Oh no, what just happened? Algae, etc.

[reefshawn]

I have a newer tank, it’s been up since July 4. I had been battling some normal hair algae by doing vacuuming, lights out for three days, and water changes. I started using a new to me product called Blue Life Phosphate Rx. Very quickly my hair algae, and slight cyano issue, completely disappeared. Phosphate tests went from fairly moderate levels down to below 0.25. My nitrates are always below 10, usually close to or at zero.

I have a powerful skimmer that’s been pulling out some gunk but nothing out of the norm.

So I went traveling for a while and had the tank set up on auto feeding of dry fish food. Once a day, a pinch or two of food. No water changes or maintenance in that time.

When I got home one glass side of my aquarium is covered in an unbelievable amount of algae and bubbles of some sort. Back of the tank is similar.

I am not sure if it’s bubble algae, cyano or some sort, or the dreaded Dino. Looking at it, and thinking about the rather rapid decline in phosphates I initiated with the new chemical, I fear it might be Dino.

I have been reefing for a long time but I’ve not seen something like this before. Any recommendations? I’m not sure if I should try to clean the glass or leave it be.

 

[Cory]

Id say dinos. Now you need to add po4 and no3 to get rid of it! I just got rid of mine with po4 dosing. If hair algae comes ill be happy to have it!

 

[Heart of Dixie]

Get your NO3 up to 5 to10 and PO4 to .08 to .1 There are many varieties of dinos, a microscope is a must have to identify and then research the best way to eradicate them, you can use a $12.00 toy type, but I would check Craigslist. There are some really good threads here on R2R that will help you in the battle.

 

[reefshawn]

An update -- it wasn't dinos! My LFS folks were able to identify it as just some run of the mill algae and some air bubbles trapped in it. It turns out my phosphates weren't really as low as I thought... they were reading low but it was because the algae was probably consuming a lot of it. I found a hidden blob of some pretty horrific detritus in my sump under a filter sock that had gotten loose.

After vacuuming it all up, having a 3-4 day blackout period, gently scraping down and vacuuming up the algae in the main tank that seemed to loosen up without the lighting (I waited for the air bubbles to go away first), doing several water changes over the course of a week or two, and increasing flow in my tank... my tank looks really great now.