Cyano or Dino help

[kev528lips]

HI guys,

I know this topic is common but am hoping for some input from more experienced reefers.

Struggling to be sure if I am chasing cyano or dinos.

Tank is a little more than a year old.
Viparspectra light running 32 blue and 5 white for 7 and 5 hours.

Phosphate is .17
Nitrate is 8.5 and I think I just finally broke 5 this past week.
40 gal breeded with about 30 or so lbs of live rock.
Temp is 78 and salinity 1.25

Only using regular penguin filters. 2 of the 150s.

I've been feeding heavy to increase nutrients bc like I said I was below 5 nitrates for the longest. Idk if I should be trying to reduce nutrients or increase. Thought about getting a 30$ microscope but idk if I will still just be confused as to what I'm dealing with.

Any help would be great.

 

[Dan_P]

HI guys,

I know this topic is common but am hoping for some input from more experienced reefers.

Struggling to be sure if I am chasing cyano or dinos.

Tank is a little more than a year old.
Viparspectra light running 32 blue and 5 white for 7 and 5 hours.

Phosphate is .17
Nitrate is 8.5 and I think I just finally broke 5 this past week.
40 gal breeded with about 30 or so lbs of live rock.
Temp is 78 and salinity 1.25

Only using regular penguin filters. 2 of the 150s.

I've been feeding heavy to increase nutrients bc like I said I was below 5 nitrates for the longest. Idk if I should be trying to reduce nutrients or increase. Thought about getting a 30$ microscope but idk if I will still just be confused as to what I'm dealing with.

Any help would be great.

Golden to brown coloration is typically not cyanobacteria.

 

[jonelder68]

Looks like diatoms to me. But would need microscope and sample to confirm.

 

[kev528lips]

Guess I assumed diatoms would of been gone by now. Either outcompeted or ate.

Is a cheaper 30$ microscope 1000x good enough? And if so how difficult is it to identify?

Should mention that sometimes it has hairs coming off of it.

Thank you both for your responses.

 

[jonelder68]

Hmm while diatoms can have hair like structure sometimes that usually would be Dino’s.

Here’s my Dino’s at 400X magnification

Second image is after dosing silicates etc to promote diatoms. This is diatoms under the scope

Are you using RODI water for your tank? How old are your DI filters? Silicates can be introduced several ways to our tanks.

 

[jonelder68]

I bought my $500-600 microscope off marketplace for $50. Good place to look and surely a handy tool to have around.

 

[kev528lips]

Yes I use a RO buddie. Filters are a few months old. I did mess up tho and didn't flush the new ones before hooking up the sediment filter.

Haven't tested the water coming off of the RO unit.

 

[jonelder68]

Very possible you’ve added in silicate through your water. Can buy a silicate test kit to measure if you want.

 

[kev528lips]

Here is some better representation of the hairs

 

[kev528lips]

And I'm imagine this is cyano on the rock. So idk if I just have all 3 competing for space. Just trying to decide if I should be raising nutrients or reducing them.

 

[CHSUB]

I see nuisance algae. On the rocks appears red in your picture which is cyano, on the gravel probably a mixture. You can play games or you can remove it manually and keep your tank cleaner with better maintenance. If the stuff is growing you have adequate nutrients, obviously if you feed heavy and the foods rot you get algae.

 

[PoseidonsReef]

HI guys,

I know this topic is common but am hoping for some input from more experienced reefers.

Struggling to be sure if I am chasing cyano or dinos.

Tank is a little more than a year old.
Viparspectra light running 32 blue and 5 white for 7 and 5 hours.

Phosphate is .17
Nitrate is 8.5 and I think I just finally broke 5 this past week.
40 gal breeded with about 30 or so lbs of live rock.
Temp is 78 and salinity 1.25

Only using regular penguin filters. 2 of the 150s.

I've been feeding heavy to increase nutrients bc like I said I was below 5 nitrates for the longest. Idk if I should be trying to reduce nutrients or increase. Thought about getting a 30$ microscope but idk if I will still just be confused as to what I'm dealing with.

Any help would be great.

Diatoms you can dust off with a feeding tool dinos is more a slime texture , diatoms will clear up once they eat up all the silicates, test for silicates , if you use tap water its 100% diatoms and an easy fix , dinos from what ive read just need to reduce nutrients with "pnsb" and they will starve out. Ive read that using a phosphate remover like Phosphate E will remove excess silicates from your water column the same way it removes phosphates. Im new myself but ive retained all the necessary information i need to be sucessful. Asking questions and using tools like gemini is not amature its how science works and reef keeping is a science

 

[PoseidonsReef]

HI guys,

I know this topic is common but am hoping for some input from more experienced reefers.

Struggling to be sure if I am chasing cyano or dinos.

Tank is a little more than a year old.
Viparspectra light running 32 blue and 5 white for 7 and 5 hours.

Phosphate is .17
Nitrate is 8.5 and I think I just finally broke 5 this past week.
40 gal breeded with about 30 or so lbs of live rock.
Temp is 78 and salinity 1.25

Only using regular penguin filters. 2 of the 150s.

I've been feeding heavy to increase nutrients bc like I said I was below 5 nitrates for the longest. Idk if I should be trying to reduce nutrients or increase. Thought about getting a 30$ microscope but idk if I will still just be confused as to what I'm dealing with.

Any help would be great.

Diatoms you can dust off with a feeding tool dinos is more a slime texture , diatoms will clear up once they eat up all the silicates, test for silicates , if you use tap water its 100% diatoms and an easy fix , dinos from what ive read just need to reduce nutrients with "pnsb" and they will starve out. Ive read that using a phosphate remover like Phosphate E will remove excess silicates from your water column the same way it removes phosphates. Im new myself but ive retained all the necessary information i need to be sucessful. Asking questions and using tools like gemini is not amature its how science works and reef keeping is a science

Pnsb will likely take care of your cyano problem the same way. By out competing the bacteria for its food source and st a rving it out

 

[PoseidonsReef]

Yes I use a RO buddie. Filters are a few months old. I did mess up tho and didn't flush the new ones before hooking up the sediment filter.

Haven't tested the water coming off of the RO unit.

Could be the di filter needs to be changed

 

[CHSUB]

Diatoms you can dust off with a feeding tool dinos is more a slime texture , diatoms will clear up once they eat up all the silicates, test for silicates , if you use tap water its 100% diatoms and an easy fix , dinos from what ive read just need to reduce nutrients with "pnsb" and they will starve out. Ive read that using a phosphate remover like Phosphate E will remove excess silicates from your water column the same way it removes phosphates. Im new myself but ive retained all the necessary information i need to be sucessful. Asking questions and using tools like gemini is not amature its how science works and reef keeping is a science

You are funny and got a good laugh from your post and unfortunately I agree with your research…can’t wait to see what others think.

 

[PoseidonsReef]

Diatoms you can dust off with a feeding tool dinos is more a slime texture , diatoms will clear up once they eat up all the silicates, test for silicates , if you use tap water its 100% diatoms and an easy fix , dinos from what ive read just need to reduce nutrients with "pnsb" and they will starve out. Ive read that using a phosphate remover like Phosphate E will remove excess silicates from your water column the same way it removes phosphates. Im new myself but ive retained all the necessary information i need to be sucessful. Asking questions and using tools like gemini is not amature its how science works and reef keeping is a science

You are funny and got a good laugh from your post and unfortunately I agree with your research…can’t wait to see what others think.

What post is that lol

 

[jonelder68]

For cyano my go to treatment has always been DIY coral snow with MB7 added.

Here’s a link/recipe

https://reefsite.com/extreme-water-clarity-made-easy/

 

[CHSUB]

What post is that lol

The one I quoted…you probably won’t understand why it is funny to me, however your advice is ok. I don’t believe adding bacteria is necessary, but you general thought is correct; nutrient are available and abundant hence the need to lower.

 

[PoseidonsReef]

What post is that lol

The one I quoted…you probably won’t understand why it is funny to me, however your advice is ok. I don’t believe adding bacteria is necessary, but you general thought is correct; nutrient are available and abundant hence the need to lower.

I see no issue using pnsb its a natural product and is not much different then adding microbacter 7 aside from pnsb will eat up fish waste and food waste which add to your increased nutrients

 

[PoseidonsReef]

What post is that lol

The one I quoted…you probably won’t understand why it is funny to me, however your advice is ok. I don’t believe adding bacteria is necessary, but you general thought is correct; nutrient are available and abundant hence the need to lower.

Oh think i get it , im 100% amature to this but i talk like im experienced, A.I might be the best tool ever introduced to new reefers lol. Its gotten me this far on my own and will likely get me through most of the of the other issues i dont know about and still have yet to face