Should I be concerned or let it ride???

[welsher7]

I have a weird algae in my 60g cube, pictures below. The algae is a brown/red color and feels slimy. It’s long strands that are feather like. I’m not seeing bubbles on the strands. The last picture is the algae in when I left it in a bucket. The tank is a transfer from a 20g to the 60g in June, so half the rock is close to 2yrs old and the other half was dry rock that cycled for months before being added to the 60g at the time of the transfer. I did just add a new piece of cycled dry rock about 2 weeks ago.

Nitrates and phosphates are undetectable with the API kit. Alk was 8.6, CA was 500, and Mg was 1500 with the Salifert test kits.

 

[biophilia]

It's likely dinoflagellates given your undetectable NO3 and PO4 levels. The quickest fix is to siphon out what you can with a turkey baster and then either start feeding the tank more or start dosing NO3/PO4. Keeping (a small amount of) measurable nitrates and phosphates in the system will allow other (less unsightly) algae species to out-compete dinos.

 

[jd371]

That looks like Cyano to me. I get it every Spring and if I leave it, it will go away on it's own within a month or so. I don't like waiting and like a clean tank so I do a round of Chemiclean and it's gone in a week.

 

[welsher7]

I was ruling out Cyano because it is in some high flow areas. I thought Cyano only grew in low flow areas.

Is it possible to have both Cyano and dinoflagellates?

 

[welsher7]

Also I thought dinoflagellates had bubbles during the day. I haven’t seen any bubbles on the algae.

I going to get a sample and try the hydrogen peroxide test and then the paper towel/ coffee filter test today.

 

[ChaseBurke]

+1 for raising N03 + P04, dissaster waiting to happen . I have a really bad case of dinos. There are multiple types of dinos but mine are almost like a powder not slimy and stringy. Any access to a microscope?

 

[welsher7]

+1 for raising N03 + P04, dissaster waiting to happen . I have a really bad case of dinos. There are multiple types of dinos but mine are almost like a powder not slimy and stringy. Any access to a microscope?

No access to a microscope. I’m hope the peroxide and paper towel are going to tell me what it is. Are those tests no longer “good”?

 

[ChaseBurke]

Not familiar with that? One thing you could do is get a small container and a coffee filter and take some out of your tank. Try to get a good mix of water and whatever it is then strain it through the filter. Discard the filter and float the container and if you see it starting to clump together it’s dinos.

 

[welsher7]

I did the paper towel/ coffee filter thing, just waiting to see what shows up.

The hydrogen peroxide test is for Cyano. You get 100ml of water and some algae then add 5ml of hydrogen peroxide. If it is Cyano the algae will start to bubble and maybe float.

 

[biophilia]

Either dynos or cyano will show up with declining nutrients. Either can usually be quickly out-competed by diatoms if a small regular source of soluble silica is dosed in addition to maintaining detectable levels of PO4 and NO3. As a bonus, the diatoms and silica will keep your gastropods and sponges happy.

 

[Amoo]

I get similar algae when my PO4 hits 0.

EDIT to Clarify: As in I was looking at your pictures and before reading anything about your tank said, I bet his PO4 is 0.

 

[welsher7]

So the water from the coffee filter test stayed clear. I didn’t see any clumping. And when I added hydrogen peroxide to another sample it bubbled and floated right to the top. So it looks like I’m dealing some Cyano.

Thanks for all the help. Now time get rid of the Cyano.

 

[Subsea]

In almost all cases with undesirable flesh algaes, they flourish when nutrients are low. I assume they are more efficient than desirable macro. Solution is to add nitrogen.

 

[scurvy dawg]

This hobby still amazes me. My previous tank I battled to keep my nutrients down. My current tank, I am constantly battling to keep my nutrient level up. Go figure.