Beyond frustrated with this algae. Please help

Calpoly2103

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I've had it with this algae !!!! Every day I come home from work and my corals and rocks/sand are covered in this crap!!!! I've done endless research and no answers (dino diatoms cyano, other), nothing helps. I have to spend time manually everyday getting this off and it just keeps coming back everyday !!!! This should be fun, but its becoming a drag. Not sure what to do next. My tank looked great for the first 4 months but the last 3 weeks it's been this nonstop. Urghhhh!!!!!

20190816_183036.jpg 20190817_233339.jpg
 

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dam I am sorry you are going through this. I am having a algae issue on my rocks so I am getting the same sorta problem. I ended up getting a magnetic frag rack intel I solve mine. phosphate? nitrate? what are your parameters. once I got mine down its starting to come under control. maybe get some gfo. refugium chatto. algae scrubber. a high power uv. all these things will help solve your issue what sorta masseuse you take is up to you. I would start with gfo and some good refugium chatto. ( thats what I did )
 

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It is dinos. Reduce those lights to near dark or black out tank (no lights- just room lights) for 3-4 days. Add 1ml Hydrogen Peroxide per 10 gallons daily, preferably at night.
Will be gone before you know it. Also use a turkey baster to blow off coral and send it to your overflow to the sump
 

Wallace180

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I've had it with this algae !!!! Every day I come home from work and my corals and rocks/sand are covered in this crap!!!! I've done endless research and no answers (dino diatoms cyano, other), nothing helps. I have to spend time manually everyday getting this off and it just keeps coming back everyday !!!! This should be fun, but its becoming a drag. Not sure what to do next. My tank looked great for the first 4 months but the last 3 weeks it's been this nonstop. Urghhhh!!!!!

20190816_183036.jpg 20190817_233339.jpg
Been there.
Watch phosphate and over feeding adding nutrients.
 

Dolelo96

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I've had it with this algae !!!! Every day I come home from work and my corals and rocks/sand are covered in this crap!!!! I've done endless research and no answers (dino diatoms cyano, other), nothing helps. I have to spend time manually everyday getting this off and it just keeps coming back everyday !!!! This should be fun, but its becoming a drag. Not sure what to do next. My tank looked great for the first 4 months but the last 3 weeks it's been this nonstop. Urghhhh!!!!!

20190816_183036.jpg 20190817_233339.jpg
Please don’t give up! Have you tested your nitrates & phosphates? It can definitely cause algae problems, although I’m not sure if they affect dino’s, if that’s what you have. I had same problem. My nitrates/phosphates were fine, so I followed advice I found on R2R and started a refugium, added a UV and 15 Mexican snails. Had it under control in a week. I would definitely start with @vetteguy53081 advice first! Hang in there!
 

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Dinos aren’t algae. They photosynthesize like algae but that’s all they have in common. They don’t need phosphates and nitrates to grow. Typical algae treatment won’t rid of them which is why many people struggle with them.
 

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I would try a uv sterilizer personally. I might also dose microbacter7. There's a lot of anecdotal "fixes" out there and this is what had worked for me in the past.
 
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Calpoly2103

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I do think its dinos. I appreciate all the responses, still confused which route to take. My nitrates are about 7, and I'm struggling to keep phosphates up so I started dosing neophos daily to get around .03. All other parameters are stable and I dose bionic daily. I have a skimmer, and small refugium in one of my rear chambers with a chaeto light.. I just turned off my skimmer and I have been mixing my sandbed every night. I guess I'll turn down the light next and maybe even remove fuge?
 
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Calpoly2103

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It is dinos. Reduce those lights to near dark or black out tank (no lights- just room lights) for 3-4 days. Add 1ml Hydrogen Peroxide per 10 gallons daily, preferably at night.
Will be gone before you know it. Also use a turkey baster to blow off coral and send it to your overflow to the sump

Just any hydrogen peroxide or is there a brand or type you use? Also, every night for how many days? Will this kill my fish/coral? I have a 40 gallon all in one, so 4ml every evening?

Should I do anything else regarding my fuge or skimmer?
 
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Calpoly2103

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I would try a uv sterilizer personally. I might also dose microbacter7. There's a lot of anecdotal "fixes" out there and this is what had worked for me in the past.

Do UV sterilizes work for dinos? What exactly is the purpose of one? Is the microbactor7 the same as dr Tim's bacteria? I've been putting that in periodically to get the good bacteria an advantage.
 
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Calpoly2103

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Dinos aren’t algae. They photosynthesize like algae but that’s all they have in common. They don’t need phosphates and nitrates to grow. Typical algae treatment won’t rid of them which is why many people struggle with them.

What strategies have you used to get rid of dinos? At this point I suppose I'll do lights out and hoping @vetteguy53081 will give me more info regarding the hydrogen peroxide, but I'm pretty new at this and quite nervous =( what should I do regarding skimmer/fuge?

Thanks
 

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Any plain hydrogen peroxide at 3% will work. I usually just grab the CVS brand. I wouldn’t stress out about the dosing of hydrogen peroxide. The 1ml/10 gallons is pretty safe. Even doubling that dose won’t likely cause you issues. Start at the lower dose and see if it helps. Hydrogen peroxide won’t last very long in your system,
 

vetteguy53081

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What strategies have you used to get rid of dinos? At this point I suppose I'll do lights out and hoping @vetteguy53081 will give me more info regarding the hydrogen peroxide, but I'm pretty new at this and quite nervous =( what should I do regarding skimmer/fuge?

Thanks
You want the skimmer and fuge running to catch and break down dino as they dissolve. Peroxide is Safe and will starve the dinos. I went from hopeful to ecstatic when the dino was gone and quickly.
RUN NO LIGHTS OR VERY DIM LIGHTS, peroxide at lights out, feed fish as normal But ....... DO NOT FEED SUSPENDED BROADCAST FOODS TO CORALS as youll be feeding the dino as well and DO NOT USE ANY NOpo4 pox products as they are fuel for dino!!
DO THIS AND YOU CAN WAVE GOODBYE TO DINO- game over.
 
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