Is this dino?

osinu · Mar 17, 2023

My tank is 3 months old. It has algae that looks like string and bubbles. I used a microscope to try and see what it is. But it doesn't look round like dinos.

Soren · Mar 17, 2023

I'm pretty sure it is diatoms rather than dinoflagellates, but I don't have enough experience to advise...
#reefsquad

Troylee · Mar 17, 2023

Diatoms.. good but ugly lol.. they will die off soon enough

Reef. · Mar 17, 2023

Going from the tank pic, not the slide I would say yes.
Did you turn on skimmer etc right from the start? Maybe you stripped the po4 right from the start, before the tank had a chance to build up bacteria and enough po4 to warrant skimmers etc being turned on.

osinu · Mar 17, 2023

Reef. said:
Going from the tank pic, not the slide I would say yes.
Did you turn on skimmer etc right from the start? Maybe you stripped the po4 right from the start, before the tank had a chance to build up bacteria and enough po4 to warrant skimmers etc being turned on.

The tank is small so I didn't get a skimmer.

Reef. · Mar 18, 2023

osinu said:
The tank is small so I didn't get a skimmer.

probably just diatoms then.

I wouldn’t worry about it but you can do a test, suck some up with a turkey baster with some tank water, give it a good stirr, then strain the water through some kitchen paper, or a coffee filter, sit the water down for about 15 mins, if it’s dinos they will link up again in the water, into a string like form, then it’s dinos, if they stay separate then it’s most likely just diatoms.

With it being a small tank, with no skimmer, it’s harder to strip the water of all po4, if you have not been restricting food or cleaning excessively.