinks I messed up with the Hanna so he's manual tested with the redsea foundation pro test kit and it was 10.1

 

[Dburr1014]

He said he thinks I messed up with the Hanna so he's manual tested with the redsea foundation pro test kit and it was 10.1

I say the same. High alk and low po4 is a bad mix. Coral is accelerated and have nothing to eat, = stunted growth or death and may open the door to dinos.
0.05 to 0.1 at that alk level is better.

 

[SaltyMermaid86]

I say the same. High alk and low po4 is a bad mix. Coral is accelerated and have nothing to eat, = stunted growth or death and may open the door to dinos.
0.05 to 0.1 at that alk level is better.

Ok so feed heavier? I feed pellets, benepets for coral, Hikari seaweed extreme to my blenny, sometimes AB+. I do have flakes but I only have 3 fish and none of them will touch them so they'll go to the bottom. I have 2 Ceriths snails, 3 bumble bee, 2 turbos. There's supposes to peppermint shrimp but I haven't seen them since I added them a week ago.

 

[SaltyMermaid86]

Well I just retested phosphate. 0 I also do see some long strands with bubbles. Not heavily. What the best way to beat this without chemicals or UV. I cut my skimmer off.

 

[Dburr1014]

Well I just retested phosphate. 0 I also do see some long strands with bubbles. Not heavily. What the best way to beat this without chemicals or UV. I cut my skimmer off.

Okay, you have dinos.
Can you take a picture of them?
It's better to know what kind with a micro scope but I never identified mine and beat them. I pretty much knew what ones I had.
We need to know also where are they, on the sand or rock, do they go in the water column at night? Meaning, first thing in the morning nowhere to be seen but quickly populate after lights are on.

You may need a uv. Jabao makes one thats pretty cheap but works. You may also need to use hydrogen peroxide.

 

[SaltyMermaid86]

Okay, you have dinos.
Can you take a picture of them?
It's better to know what kind with a micro scope but I never identified mine and beat them. I pretty much knew what ones I had.
We need to know also where are they, on the sand or rock, do they go in the water column at night? Meaning, first thing in the morning nowhere to be seen but quickly populate after lights are on.

You may need a uv. Jabao makes one thats pretty cheap but works. You may also need to use hydrogen peroxide.

I was hoping to get this under control with out a UV. I am putting a teen driver on the road lol! In fact I just added him to insurance yesterday.
As far a picture, the tank is dark for the nitht so Ill try to get a good one in the morning. The strands are very short. I wasn't really sure if they were even strands at all that's how low they were to the rock. Picture under whites or blues? I'm not sure which would show the bubbles better.

 

[Dburr1014]

White light

 

[SaltyMermaid86]

White light

Oh also they pretty much disappear at night and come back full force when lights come on. The patch with the bubbles is on my rock. The strands on the sand look more like GHA to be honest. No bubbles on those. But when i started to get worried it was just the brown on the sand in the picture. Is it possible to gave all 3? Diatoms, GHA and dinos?

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Oh also they pretty much disappear at night and come back full force when lights come on. The patch with the bubbles is on my rock. The strands on the sand look more like GHA to be honest. No bubbles on those. But when i started to get worried it was just the brown on the sand in the picture. Is it possible to gave all 3? Diatoms, GHA and dinos?

That seems likely dinos then. Grab a sample with some water, filter it through a paper towel and stick the sample under a light. If it turns brown and slimey it's dinos. Otherwise diatoms for the bubbly stuff.

It is possible to have all three simultaneously.