Some algae with a side of rotten eggs

cpate · Feb 12, 2020

So I’m stumped.. a brown algae on my sand bed started appearing about a month ago. First I thought it might be ditoms which was strange considering my tank has been running 1.5 years and have a new RODI system.
But then I started to notice that bubble pockets were forming under the sand bed and when I do a water change with siphoned the sand bed it stinks of rotten eggs.. any advice or help would be awesome!

You can see the bubble pockets in the second pic

Retro Reefer · Feb 13, 2020

Probably Dino’s. Low nutrients can trigger them, do you know your N03 & P04 numbers?

cpate · Feb 13, 2020

My N03 and N04 is at zero but this stuff doesn’t look like Dino’s.. about 24 hours after cleaning it out it comes back like a dusting and then forms into a mat but doesn’t get stringy or contain bubbles.

Gogi · Feb 13, 2020

Clean your send bed (https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-white-sand-method.252861/). The rotten egg smell is a pretty good indication you've left it sit and collect waste.

leepink23 · Feb 13, 2020

cpate said:
My N03 and N04 is at zero but this stuff doesn’t look like Dino’s.. about 24 hours after cleaning it out it comes back like a dusting and then forms into a mat but doesn’t get stringy or contain bubbles.

That’s how my Dinos do (amphidinium). Put it under microscope and you will know for sure

cpate · Feb 13, 2020

I vacuum the sand bed weekly with my water change

Gogi · Feb 13, 2020

cpate said:
I vacuum the sand bed weekly with my water change

Do you stir the sand to the bottom as you do? I see a lot of bubbles along the glass in that pic. A stirred sand bed doesn't produce that much gas in my experience. Much less sulphur that you could smell.

That's how a clean sand bed behaves when you stir it:

cpate · Feb 13, 2020

Gogi said:
Do you stir the sand to the bottom as you do? I see a lot of bubbles along the glass in that pic. A stirred sand bed doesn't produce that much gas in my experience. Much less sulphur that you could smell.

That's how a clean sand bed behaves when you stir it:

Yep, I use the hose to stir the sand as siphon the sand up. That pic was taken right before my water change. The bubbles under the sand form over a 7 day period.

cpate · Feb 13, 2020

leepink23 said:
That’s how my Dinos do (amphidinium). Put it under microscope and you will know for sure

I just look up the description of the amphidinium strain and I think you're right. Were you able to kill it?

Retro Reefer · Feb 13, 2020

cpate said:
My N03 and N04 is at zero but this stuff doesn’t look like Dino’s.. about 24 hours after cleaning it out it comes back like a dusting and then forms into a mat but doesn’t get stringy or contain bubbles.

I would get your nutrients up to detectable levels.. feed more for phosphates and you can add fish or dose a nitrogen source to raise your nitrates (I use Brightwell neonitro).

leepink23 · Feb 13, 2020

cpate said:
I just look up the description of the amphidinium strain and I think you're right. Were you able to kill it?

I haven’t killed it but it’s definitely retreating. I increased my nutrients, added live phytoplankton daily and added a uv sterilizer.

Lithoman · Feb 13, 2020

Follow along … this is helping.

Another Dino or Cyan ID Please

Help... what am I fighting? Dino X coming in a few day ..got Chemiclean if needed.

www.reef2reef.com

cpate · Feb 13, 2020

leepink23 said:
I haven’t killed it but it’s definitely retreating. I increased my nutrients, added live phytoplankton daily and added a uv sterilizer.

Thanks! I've been running a UV on a 12 hr cycle over a year now so I think its time for a new bulb. What's the benefit of the phyto?

leepink23 · Feb 13, 2020

cpate said:
Thanks! I've been running a UV on a 12 hr cycle over a year now so I think its time for a new bulb. What's the benefit of the phyto?

For me just trying to create more biodiversity, I also added copepods from Algae Barn before starting the phytoplankton. Gety the nutrients up would be my first goal. Running my phosphate 0.1, Nitrate 10. I have an auto feeder feeding 2x day while I am at work

cpate · Feb 13, 2020

leepink23 said:
For me just trying to create more biodiversity, I also added copepods from Algae Barn before starting the phytoplankton. Gety the nutrients up would be my first goal. Running my phosphate 0.1, Nitrate 10. I have an auto feeder feeding 2x day while I am at work

Did you have the same issue with bubbles forming under the sand?

leepink23 · Feb 13, 2020

cpate said:
Did you have the same issue with bubbles forming under the sand?

I don’t think I did, but it definitely looked like that and formed the mat.

Cbones1979 · Feb 22, 2020

leepink23 said:
I haven’t killed it but it’s definitely retreating. I increased my nutrients, added live phytoplankton daily and added a uv sterilizer.

I don’t have a uv but I can do the other stuff. Increase nutrients and live bacteria/cope pods/phyto?

leepink23 · Feb 22, 2020

Cbones1979 said:
I don’t have a uv but I can do the other stuff. Increase nutrients and live bacteria/cope pods/phyto?

That’s a great start, the nutrients are key!

Ajayabb · Feb 22, 2020

And hold off on water changes Blacking out the tank for a few days will help to getting ahead of this

Greg P · Feb 22, 2020

I've had your gas bubbles in my DT for years without issue, but I don't disturb them by stirring and only remove them if I siphon some sand out.
The 'rotten egg smell' is hydrogen sulfide and in small amounts is OK, but releasing a lot of it into the water at 1 time can suffocate your fish.
If you see bubbles raising from your sandbed, as I do, most of it is harmless nitrogen gas.