ID Plz

[GarrettT]

Previously had dinos (every type), I remove them by dosing silica, then removed the diatoms, by no longer dosing. Sand become pristine and white.

Fast forward, my tank has now developed brown packets all over my sand.

- Hanna Low Range Silica measures 0.04 ppm
- Hanna URL phosphorus - 0.04 ppm
- Nitrate - 3ppm
- Unable to ID very well, as the layer is VERY thin
- Under a microscope, when I tried, I saw a very small amount of diatoms, but no dinos whatsoever.
- Lacks bubbles, however at the end of the day, sometimes there will be a small amount.
- Not stringy or slimy and does not attach to objects.
- Unaffected by vacuuming.
- It's been about 3 months now without any improvement.

Any ideas what I am dealing with? Could it be the silicate binding to the sand causing a diatom bloom? I haven't dose silica in over 3 months. When I did, I never went over 1.5ppm.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I find dosing silica temporary
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles. Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15% IF you have light dependant corals) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off. During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as micro bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons. Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX

 

[GarrettT]

I find dosing silica temporary
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles. Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15% IF you have light dependant corals) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off. During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as micro bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons. Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX

I could be wrong, but I really don't think this is dinos. This type of brown mat looks and acts vastly different to the dinos that I had originally.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I could be wrong, but I really don't think this is dinos. This type of brown mat looks and acts vastly different to the dinos that I had originally.

Just looked on computer screen and more like cyano
Assure your nitrate and phosphate are not elevated
You can follow same fino formula to defeat this as well
Once plan is done, add snails margarita, trochus, nerite and cerith to complete clean up

 

[GarrettT]

Not sure if this helps or matters, but here is a side view where purple is heavily present. The only cyano I’ve ever dealt with was purple, but know that I comes in other colors too.