What would you do?

[BestMomEver]

A few stats... tank is Biocube LED 32 set up about six months. It is dedicated to clowns and anemones (except for one Pygmy angel) and also has a few acans, etc.
I have been fighting dinos/diatoms/cyan for so many months I have lost track. I know what cyano looks like and feel it’s pretty easy to get rid of. I originally thought the brown stuff was diatoms but it’s started developing air bubbles so I think I have both. I’ve read the pertinent threads and done lots of research. Can’t figure out the best course of action. Stuff goes away after lights off and comes back during the day so I tried lights out for 4 days. It went away but a few days later it came back. I hate to try again because my anemones were very unhappy the first time. I’ve done water changes.

Stuff I have: InTank media rack with floss pad, carbon and live rock rubble. Tunze nano skimmer. Two opposing power heads. Steve’s LED upgrade lighting.

Tested yesterday....

pH 7.5
Calcium 389
dkh 8.5
Mag 1240
Salinity 1.026
Nitrate abt 4.00
Phosphate about .14

pH is low. I have the same issue in my 60. CO2 reactor was the only thing that worked.

Used BRS calculator to dose BRS part 1, 2, and mag

Used NO3-PO4

Haven’t retested today...

Question.... of course, how do I get rid of this junk? I’ve thought abt hooking up a small UV sterilizer and stirring everything up after lights out. Will that help? I can’t really tear the tank down and start over.

Sorry my pictures are so bad...

 

[Subsea]

At the very minimum you have Cynobacteria. What does “Used NO3-PO4” mean? If you are organic carbon dosing, then you are feeding bacteria. You should stop it.

It looks like the slime is loose. If so, then get agressive with vacuuming it out.

https://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide
This should help with some ideas.

 

[BestMomEver]

NoPox... Red Sea product and I’ve vacuumed it. The cyano is easy to get rid of. I’m more wore about the brown stuff.

 

[David cornelius]

what lights do you have over the tank?

 

[David cornelius]

what light(s) are you running over the tank

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

what light(s) are you running over the tank

OP says she is running Steve's LEDs.

Personally, I have been more successful fighting cyano through the use of chemiclean (I also do a full blackout with black trash bags during the 48 hours chemiclean is running), the initial 40% change and then doing 5 - 10% water changes every 2 days.

It is important to make sure you are using water that is low in PO4, preferably RODI with a TDS <2. (If you buy RODI from a store, ask to see their TDS meter)

 

[wesman42]

Flow is actually the latest factor in not allowing cyano to take hold. You'll need to absolutely blast your tank. Once you've done that, give it a few weeks and see where you're at.

I would not recommend using chemiclean u less it's a last ditch effort since it also destroys beneficial bacteria. Cyano is a bacteria.

 

[declanisadog]

Flow is actually the latest factor in not allowing cyano to take hold. You'll need to absolutely blast your tank. Once you've done that, give it a few weeks and see where you're at.

I would not recommend using chemiclean u less it's a last ditch effort since it also destroys beneficial bacteria. Cyano is a bacteria.

I respectfully disagree. I have used chemiclean probably twenty times in the past with no negative effects, but to each their own. Increased flow will no doubt help, but I have seen cyano pop up in super high flow tanks.

 

[Dtfnemo]

I would stop dosing nopox. I know it works but it will definitely feed the cyano

 

[dwest]

A few stats... tank is Biocube LED 32 set up about six months. It is dedicated to clowns and anemones (except for one Pygmy angel) and also has a few acans, etc.
I have been fighting dinos/diatoms/cyan for so many months I have lost track. I know what cyano looks like and feel it’s pretty easy to get rid of. I originally thought the brown stuff was diatoms but it’s started developing air bubbles so I think I have both. I’ve read the pertinent threads and done lots of research. Can’t figure out the best course of action. Stuff goes away after lights off and comes back during the day so I tried lights out for 4 days. It went away but a few days later it came back. I hate to try again because my anemones were very unhappy the first time. I’ve done water changes.

Stuff I have: InTank media rack with floss pad, carbon and live rock rubble. Tunze nano skimmer. Two opposing power heads. Steve’s LED upgrade lighting.

Tested yesterday....

pH 7.5
Calcium 389
dkh 8.5
Mag 1240
Salinity 1.026
Nitrate abt 4.00
Phosphate about .14

pH is low. I have the same issue in my 60. CO2 reactor was the only thing that worked.

Used BRS calculator to dose BRS part 1, 2, and mag

Used NO3-PO4

Haven’t retested today...

Question.... of course, how do I get rid of this junk? I’ve thought abt hooking up a small UV sterilizer and stirring everything up after lights out. Will that help? I can’t really tear the tank down and start over.

Sorry my pictures are so bad...

I think you have cyano and likely dinos ( my guess is amphidium based on the sand color). Have you checked out the first page of mcarroll dino thread? The main idea is to make sure you have nutrients to feed the dino competitors. I agree that stopping nopox is a good idea.

 

[Subsea]

@BestMomEver

Do you have a tank thread, so that we don’t have to ask repetitious questions? It would help us diagnose your system.

Dino is normal for a new tank until it consumes silicates, usally in the first six months, unless silicates continue to come in with make up water. Have you tested make up water?

There are hundreds of differrent Cynobacteria with many differrent colors. Please describe the “brown stuff” better. Look at the link to nuisance algae and note adjectives like soft, wirey, slimy, attached or loose. Manually pull some out. That should give you a better description to give us. We can not see it the same way that you see it. Help us help you, but you must describe it better than “brown stuff”.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Stop the nopox.
Double check your source water.
I’d dose tr tims one and only for s while.
Scrub and clean , a couple extra water changes.
Double check what you are feeding.
Avoid the coral foods and aminos.

 

[BestMomEver]

As per texture, I reached in the other day and brushed one of the rocks. It went into the water column as a brown, powdery mess. Basically, turned the water a brownish color. When I vacuum the gravel it disappears only to return the next day. I did a Triton test on this tank and besides being low in calcium, magnesium, and buffer, nothing stood out to me. I’ve also sent a sample of the RODI water from the LFS where I purchase my water. I can look at that too. Should I look for silicates or something else?

 

[BestMomEver]

https://www.triton-lab.de/aquariumverwaltung/aquarium/auswertung-b/icp-oes/61218/pdf/online/


Does this work?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

As per texture, I reached in the other day and brushed one of the rocks. It went into the water column as a brown, powdery mess. Basically, turned the water a brownish color. When I vacuum the gravel it disappears only to return the next day. I did a Triton test on this tank and besides being low in calcium, magnesium, and buffer, nothing stood out to me. I’ve also sent a sample of the RODI water from the LFS where I purchase my water. I can look at that too. Should I look for silicates or something else?

Silicate should have been on the test results. SI.

 

[BestMomEver]

Si is 69 ug/l. It says optimal is 100ug/l so I don’t think that’s the issue in less this stuff is eating it.

 

[BestMomEver]

I think you have cyano and likely dinos ( my guess is amphidium based on the sand color). Have you checked out the first page of mcarroll dino thread? The main idea is to make sure you have nutrients to feed the dino competitors. I agree that stopping nopox is a good idea.

Yea... I’ve read all the threads but like y’all have said, it’s hard to tell from pictures. Most of this stuff looks like a powdery brown/orange coating. There seems to be some attached to the back wall. It’s brown and kinda whispy. Not like GHA though. It’s hard to describe.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Does really sound like like diatoms , but the tests are low SI. Although it’s still possible.

Yea could be a dino.

One of the issues I belive was the Nopox , it’ll feed lots of things.

If your rodi is def good, and the nutrients all registere in range ,
I’d really have to consider going back to the KISS methods and go off the bottles.
Cleaning , flow , dose bacteria one (dr t one and only fan myself) look at the foods going in.

Kinda odd problem.

If the Po4 isn’t criticaly low you could try some gfo maybe , to pull and silicate , but the “diatoms “ should eat that up eventually too.