Is this encrusting diatoms?

[mcarroll]

The stuff took over when my tank was being somewhat ignored and the salinity crept way way up.

Chemistry wise things are back to normal now but whatever this is was not impressed by the improvement and is still going full steam.

After some research I don't think it's dinoflagellates.

It does seem like it may be encrusting diatoms but I'm not very positive. (I haven't found one single picture that actually looks just like this stuff.)

Hoping for confirmation before I pick a treatment.

Anyone?

 

[twilliard]

@Russ265

Thoughts?

 

[mcarroll]

Surprising to me, petplace.com has the only article I've seen to address these at all...and their description matches what I'm seeing in terms of effects on coral. (That Stylophora on the left and my orange M. digitata seem immune. Hydnophora - which is not pictured - not so much. It's being "eaten alive".)

http://www.petplace.com/article/fish/general/water-care/how-to-fight-those-darn-diatoms-algae

 

[Russ265]

hmmm. those air bubbles i see?

 

[twilliard]

hmmm. those air bubbles i see?

Thank you Russ!

 

[Russ265]

Thank you Russ!

you bet buddy

 

[twilliard]

you bet buddy

This is something I have never seen.
It will be interesting to see an ID for this

 

[mcarroll]

I want to get a microscope so I can have at least a theoretical shot at identifying stuff like this myself. I know they make add on lenses for the iPhone, there are also super cheap USB microscopes on eBay and Amazon. There are also reasonably priced standard microscopes these days.

In theory I like one of the digital options better, but does anyone have experience with either of them?

 

[mcarroll]

hmmm. those air bubbles i see?

It does bubble some. Not everywhere though. I almost wonder if there are some small patches of cyano growing here and there among the diatom encrustations.

Also...

I kinda failed to mention that there is no current cleanup crew in this tank, nor has there been one for many moons. Just a fleet of tiny wild keyhole limpets, asterinas and micro-brittle stars Generally there is nothing/very little (left) for the usual CUC to eat in these tanks so I usually maintain a low-to-zero level of them.

But if anyone thinks Ceriths (or similar) would mow into this, I'd be willing to grab a few at the LFS.

Thoughts?

 

[Russ265]

well its bubbly. and if you have asterinas they would have taken a bite.

my cuc is only astrea snails. like...50 or so in my 265 and they do a great job. like an army of ants.

so is this stuff thick and matty? does it poof like dust when you brush against it? slimy?

tell us the texture of this rare delicacy. nom nom.

 

[brandon429]

I think those are chrysophyte species again we've beengetting a few of those here lately

 

[Russ265]

I think those are chrysophyte species again we've beengetting a few of those here lately

this would explain the symbiosis with cyano. (if it is)

 

[brandon429]

how to tell if oversized uv is indicated for an invader:

1. the invader is not ich (sets off nine page debate)
2. the invader has a water transition phase, easily verified if X invader grows back on the walls or glass after we razor scrape it off
3. no holdfasts
4. clean the whole system out manually, hard work. buy massive expensive giant uv off amazon hook it up. if it doesn't fix the growback, return.
5. ?????? lol I don't know any chrysophyte grazers im sure there are some tho

 

[Russ265]

how to tell if oversized uv is indicated for an invader:

1. the invader is not ich (sets off nine page debate)
2. the invader has a water transition phase, easily verified if X invader grows back on the walls or glass after we razor scrape it off
3. no holdfasts
4. clean the whole system out manually, hard work. buy massive expensive giant uv off amazon hook it up. if it doesn't fix the growback, return.
5. ?????? lol I don't know any chrysophyte grazers im sure there are some tho

no but it cannot photosynthesize on it's own. it usually requires cyano as a host. maybe some chemi clean would eliminate it's host and problem solved?

sorry. this is just how i would attack it.

 

[mcarroll]

My ChemiClean is of unknown age....not really sure if there is a expiration date or not...but I did a dose, but it seemed to have little or no noticeable effect on this stuff. It's possible that it was slowed down, but that's hard for me to say for sure.

That was a few weeks ago.

I just turned loose a 4x of Margarita snails - best available and they've done well in the tank in the past. We'll see if they go for this stuff at all!

I also have some ChemiPure Elite I can deploy as well a better sponge to use while wiping down the glass to hopefully remove more of this crap....instead of the usual EZblade.

Gonna wait and see how the snails do for a while first tho!!

 

[mcarroll]

Time to catch up this thred and get some more advice!

I discovered that one of the Margaritas is still alive and kicking. Unfortunately, it's eating something other than this stuff. :mad:

I've been treating with [HASHTAG]#h2o2[/HASHTAG] for >8 days at this point.

While skimmate got drier and darker, I haven't noticed much change in the tank, if any. Even the patches of green hairy algae don't seem fazed.

There don't seem to be any negative side-effects, but how long should I keep doing h2o2 without seeing the effect?

Chemipure is gone...replaced with about 1/2 cup of fresh [HASHTAG]#carbon[/HASHTAG]. (Was running only 1/4 cup prior to [HASHTAG]#Chemipure[/HASHTAG].)

I cut the peak lighting levels by about 10% and shortened the day a bit.

None of these things have really seemed to faze this stuff at all.

I'm going to go back in with a sponge and try to wipe-clean as much as possible and just keep up with mechanical removal (which is a PITA) as time allows. More water changes aren't in the books, but didn't seem to help before anyway.

Anyone have other suggestions?

 

[mcarroll]

From this post it looks like I should be stopping [HASHTAG]#h2o2[/HASHTAG] treatment if it's not helping:
#12

 

[mcarroll]

Dosed peroxide today for the last time.

Mechanical removal seems to be the solution.

 

[mcarroll]

I think those are chrysophyte species again we've beengetting a few of those here lately

Going back through some of my old threads and I think you were the first to peg the ID.

I never got a scope to really confirm it but from other pics that have surfaced of these, I'm about as sure as I can get without having had a scope.

pro-nutrient stance + mechanical removal was the cure.

I'm glad, in part thanks to both you and @Russ265, I didn't remain stuck in "find a magic bullet" mode. (On this front, I'm thankful for the Potassium Nitrate and dino threads, even though by now in 2017, both are a bit of a mess.)

BTW, I'm just feeding now, not dosing anything for this anymore.

The main cyano patch that bloomed at the tail end of the chrysophyte die-off is now itself dying off with absolutely no encouragement on my behalf. I do see bristleworms and pods working it over most of the time and it's dead-white in the center of the patch as of a day or two ago.

Succession!

I've discovered out of all this that I really need to get an auto-feeder for my corals!!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Going back through some of my old threads and I think you were the first to peg the ID.

I never got a scope to really confirm it but from other pics that have surfaced of these, I'm about as sure as I can get without having had a scope.

pro-nutrient stance + mechanical removal was the cure.

I'm glad, in part thanks to both you and @Russ265, I didn't remain stuck in "find a magic bullet" mode. (On this front, I'm thankful for the Potassium Nitrate and dino threads, even though by now in 2017, both are a bit of a mess.)

BTW, I'm just feeding now, not dosing anything for this anymore.

The main cyano patch that bloomed at the tail end of the chrysophyte die-off is now itself dying off with absolutely no encouragement on my behalf. I do see bristleworms and pods working it over most of the time and it's dead-white in the center of the patch as of a day or two ago.

Succession!

I've discovered out of all this that I really need to get an auto-feeder for my corals!!

So you fed nutrints to the tank and removed the algae manually.

How could that work?