I'ts not the uglies but...

[Dj City]

I have a new 15 gallon column nano reef.
This tank has been up and running since August 18th, 2018.
This tank did not go through a bad "ugly" stage but it has developed this...

Can anyone tell me what this is and how I can fight it?

I have been doing a half gallon water change daily via automatic water change. For the past week, I've increased it to just over a gallon a day.

For more details on how the tank is run, I have a build thread you can check out.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/citys-15-gallon-column-nano-reef-build.430708/

I would love to ID this stuff and plan out my attack so it does not take over.

Help is appreciated.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

It’s just a Little of the uglies in a baby tank.
Looks like some cyano. Maybe some bown slime alage.
Keep blowing it off.
Watch Feeings and avoid trendy coral foods and Aminos and such.

 

[Dj City]

New additions to the system...

Aqueon Quietflow AT-40 internal filter in the display.

I needed more flow and I wanted mechanical filtration. I have both with the Quietflow AT-40.
As I scrub the rocks and agitate the sandbed to kick up and dislodge the algae and detritus, the Quietflow AT-40 should capture a good amount of it.
I got the idea to add it as I was cleaning out the fuge.

My fuge is a CPR H.OB. Aquafuge with a Rio 800+ pump. I have a good amount of seachem matrix in there.
My chaeto was not doing well at all. I don't know why but it was breaking apart and getting mushy.
I pulled it out and cleaned the fuge. There was a lot of dead chaeto and an awful lot of detritus. This may have been feeding this brown stringy algae I have going on in the display.
I had a Quietflow AT-15 laying around so I put it in the fuge to capture the dead and dying chaeto and all the detritus.
It worked great!
It got me to thinking that maybe I should leave it in there to capture the detritus so it doesn't settle into the seachem matrix.
So far, it seems to be a good idea.

I purchased the Quietflow AT-40 to do the same in the display.
Im waiting for it to break in so it can stop making microbubbles.

I went one step further and added a Topfin 20gal internal filter that I had laying around to my saltwater holding tank. This way, anything that might be in there can go into the filter and the carbon can pre condition the water before it goes into the display.

All filters have carbon and pollyfil.
Maintaining them should be very easy.

Im trying to get rid of the algae by getting rid of the waste that the water changes are not catching.

Does anyone see and problems with this st up that I may not be seeing?

 

[Dj City]

Ok...
I might really need some help here.

I brushed all this stuff off and thought I got most of it out the water.
I added a internal filter to further catch what I may not have caught.

Yesterday the tank looked good.
Today this stuff is back with a vengeance!

I really need to find out what this stuff is and find a way to defeat it.
At this rate, it will overwhelm my tank in pretty quick order.

Please help.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Ok. What are your no3 and Po4 at ?
What test kits do you use.

How old again?

Rodi ?
What foods do you feed ? Including coral foods , amino and fuel. Stuff like that.

The biggest slime looks like a dino or possibly a slimey diatom. Or even a slime alge

 

[Dj City]

I will test everything and post back.
I use hanna checker for Kh and Po4
I use a new api master reef test kit to know ballpark numbers.
I use salifert for silica and mag.

Tank has been up and running since August 18th 2018.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Ok.
Really just need the no3 and Po4
And the foods.

 

[Dj City]

Food has been
Omega one marine flakes
Or
Frozen mysis shrimp
Or
NLS pellets
Blood worms 1 time to try to get a midas blenny to eat.

I feed SMALL amounts.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Looks like dino's to me. Like @saltyfilmfolks said, need your N03 and P04 levels.

 

[Dj City]

Nitrate
API
Between 5.0 and 10 (higher than I want it)

Phosphate
Hanna checker
0.02

 

[Dj City]

Full tank parameters

 

[jsker]

What kind of lighting are you using?

 

[Dj City]

AI Prime HD.

 

[Dj City]

Under the microscope...

This is what I'm dealing with.
What is it?

 

[Dj City]

I've never seen this stuff before.
What is it and how do I get rid of it?

 

[NS Mike D]

looks like dinos bit I will let others with more experience answer that as well as this

I know that cyano (which to the eye looks like cyano) is ever present in the water column and we do not what exactly causes it to leave the water column and mat up other than it tends to occur with high or out of balance nutrients. Do dinos do the same thing?

If so (or if that is cyano), that would explain the reappearance.

The other thing about nutrients is that the pest algae are really good at out competing corals when NO3 and PO4 are out of balance or one or both missing. I like to combat nuisance algae by focusing on good coral husbandry so they out compete algae, and this includes letting them out compete for space on the rocks, and just conceding physical algae removal as part of my weekly maintenance. Oh yeah, looking at my pretty corals and not looking at all the turf and hair algae - for peace of mind and more enjoyment.