Alage? ID

[rtparty]

No problem! It took me months to ID it, and a couple more to come with an "easy solution" which ended up being a weird experiment. Even the pros thought I was crazy. But it worked!

Seems to have worked like a charm!

Numbers are in:

Alk: 9.0dkh
Ca: 410ppm
Mg: 1600
Nitrate: 2-4ppm

Mag is a little high but that's from me dosing some the other day. Looks like I added a little much. I'm going to up my calcium slightly and should be good to go. 10ml a day of KNO3 seems to be working perfectly.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Random, It wouldn't be the beginnings of a white scroll macro algae (can't remember the exact name). I had a tank fullll of the stuff way back in 1996 and I seem to remember it starting out as almost a little bacteria-esk. You find it in the shallows off french polynesia as well, not sure if it relates to lower spec gravity.

Best ID we came up with from a microscope perspective was chysophytes. Now, much like flagelletes and other protists they have many classifications. However, green chlorophyll was present. The cause os unknown but through many threads helping others erradicate the most common catalyst to getting these is..
Post diatom bloom on new tanks that cycled dry rock with live sand.
Now there were rare occurrences where established tanks would get the growth. It was hard to determine cause other than high po4, nutrient mulm due to excess oils from foods, and the possibility of salinity swing like you referenced. However, it could be a different ID but results show that this method of erradication works for both IDs.

 

[rtparty]

@reeferfoxx

Have you ever run KZ Coral Snow (or the cheaper solution of Calcium Carbonate) to fight cyano? I found an old thread I marked about KZ Coral Snow equalling chalk and how some people reported their cyano went away after dosing.

It's super cheap so I may try it. If nothing else, it clears the water and removes yellowing agents.

 

[reeferfoxx]

@reeferfoxx

Have you ever run KZ Coral Snow (or the cheaper solution of Calcium Carbonate) to fight cyano? I found an old thread I marked about KZ Coral Snow equalling chalk and how some people reported their cyano went away after dosing.

It's super cheap so I may try it. If nothing else, it clears the water and removes yellowing agents.

No. I have not. This is the first I've heard it suggested as a cyano fix?

 

[rtparty]

No. I have not. This is the first I've heard it suggested as a cyano fix?

If you search the other forum for KZ Coral Snow and Chalk you'll find the thread. It gets mentioned briefly that people dosing calcium carbonate had it help eradicate cyano.

Even if it doesn't work at fighting cyano it is supposedly great for polishing the water and is super cheap. 5lb bag is like $15

 

[reeferfoxx]

If you search the other forum for KZ Coral Snow and Chalk you'll find the thread. It gets mentioned briefly that people dosing calcium carbonate had it help eradicate cyano.

Even if it doesn't work at fighting cyano it is supposedly great for polishing the water and is super cheap. 5lb bag is like $15

Awesome! I'll check it out.

 

[SnapBackReeef]

Looks like dinoflagellate to me. This stuff sucks I had it once. I went lights out for 3 days the. Scrub everything and do a water change and repeat that until it's gone. Run carbon while you do this because I believe it's toxic to the tank!

 

[rtparty]

Looks like dinoflagellate to me. This stuff sucks I had it once. I went lights out for 3 days the. Scrub everything and do a water change and repeat that until it's gone. Run carbon while you do this because I believe it's toxic to the tank!

Algae has been identified and eradicated already. Really good info in this thread

 

[reeferfoxx]

@rtparty Keep me posted on the KZ coral snow. If it works I'll add it to the post chryso fix.

 

[rtparty]

@rtparty Keep me posted on the KZ coral snow. If it works I'll add it to the post chryso fix.

It will be interesting. My cyano is starting to get out of control and I'm leaving town tomorrow so not much I can do. I threw in some phosphate remover yesterday and am cutting the lights back while I'm gone.

Next step will be manual removal when I get home. I was hoping to get my calcium carbonate in today so I could dose tonight and observe the tank but it didn't show

 

[reeferfoxx]

It will be interesting. My cyano is starting to get out of control and I'm leaving town tomorrow so not much I can do. I threw in some phosphate remover yesterday and am cutting the lights back while I'm gone.

Next step will be manual removal when I get home. I was hoping to get my calcium carbonate in today so I could dose tonight and observe the tank but it didn't show

This was my tank after chryso fix



It did eventually go away but it took a long time. All I did was manual removal and w/c. However, it was a long battle that nobody should go through.

 

[rtparty]

That picture makes me shutter. I fought that in 2 past tanks of mine for 10 months! My problem? Reef Crystals salt. I never even thought it was the salt. I ran out of RC salt and happened to find D&D salt for super cheap on a special. Within 2 weeks and 2 water changes, tanks were clear and looked amazing. I've never touched RC since then.

 

[reeferfoxx]

That picture makes me shutter. I fought that in 2 past tanks of mine for 10 months! My problem? Reef Crystals salt. I never even thought it was the salt. I ran out of RC salt and happened to find D&D salt for super cheap on a special. Within 2 weeks and 2 water changes, tanks were clear and looked amazing. I've never touched RC since then.

Hmmm... Well, I used TMPR for the longest time. Never RC.

 

[sundog101]

This was my tank after chryso fix



It did eventually go away but it took a long time. All I did was manual removal and w/c. However, it was a long battle that nobody should go through.

Dang!!

 

[reeferfoxx]

Dang!!

It just looks bad. If it's any consolation, the corals colored up brighter than they ever had lol

 

[rtparty]

Just got back from my trip and my tank is overrun with cyano. The entire sandbed and half the rock are coated. I've got some calcium carbonate that was delivered to work so I'll dose that tomorrow. Might be time for some cyano cleaners to be implemented before it ruins my coral.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Just got back from my trip and my tank is overrun with cyano. The entire sandbed and half the rock are coated. I've got some calcium carbonate that was delivered to work so I'll dose that tomorrow. Might be time for some cyano cleaners to be implemented before it ruins my coral.

Ive heard a lot of good things about chemi clean

 

[rtparty]

Ive heard a lot of good things about chemi clean

I've used Red Slime Remover many, many times with good luck so I'm not opposed to Chemi Clean

 

[rtparty]

Alright, day 1 of dosing "Coral Snow" aka chalk aka calcium carbonate to my tank. I'm going to also pick up some Chemi Clean and be ready to dose that

 

[rtparty]

Well this story just isn't going to end!

Cyanobacteria took over the tank while I was out of town. I came home to a mat of cyano on everything. I did a water change and sucked out a ton of it. I then dosed Chemiclean a d followed the directions. Cyano all but disappeared and tank looked much better. I knew with the cyano out of the picture something else could pop up because something always replaces whatever we get rid of. We just hope it's the good algae. Unfortunately, I didn't get the good algae...I got dinos best I can tell.

This is definitely different than the brown cyano I had earlier. The bubbles, strings reaching upwards, disappearing at night, it all fits the dino bill. SMH!

My snails are eating parts of it and not dying so far so I figure that's good news in a crappy situation. I have a Hanna phosphorus meter on the way so I can get a true reading on my P levels. I have been dosing nitrates for a few weeks now and have them between 4-8 but much closer to 4. So I'm going to up my dosage and try to get closer to 10.

For now I'm going to try a couple things after reading @mcarroll 's thread.

First, I'm going to turn my skimmer off to try and let nutrients creep up. I'm also planning to remove some of my Matrix since I'm thinking my nutrient control methods may be too effective.

Second, I'm going to put my filter sock on and turkey baster the dinos and try to remove as many that way as I can.

Third, I'm going to let my glass get dirty! At least 3 to 4 days of no cleaning. My coraline algae has slowed on the rocks but my overflow is becoming covered. Hopefully a good sign?

Finally, I'm going to feed even more to help creep nutrients up.

And for those interested, the DIY Coral Snow is amazing if you want crystal clear water!