Sps tank brown slime trouble

[Aussie Reefer]

Guys,
This slime is driving me crazy, can anyone ID it or has anyone had any experience with it?
At the moment I am just deducing what its NOT being caused by...
SO far Im at...
1. Its not contagious or transmittable between tanks (I own a separate system that I regulary trade frags and corals between, and in the other tank the slime will disappear of frag pugs within 24hrs.
2. It is not from my ASW or RO, as I have 2 separate systems, only my SPS tank has slime.
3. The slime does get airbubbles trapped it it, but im not sure its dinos, (can anyone please confirm?) I though dinos were fibrous. this slime if I get some out of tank just dissolves into nothing in your fingers..
4. I think the slime has only sprung up since I did a major lighting upgrade
5. I have reduced photoperiod to 7hrs to no avail
6. I run ozone, but this slime was there before that. infact I though I had dinos (lots of airbubbles in carpet like form, light brown) which is the reason I now run ozone (dinos I thought had gone, this slime looks way different, no physical fibrous growth in it)
7. this system runs Co2, my other system has no need for CaRx. (LPS?NPS cube)
8. I do occasionally dose LaCl @ 1ml per 1000ltrs into wet intake of skimmer, which then exits skimmer, through 2 compartments of sump before returning to tank
9. slime does not grow in area of high flow, but does still grow in moderate flow
10. slime comes of rock work/ frag plugs easily with a soft toothbrush.
11. slime dangles off rockwork up to an inch long in the current.

Any advice or experience would be great please or even just confirm its Dinos or not

 

[bct15]

It's hard or me to see any picture and I don't really have any problems with what youre describing but maybe it's dinoflagellates...if it is a they are a real problem.


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[Bartmmackey]

Looks like Dino's. check out phosphate levels. I had a breakout when I upgraded lighting. But they can be beaten.

 

[Chaetomorpha]

Do you also get it as a film on your sand bed? I have the same issue but was caused by cyanobacteria that I think migrated to my rockwork...

 

[mcarroll]

Comparing the differences between your tank with the one where the algae/whatever disappears quickly should be your key. Knowing your lighting upgrade "tipped the scale" is also a good clue.

7hrs should be fine for your photoperiod. What's the difference between you new and old lights? How about compared to your friend's lighting?

My gut says that since lighting tipped the balance that the nutrient load was already in place - you want to start hunting for hidden pockets of nutrients in the rocks and sand bed. Swizzle your finger or a stick around in the sand in several places and "blow out" the rocks at least once with the jet from a powerhead. If you are able to stir up any pockets of grey/brown/black stuff, then further action will be required - you've found your problem. If its the sand bed, I'd siphon it out slowly and consider not replacing it. If its the rocks too, then that's a good sign your flow is too little or not well set up.

Also, what salt mixes are you and your friend using?

-Matt

 

[jservedio]

If they have air bubbles, they are probably dinos. Before treating for dinos, make sure you positively identify it. Your pictures aren't clear enough to tell. I battled dinos for 2 months and had a species that would ONLY inhabit the sand (so it was easier to battle). Here is is what I did to get rid of it:

1. Dose H2O2 (Peroxide) 3% @ 1ml/10g per day for 2 weeks
2. Run actinic only while doing the peroxide
3. Raise pH (I went out and bought a pinpoint pH for this) up to 8.3-8.5 and never let it dip below 8.3
4. Remove daily or every other day any large patches of it.

Do this for 2 weeks and at the end of the 2 weeks manually remove as much as you physically can. Go lights out for 3 days with a towel over the tank so there is zero light getting in. After this is over, manually remove anything else that is left over and make sure your pH stays up above 8.3. It has been 4 months since I beat dinos and I will not let my pH drop below 8.2. It is going to be hard to beat and you can't fight it willy nilly or it comes back. You have to fight it really hard.

Mine was on the sand so after the lights out and removal, I buried anything else that was left and went actinic for another 2 days after the dark period and nothing came back. I lost every single one of my Cerith snails during this process because it is poisonous - but I didn't lose a single coral. Every coral was mad for so little light, but they all made it.

 

[Aussie Reefer]

Looks like Dino's. check out phosphate levels. I had a breakout when I upgraded lighting. But they can be beaten.

Po4 is <0.02 (red sea pro), never has gone above 0.08 in tank.

Do you also get it as a film on your sand bed? I have the same issue but was caused by cyanobacteria that I think migrated to my rockwork...

Tank is bare bottom. I have recently had cyano due to low alk, the cyano was easily identifiable by its dark maroon color I think.

Comparing the differences between your tank with the one where the algae/whatever disappears quickly should be your key. Knowing your lighting upgrade "tipped the scale" is also a good clue.

7hrs should be fine for your photoperiod. What's the difference between you new and old lights? How about compared to your friend's lighting?

My gut says that since lighting tipped the balance that the nutrient load was already in place - you want to start hunting for hidden pockets of nutrients in the rocks and sand bed. Swizzle your finger or a stick around in the sand in several places and "blow out" the rocks at least once with the jet from a powerhead. If you are able to stir up any pockets of grey/brown/black stuff, then further action will be required - you've found your problem. If its the sand bed, I'd siphon it out slowly and consider not replacing it. If its the rocks too, then that's a good sign your flow is too little or not well set up.

Also, what salt mixes are you and your friend using?

-Matt

Hi Matt yes its only a matter of elimination, but the trouble is my cube has weak lighting, yet the SPS tank now has 10x54w ATI power module (previously 4 x54w + LED floodlights, way less PAR). As the tank is bare bottom, I often and regularly syphon out detritus patches, as tank is rimless and very easy to work on. I am using seachem reef salt.

If they have air bubbles, they are probably dinos. Before treating for dinos, make sure you positively identify it. Your pictures aren't clear enough to tell. I battled dinos for 2 months and had a species that would ONLY inhabit the sand (so it was easier to battle). Here is is what I did to get rid of it:

1. Dose H2O2 (Peroxide) 3% @ 1ml/10g per day for 2 weeks
2. Run actinic only while doing the peroxide
3. Raise pH (I went out and bought a pinpoint pH for this) up to 8.3-8.5 and never let it dip below 8.3
4. Remove daily or every other day any large patches of it.

Do this for 2 weeks and at the end of the 2 weeks manually remove as much as you physically can. Go lights out for 3 days with a towel over the tank so there is zero light getting in. After this is over, manually remove anything else that is left over and make sure your pH stays up above 8.3. It has been 4 months since I beat dinos and I will not let my pH drop below 8.2. It is going to be hard to beat and you can't fight it willy nilly or it comes back. You have to fight it really hard.

Mine was on the sand so after the lights out and removal, I buried anything else that was left and went actinic for another 2 days after the dark period and nothing came back. I lost every single one of my Cerith snails during this process because it is poisonous - but I didn't lose a single coral. Every coral was mad for so little light, but they all made

hmmm im not sure its dinos, but im not 100%. the airbubbles throw me off still I actually think I may have found issue, and I believe its a reaction with excess Co2 getting back to tank! The only reason I say this tonight, is 2 days ago, I moved my Carx effluent from return section of sump, to intake area of sump. Now the middle section of my sump is used for frags, and tonight I have seen this slime dangling off some frags plugs, which I have never seen before! To add to this, the more I think about it, the slime has only started since I cleaned my carx the other month, allowing it to flow better!

 

[Aussie Reefer]

I will keep updated and hopefully get a better pic, but Id like to thank all those who took the time to read and respond thus far. Thanks guys

 

[jservedio]

Yeah dinos can be all colors but generally always look like snot with bubbles forming on them during the daylight hours. If it were a Co2 issue your pH would be dropping from the formation of carbonic acid. Dinos will migrate everywhere - including the sump - if they can somehow get there. If it is dinos - when it spreads it will probably start killing off some of your snails, bristleworms, etc. as they try to eat it since it is toxic.

I will tell you first hand they are nasty, hard to identify, and a pain to treat. The good thing is they are very beatable as long as you put the time in and accept you are going to be going dark for a while and you will never have a pH below 8.2 again.

When I had dinos my phosphate and nitrate were both at flat zero and were totally undetectable - you can't beat them by starving them of nutrients like you can with your basic algae problems. You will lose macro algae way before dinos will die off.

 

[Aussie Reefer]

hmmmm i have a large abalone, and cowrie snail, plus many small turbo snails, but are yet to see any dead ones. i usually run a low alk of around 7dkh, im going to slowly raise that to 8.4 and see if that has any effect...

 

[Aussie Reefer]

More pics.... so far ive replaced Co2 bottle and raised alk. hopefully it was one of these 2 issues creating slime. Has anyone had experience with this slime??

 

[Diesel]

I'm afraid you got Dino's.
What's you PH?
As you did ran co2.

 

[Aussie Reefer]

I'm afraid you got Dino's.
What's you PH?
As you did ran co2.

Boooooo. ph is around 8 due to Carx.

 

[Aussie Reefer]

can anyone else please confirm this is Dinos before I blackout tank lol

 

[Aussie Reefer]

Update -Im sure its Dinos now. Still as persistent as ever. Can someone confirnm that Dinos do not grow over corals (my "dinos"have not grown over any coral, and only grows on frag plugs and rock work as tank is bare bottom).
BUT I just had an epiphany!!! My SPS tank uses Kalk. By kalk I mean lime, plain old builders lime!. Lime contains Silicate right? My SPS tank uses 6ltrs of makeup water a day, but as it has gotten into winter, I believe it is now more like 10 ltrs a day! Im hoping, I have just found the food source of this slime/dino whatever!! Anyway, kalk is now off for a week, lets see what happens!