Algae ID (Dino's?)

[Nickp]

It seems i am in a never ending battle with algae of one sort or the other.

It's on the glass, sand and some rocks.

Any idea on an id so i can draw up a plan of attack.

Tank is 90cm, flow is maxpect gyre , mp10 and a reef tide 6000.

Nutrients are low 0.001 phos and 0 nitrate using red sea and hanna ( i understand algae may be uptaking some) and cheato is growing well in the sump.

Recently changed my lighting from led/t5 combo to full t5.

Thanks

 

[glb]

How old is the tank? Did you use dry rock? My guess is you have a nutrient problem even with those numbers because the algae is consuming all of it. Also, how long do you run the lights? How often do you feed?

 

[Nickp]

How old is the tank? Did you use dry rock? My guess is you have a nutrient problem even with those numbers because the algae is consuming all of it. Also, how long do you run the lights? How often do you feed?

Thanks.

Tank is coming up 2 years old now and is almost totally SPS.

Lights run 10 hours a day

Fish are fed 3 times a day.

I have always struggled with low nutrients (even when no algae present in the tank)

 

[glb]

Thanks.

Tank is coming up 2 years old now and is almost totally SPS.

Lights run 10 hours a day

Fish are fed 3 times a day.

I have always struggled with low nutrients (even when no algae present in the tank)

What’s your nutrient removal method?

 

[GoPitt88]

I feed my fish once per day. 3 times per day seems like a lot.

 

[Nickp]

What’s your nutrient removal method?

Skimmer and cheato, as well as socks, and GFO. Oh and water changes.

I feed my fish once per day. 3 times per day seems like a lot.

My fish would be staving on one feed a day. As above my nutrients have always been low so the fish get well fed :)

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Recently changed my lighting from led/t5 combo to full t5.

You’re bound to see a small bloom changing lighting.
IMO
Beef up the cuc , grab the toothbrush and ride it out.

This is exactly why the urban legend of my lights are causing alage. (Even thoug 1,000,000 others have the same light)
You just introduced a new spectrum. Itll fall back into balance.

 

[Reefer1003]

Skimmer and cheato, as well as socks, and GFO. Oh and water changes.

This is why you have low nutrients. I had huge problems with dinos in my first tank when I ran a skimmer, GFO, and filter floss that I'd change on a daily basis. Personally, I'm a believer in keeping this simple: run a skimmer dry to remove some of the dissolved organics, maybe some carbon to polish the water, and feed your fish!

 

[glb]

This is why you have low nutrients. I had huge problems with dinos in my first tank when I ran a skimmer, GFO, and filter floss that I'd change on a daily basis. Personally, I'm a believer in keeping this simple: run a skimmer dry to remove some of the dissolved organics, maybe some carbon to polish the water, and feed your fish!

Agree. You want some nutrients in your water. My nutrients zeroed out and I got a huge brown algae outbreak. How do your corals look?

 

[GoPitt88]

Please help me understand.....this doesn’t make sense to me. How can low nutrients cause algae? And how can adding nutrients help reduce algae? I’ve read this elsewhere, so I’m not doubting this....I’m just trying to wrap my arms around this so I can understand moving forward. Thanks :)

 

[Nickp]

Please help me understand.....this doesn’t make sense to me. How can low nutrients cause algae? And how can adding nutrients help reduce algae? I’ve read this elsewhere, so I’m not doubting this....I’m just trying to wrap my arms around this so I can understand moving forward. Thanks :)

It's something that confuses me also.

From my limited understanding is it is more the fact that cyano can thrive in low nutrients whereas other algae that might compete with it can't, thus giving it an advantage and room to take over.

Might be totally wrong but that's what i get from reading about it :)

 

[PhreeByrd]

Since the title of the thread is "Algae ID (Dino's)?", then my comment is no, it's not dinoflagellates. It appears to be a type of hair algae. My best guess from the photo is derbesia, but better photos would be required. Assuming that, increasing nutrients is not going to help, and will likely do more harm than good. IME, maintaining low nutrients is necessary to allow the algae to 'burn itself out', which it will eventually do.

Almost no fish in this hobby require 3 feedings per day unless the individual feedings are very small. But if the OP is confident that no food is being wasted, then I would probably not significantly change the feeding regimen. I might feed slightly more 2x per day (keep the total daily food weight the same or reduce it only slightly). Frequent feedings, particularly during the highest light hours, ends up giving nutrients to the algae when it needs/wants it most, so it may be helpful to avoid feeding around mid-day of the lighting cycle.

Good bacteria can and will outcompete all higher order algae for nutrients, but it requires diligent husbandry and time for the system to rebalance itself.
The good news is that the OP's water column nutrient levels already appear to be very low, which is half the battle. Unfortunately, the nutrients that are available are currently feeding the wrong organism.