what is with this algae

[Kellie in CA]

I’m using a UV sterilizer and MicroBacter7 and I’m almost clear after 1 week. There are many types of Dino’s though... I just got lucky that the first thing I tried worked. There are lots of advice threads on here.

 

[Marine430]

I do see cyano there as vetteguy mentioned. Under the sand. Cyano can be taken care of with chemiclean. Easy to use and works if you follow the instructions. Oddly, your rocks look fine? Only in the sand?

I have some chemiclean. Should I start with that instead of peroxide?

 

[Marine430]

 

[ScottR]

I have some chemiclean. Should I start with that instead of peroxide?

I would go for it first and see what happens to your problem. Chemiclean took care of my cyano in 2 days. It depletes oxygen from your tank so add an air stone in or try to get good agitation. Oddly after my cyano was gone, I had a huge dino bloom.

 

[Nasir]

Looks like to me that your tank keeps recycling. Stop doing so many water changes. Stop taking so much water out at once. Also you may be over feeding and keeping your lights on to long. One other thing to think about. Is the water you are getting from the LFS really RO water? Just a few thing you can check out. Good Luck

 

[Idoc]

I have some chemiclean. Should I start with that instead of peroxide?

I personally wouldn't use the chemiclean due to many people having worse dino problems after using it sometimes. I've battled dinos for over a year before getting the tank back to normal.

You really need to know what type you addre dealing with in order to have a treatment plan. H2O2 works for some and not others...UV works for some and not others! Investing in a microscope was one of the best purchases I made for my tank! Get some scope pics and then we can help you more precisely! I've battled small cell amphidinium and ostreopsis dinos successfully... small cell takes time!! Also, good to know the type as well because some are more toxic than others!

But first... start dosing to gett and maintain no3 to around 5-10ppm and po4 to around 0.05-0.10 ppm. I dosed Loudwolf Sodium Nitrate and Seachem Flourish Phosphorous. Zero nutrients is what brought these dinos on... no nutrients for the other algaes to compete!

 

[Idoc]

Yep... looked like my tank...dinos and green cyano! Don't worry about the cyano so much, Focus on the dino problem.

Get a 1/2" piece of tubing... siphon the cyano directly into a filter sock in your sump so you don't lose your tank water. Dinos aren't caught in normal filler socks though...it takes a 10 micron sock to catch most of them. I found 10 micron sticks on Amazon... but really didn't use them much. Good at the start in order to get as much dino out as possible in order to start treatments though.

 

[W1ngz]

Lots of good advice above. I'd suggest taking all of it at once. It's something like war, where you want to cut the enemy's supply lines and attack them at the same time to wear them out.

Ignore the cyano (for now).
At the peak of the problem, probably just before lights out, siphon out as many as you can with the smallest hose possible. I've done this with RO tubing on the end of a stick.
Black out the tank for 3-5 days. Black. No light at all. Cover all sides with cardboard or black trash bags. Dinos are photosynthetic and will dissipate into the water column without light, making them vulnerable. Don't forget the sump - keep the stand closed and as dark as possible.
Run a UV sterilizer. Hit them while they're down!
Add a bacteria supplement to boost and diversify the bacteria you already have, and compete with the dinos. This is your army.
Add just a little nitrate and phosphate additive like reef energy, neophos and the like, to feed the bacteria. Gotta feed your own troops!

 

[Sticker shock]

It's hard for me to tell what type of algae you got there, but I think a sand sifting goby would take care of that real quick. I doubt its dinos if its only on the sand. Have you tried stirring the sand daily to see if that helps? I try to stay away from chemicals as much as possible.

Make certain you know what you are dealing with before attempting to treat.

 

[destro]

I recently got through it.

Here's the combination that did the trick for me.

1. Vibrant Liquid Aquarium Cleaner. Follow product instructions.

Good information and reviews here.

Vibrant Liquid Aquarium Cleaner * Discussion Thread

Hello Everyone, We had been asked to come on this forum and answer a few questions about Vibrant for a few users here in different threads. We thought it would be a good idea to start a discussion thread about Vibrant, how it was created, what is it, how it works, etc. Then there will be a...

www.reef2reef.com

2. Taking GFO or other phosphate removers offline so PO4 doesn't bottom out. Find that magic NP ratio for your tank.

3. Ensuring RO water has minimal to zero TDS. Get a TDS meter and test the RO you buy.

4. Export using a good working skimmer, frequent small water changes / sand siphon.

 

[Marine430]

Went to lfs water test was .1 phosphate, 10 nitrate. They said cut back on the amount my lights are on.

 

[Kzang]

Cyano and dinoflagellates
Starting ASAP, turn off white lights or all lights and at night add 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons. Each morning loosen with turkey baster and net or siphon loose matter and add liquid bacteria such as bacter 7 to the tank. Do not use nopox or feed corals during this time
After4-5 days you will see the tank looking normal again

Fixing mine was simple as changing my light preset and adding nutrients. Did nothing else.