Algae ID and how to get rid of it.

[S&A REEF]

I have what I’m starting to think is Dino’s. This is a 67.5 gallon bare bottom tank with a 20 gallon sump, 4x39w T5, 1 AI Hydra 26 running modified AB+ with no whites, greens or reds and lights run 10 hours a day. I am auto dosing Brightwell part A&B, Brightwell Amino acids 5 drops per day, MicrōBacter7 5ml a day. I have 2 clown fish, 2 small tangs, 1 small watchman goby, 1 small lawnmower blenny and a handful of snails. Tank was setup a little over 4 months ago with new rock, Carribsea Liferock. I will include photos of the algae and tank perimeters below. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need any other info to help diagnose please.

 

[flsalty]

That's definitely dinos and looks like ostreopsis. What are your nitrates and phosphates? They usually hit when nutrients are low.

 

[S&A REEF]

That's definitely dinos and looks like ostreopsis. What are your nitrates and phosphates? They usually hit when nutrients are low.

Nitrate is 20ppm and phosphate is 0.16

 

[living_tribunal]

Nitrate is 20ppm and phosphate is 0.16

The scope looks like ostreo but what are the characteristics of the algae?

The picture looks like it’s relatively flat without too many bubbles. That and your nutrients are high which leads me to believe it’s something else.

Kind of odd.

Have you paper towel tested it?

 

[S&A REEF]

The scope looks like ostreo but what are the characteristics of the algae?

The picture looks like it’s relatively flat without too many bubbles. That and your nutrients are high which leads me to believe it’s something else.

Kind of odd.

Have you paper towel tested it?

Sorry, I will get a video of them tomorrow and post also what is the paper towel test and how do I do it?

 

[living_tribunal]

Sorry, I will get a video of them tomorrow and post also what is the paper towel test and how do I do it?

It’s super simple and was discovered by a reefer on here.

Dino re clumps much faster than other bacteria/plankton/algae.

Siphon out a fair amount of it into a cup, or something else with a lid that you can close to shake.

Violently shake it until it breaks up (make sure to open the lid afterwards).

Place a paper towel on top of a new cup and slowly poor the water through the paper towel into the new cup.

Place under normal lights (your kitchen for example), and then check the cup after 30 min-2 hours.

If you see the possible Dino already re clumping then chances are that’s what you have.

If not, you may want to test further in order to verify whether it is, or isn’t, Dino.

Just another way of confirming before you take the drastic steps required to beat Dino.

 

[living_tribunal]

Also, you seem to be dosing microbacter 7 at a pretty crazy rate. Any reason for that? The instructions mention not to dose more than 2-5ml per 50 gallons a week.

 

[S&A REEF]

Also, you seem to be dosing microbacter 7 at a pretty crazy rate. Any reason for that? The instructions mention not to dose more than 2-5ml per 50 gallons a week.

MicrōBacter7 is dosed at 5ml per 25 gallons a day for the fist 2 weeks then you adjust accordingly to lower nutrients and that’s why I’m dosing at that rate because of my nitrate. This is a SPS dominate tank. That’s one thing that’s makes me not think it’s Dino’s because my nutrients have not bottomed out and are running a little higher than I want.

 

[living_tribunal]

MicrōBacter7 is dosed at 5ml per 25 gallons a day for the fist 2 weeks then you adjust accordingly to lower nutrients and that’s why I’m dosing at that rate because of my nitrate. This is a SPS dominate tank. That’s one thing that’s makes me not think it’s Dino’s because my nutrients have not bottomed out and are running a little higher than I want.

It would definitely be odd if this were in fact Dino.

There have been stranger things on here.

Have you tried something else for nutrient export like good ole fuge/water changes?

5ml a day seems like a lot.

 

[flsalty]

Nitrate is 20ppm and phosphate is 0.16

Yeah, that's not the answer I was looking for...lol.

 

[living_tribunal]

Yeah, that's not the answer I was looking for...lol.

Dino can occur when there is simply a sudden shift in nutrients either way. Just 9.9 times out of 10 it’s when they bottom out.

The algae itself in the picture didn’t look too much like Dino though.

 

[S&A REEF]

Dino can occur when there is simply a sudden shift in nutrients either way. Just 9.9 times out of 10 it’s when they bottom out.

The algae itself in the picture didn’t look too much like Dino though.

I am going to start running a small amount of GFO in my carbon and also waiting for my new skimmer to come in as my other skimmer stoped working. I will update once I get nutrients in line and have my skimmer back running for a couple weeks with an update. I don’t know if it’s Dino’s or not just a little worried because of what that the microscopic view of it looked but we shall see. Thanks guys for your input and thoughts.

 

[living_tribunal]

I am going to start running a small amount of GFO in my carbon and also waiting for my new skimmer to come in as my other skimmer stoped working. I will update once I get nutrients in line and have my skimmer back running for a couple weeks with an update. I don’t know if it’s Dino’s or not just a little worried because of what that the microscopic view of it looked but we shall see. Thanks guys for your input and thoughts.

Good luck