Long brown air algae for more than one year now

[Andre Duarte]

Dear aquarium hobbyist,

I have a 50 Gallon tank for 14 months now. The plan has been keeping some fish such as ocellaris and an anemone, among other small fish and shrimp. Unfortunately I have started with a lot of Phosphates (1.6ppm) resulting in cyan bateria and the anemones had to wait until I get the aquarium clean.

To do so, I have started 10% water change weekly, add an Algae Reactor with Chaetomorpha, and dose Korallen Zucht Cyano Clean daily. I can now say that I have been dosing this for the last 5 months and I still didn't get rid of the problem. I am feeding small quantities every other day. I was able to get the Phosphates down to 0.10ppm (much better but not great).

For the light period, I have a Kessil A360X 10 hours a day up to 10% intensity.

Initially I had circulation problem since the sand I was using was so fine that it was going all over the place. So I have removed all the sand, making it possible to set my Maxspect XF330 to a cycle up to 100%, and making the cleaning process a lot easier. I have new and heavy sand to add, but I am waiting to solve this problem first.

Now I am questioning if this is in fact cyano bacteria or not. I can only describe it as a brownish and green long air algae with some air bubbles that get attached to everything.

The pictures I am sending below are after two week of cleaning the tank:

Only after 6 days I get it like this:

I appreciate the help of someone who have had a similar problem and could suggest me something. I have this tank for more than one year now and I am still waiting to get some anemones.

Thank you

 

[AdamD76]

Looks like dinos. Lots of info on here about identifying and fixing your problem. Just type dinos into the search bar.
You should also post your water parameters.

 

[Andre Duarte]

Looks like dinos. Lots of info on here about identifying and fixing your problem. Just type dinos into the search bar.
You should also post your water parameters.

Thank you for your reply.
That's what I was afraid. If it is Dinos it is probably because of the low nutrients. I do have indeed low Nitrates but the Phosphates have been quite high.
According to some tips I have found on the forum, I can try raising the temperature 77 to 82, and adding an UV.
Any other tips?

 

[Andre Duarte]

Regarding my current water parameters:
NH3: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
PO4: 0.10 ppm
pH: 8.1
dKH: 5.5
Temp: 77 (F)
Salinity: 1.024 SG
Since I only have fish, and looking forward to add anemones I am not testing for Calcium or Magnesium.

 

[Mikedawg]

Yep, unfortunately probably dinos. Good luck with managing them and as mentioned above a lot of recommendation on this blog.

You'll want to examine under a microscope to identify species since treatment strategies vary depending on organism. UV is very effective for some types; I've never had much luck with chemicals except for hydrogen peroxide, and so use a blackout, increase biodiversity

 

[Kris 2020]

What kinds of filtration do you have (biological, physical, chemical)? You can try running GFO to reduce phosphates. You still will need to bring your nitrates up. I would reduce your light cycle since you don't have anyone in there who needs to photosynthesize.

 

[Andre Duarte]

What kinds of filtration do you have (biological, physical, chemical)? You can try running GFO to reduce phosphates. You still will need to bring your nitrates up. I would reduce your light cycle since you don't have anyone in there who needs to photosynthesize.

Thank you for your reply.
I am using a Protein Skimmer and Live Rock as biological filter. I currently have no sand and I do have a Algae Reactor with Chaetomorpha. One thing about the Algae Reactor, I also have this cyano/dino on the reactor that I try to clean as much as possible every three weeks.
I am dosing CyanoClean once every week, but since this is not cyano any more, I think I will reduce to once a week.
I have no socks on the sump. I only use it when cleaning the tank.
Regarding the lights, I will turn them off until I see further improvement.
Finally the nitrates, maybe increase the feeding.
What about the temperature increase?

 

[AdamD76]

I am dosing CyanoClean once every week, but since this is not cyano any more, I think I will reduce to once a week.

You mean your not going to use it anymore, right?

 

[ScottB]

Thank you for your reply.
I am using a Protein Skimmer and Live Rock as biological filter. I currently have no sand and I do have a Algae Reactor with Chaetomorpha. One thing about the Algae Reactor, I also have this cyano/dino on the reactor that I try to clean as much as possible every three weeks.
I am dosing CyanoClean once every week, but since this is not cyano any more, I think I will reduce to once a week.
I have no socks on the sump. I only use it when cleaning the tank.
Regarding the lights, I will turn them off until I see further improvement.
Finally the nitrates, maybe increase the feeding.
What about the temperature increase?

Agree that looks like dinoflagellates. If you can find a student microscope that will do 400X and get a phone pic or video, we can get you an ID on the species. Post the video to the thread "Dinoflagellates -- are you tired"

There are 5 very common species in the hobby. Most can be treated with a UV pretty effectively. 1 watt per three gallons; run the feed very slowly to maximize contact time.

Dosing up your nitrate is easy with a solution of food grade sodium nitrate. The recipe can be found here with a simple search.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Dino all the way
Dinos:
Prepare for a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off for 5 days and st night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights and work your white lights up slowly

 

[Andre Duarte]

Dino all the way
Dinos:
Prepare for a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off for 5 days and st night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights and work your white lights up slowly

Thank you very much.
I have completely stoped the light and order an UV steriliser that I hope to get soon. Unfortunately I am unable to get a microscope so I hope the UV helps.
I will also reduce the CyanoClean from once a day to once a week (or should I completely stop?).
Every time I do a water change I dose AquaForest Bio S, I think meanwhile I will stop this since it helps to reduce nutrients.
Will post news when I get some progress.
Thank you all.

 

[old salt reefer]

Stop the CyanoClean completely.