Microbubbles on the sand help

CLYRIC · Feb 14, 2023

I changed my lights a week ago to a much better light and there are microbubbles and algae I think growing on the sand. Is this normal?

Sean Clark · Feb 14, 2023

Dinos. Welcome to the "ulgy" stage.

CLYRIC · Feb 14, 2023

Sean Clark said:
Dinos. Welcome to the "ulgy" stage.

Should I get some snails to eat these things? Or should I just not touch anything? Also are the microbubbles on the sand normal?

Court_Appointed_Hypeman · Feb 14, 2023

It could be dinos, cyano, or bubble algae starting.

This is an anecdote that I see a lot, and have personally experienced, but if your nitrate or phos bottom out, and your tank is young, it could more likely be dinos.

Again, completely anecdotal and could be the absolute wrong thing for you, but if either are 0, i would get them up a touch to try to get other uglies to out compete them. Yes it will result in other uglies, but at least your cleanup crew can take care of the others, dinos suck.

Whatever you do, take it slow and steady.

CLYRIC · Feb 14, 2023

EvanEggleston said:
It could be dinos, cyano, or bubble algae starting.

This is an anecdote that I see a lot, and have personally experienced, but if your nitrate or phos bottom out, and your tank is young, it could more likely be dinos.

Again, completely anecdotal and could be the absolute wrong thing for you, but if either are 0, i would get them up a touch to try to get other uglies to out compete them. Yes it will result in other uglies, but at least your cleanup crew can take care of the others, dinos suck.

Whatever you do, take it slow and steady.

My nitrate is 17.4, phosphate is 0.3, and the tank is a little over a month old now. Is it Dinos? The only cuc I have currently are 2 nasarius snails and they dont really eat the "dinos" from what I've seen.

Sean Clark · Feb 14, 2023

CLYRIC said:
Should I get some snails to eat these things? Or should I just not touch anything? Also are the microbubbles on the sand normal?

All of this is normal. Less touching is going to equal more success in reefing. The bubbles are normal for now; they will go away as your system becomes more diverse.

Lavey29 · Feb 14, 2023

CLYRIC said:
Should I get some snails to eat these things? Or should I just not touch anything? Also are the microbubbles on the sand normal?

Could be early stage dinos or just diatoms. How old is your tank? What are your complete parameters currently? It is always good to employ a diverse cleaner crew.

Sean Clark · Feb 14, 2023

You don't need something to eat the dinos. You need something to out compete them for resources. That will come with time.

Lavey29 · Feb 14, 2023

CLYRIC said:
My nitrate is 17.4, phosphate is 0.3, and the tank is a little over a month old now. Is it Dinos? The only cuc I have currently are 2 nasarius snails and they dont really eat the "dinos" from what I've seen.

If your tank is only a month and you have measurable nutrients levels it's just diatoms. They will go away on their own in a few weeks.

Court_Appointed_Hypeman · Feb 14, 2023

CLYRIC said:
My nitrate is 17.4, phosphate is 0.3, and the tank is a little over a month old now. Is it Dinos? The only cuc I have currently are 2 nasarius snails and they dont really eat the "dinos" from what I've seen.

Keep an eye on it, don't rush it. I would check nutrients regularly, i checked mine every 2 days for a little while to make sure they didn't hit 0, but if you have .03 and that high of nitrate without dosing it directly, i would say you are pretty good.

I let my dinos take over my entire tank thinking it was normal before I realized. Patience and steady slow reaction to it after it got way the hell out of hand, and it was gone after about 2 months.

I would say, just observe, and keep the idea of nothing happens overnight paramount, and just make sure your livestock is good.

Also, at one month, definitely probably just diatoms, i didn't realize it was only 1 month. They may cover your entire tank, but they start the micro biome food chain in your tank, and will dissipate with good care. Making sure your water is from a good source, preferably RODI, and don't panic when it looks super ugly. I promise the patience game pays off.

Also, if you don't have a CUC, start picking some out, you're going to want it soon.

Sean Clark · Feb 14, 2023

Dinoflagellates vs Diatoms the battle continues but the battle is the same.

Lavey29 · Feb 14, 2023

Sean Clark said:
Dinoflagellates vs Diatoms the battle continues but the battle is the same.

It has the color of dinos but since his tank is brand new and he has nutrients I'm pretty sure it's simple diatoms in a new tank.

Sean Clark · Feb 14, 2023

Lavey29 said:
It has the color of dinos but since his tank is brand new and he has nutrients I'm pretty sure it's simple diatoms in a new tank.

These are from Jan 28.
What are we looking at?

Lavey29 · Feb 14, 2023

Sean Clark said:
These are from Jan 28.
What are we looking at?

The OP pics in the first post is what I was referring to. I don't know what your pics are. Kind of blurry.

But here is dino ID

https://www.reef2reef.com/attachments/dinoflagellateid12_12_2019-pdf.1324729/

gbroadbridge · Feb 15, 2023

CLYRIC said:
My nitrate is 17.4, phosphate is 0.3, and the tank is a little over a month old now. Is it Dinos? The only cuc I have currently are 2 nasarius snails and they dont really eat the "dinos" from what I've seen.

Best thing to do with your current Nitrate and Phosphates is to leave things be.
Don't use any additives, just continue with normal water changes.

FYI, Nassarius snails are detritus scavengers . They don't eat algae.

Sean Clark · Feb 15, 2023

Lavey29 said:
The OP pics in the first post is what I was referring to. I don't know what your pics are. Kind of blurry.

But here is dino ID

https://www.reef2reef.com/attachments/dinoflagellateid12_12_2019-pdf.1324729/

Kind of blurry was part of my point. Under magnification it is difficult to ID. Making a definite ID from a tank photo is very presumptive.

Lavey29 · Feb 15, 2023

Sean Clark said:
Kind of blurry was part of my point. Under magnification it is difficult to ID. Making a definite ID from a tank photo is very presumptive.

True but when you combine pictures with parameters that are out of normal ranges you can make a fairly good educated presumptive guess.

CLYRIC · Feb 16, 2023

Sean Clark said:
All of this is normal. Less touching is going to equal more success in reefing. The bubbles are normal for now; they will go away as your system becomes more diverse.

It's gotten a bit worse from before, the sand is almost all covered now and even the glass is growing some sort of greenish algae with microbubbles as well. Should I just leave it? Get some CUC?

CLYRIC · Feb 16, 2023

EvanEggleston said:
Keep an eye on it, don't rush it. I would check nutrients regularly, i checked mine every 2 days for a little while to make sure they didn't hit 0, but if you have .03 and that high of nitrate without dosing it directly, i would say you are pretty good.

I let my dinos take over my entire tank thinking it was normal before I realized. Patience and steady slow reaction to it after it got way the hell out of hand, and it was gone after about 2 months.

I would say, just observe, and keep the idea of nothing happens overnight paramount, and just make sure your livestock is good.

Also, at one month, definitely probably just diatoms, i didn't realize it was only 1 month. They may cover your entire tank, but they start the micro biome food chain in your tank, and will dissipate with good care. Making sure your water is from a good source, preferably RODI, and don't panic when it looks super ugly. I promise the patience game pays off.

Also, if you don't have a CUC, start picking some out, you're going to want it soon.

So I should just leave it for now right? The diatoms have pretty much covered the entire tank since yesterday, I see some greenish algae growing on the glass with microbubbles on them too. Should I get some CUC other than the nassarius snails i already have? The nassarius snails clean up the leftover food mess pretty good since I only have 2 fish in there right now.

p1u5h13r4m24 · Feb 16, 2023

CLYRIC said:
So I should just leave it for now right? The diatoms have pretty much covered the entire tank since yesterday, I see some greenish algae growing on the glass with microbubbles on them too. Should I get some CUC other than the nassarius snails i already have? The nassarius snails clean up the leftover food mess pretty good since I only have 2 fish in there right now.

CLYRIC said:
So I should just leave it for now right? The diatoms have pretty much covered the entire tank since yesterday, I see some greenish algae growing on the glass with microbubbles on them too. Should I get some CUC other than the nassarius snails i already have? The nassarius snails clean up the leftover food mess pretty good since I only have 2 fish in there right I really believe this is just diatoms

CLYRIC said:
So I should just leave it for now right? The diatoms have pretty much covered the entire tank since yesterday, I see some greenish algae growing on the glass with microbubbles on them too. Should I get some CUC other than the nassarius snails i already have? The nassarius snails clean up the leftover food mess pretty good since I only have 2 fish in there right now.

Just leave it and do normal maintenance. The diatoms will go away on their own. This is just the ugly phase.