Cyano or dinos? Very thick brown carpet on sand

[testuser]

Hey All, sorry for no pictures, but I can update this thread when it comes back (just finished cleaning and forgot to take a picture). On that Facebook forum that folks recommend here for dino treatment, it was originally identified as dinos a month ago and it called for a silica treatment and adding some phytoplankton for biodiversity. As of late though, I have noticed a very thick carpet of brown that can easily be flipped over and maintain its shape on the sand, and also on my snail. When it comes back, I'll post pictures, but I wasn't sure if this description of a contiguous, thick layer of brown on sand still sounds like dinos or something else. Thanks in advance!

 

[KrisReef]

Sounds like sewage in New York Harbor near the outfall.

I just got back from traveling while the wife stayed back with the other animals and I can't see much into our fish tank since the glass needs cleaning but I noticed one rock with a thick coverage of red(brown) cyano that other than color might closely match your description, vs dinos?

Gotta clean and wipe a lot of glass today, so I came here first for moral support.

 

[testuser]

Sounds like sewage in New York Harbor near the outfall.

I just got back from traveling while the wife stayed back with the other animals and I can't see much into our fish tank since the glass needs cleaning but I noticed one rock with a thick coverage of red(brown) cyano that other than color might closely match your description, vs dinos?

Gotta clean and wipe a lot of glass today, so I came here first for moral support.

It sure does! Appreciate the support haha. I'll take a sample and look at it under the microscope to see what all I find. Hey, it can certainly be both for double the fun lol

 

[testuser]

So, I took a sampling of the thick carpet of brown on top of the sand, and I think it's all diatoms. If anyone knows better, let me know. The thin ones move independently, and everything else sits there. I've been combating dinos with silica dosing and I think that the carpet was a big diatom bloom.

 

[threebuoys]

Mostly diatoms, but the oval shaped are probably dinos.

 

[testuser]

Mostly diatoms, but the oval shaped are probably dinos.

Yeah, I saw one dino in the second pic. I know that the translucent with the yellow are diatoms. Do you know if the thin ones that move by themselves are diatoms too, or something else?

Also, does it make sense that they can make a very dense carpet on the sandbed that sticks well together?

 

[threebuoys]

Yeah, I saw one dino in the second pic. I know that the translucent with the yellow are diatoms. Do you know if the thin ones that move by themselves are diatoms too, or something else?

Also, does it make sense that they can make a very dense carpet on the sandbed that sticks well together?

The long, thin ones are diatoms.

 

[taricha]

almost entirely diatoms in those views