Diatoms, cyano, or dreaded dinos?

[mekesterson93]

So, my tank is about 2 months old. Ammonia and nitrite have been 0 for the past month or so. Nitrates have been between 0- 5ppm. Phosphate has read at 0 with salifert test kit. I've been dealing with this stuff for the past week or 2. Not really sure what it is. Had some reddish/purplish spots about the size of a nickel, I blasted/scrubbed some of it off. Astrea snails did most of the work of cleaning the rocks off and keeping them somewhat clean. My main problem as of now is the sand bed and the bubbles that form on the LR as well as sand bed. Sort of "hairy" in some spots but mostly more of a "film" with bubbles on top that dislodge easily. Would like some help with identifying what this is so I can appropriately deal with it as need be. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ludders]

Does it die back when the lights are off?

From the photos it just looks like new tank syndrome with high nitrate. Get that down to 0.25 with water changes and manually remove as much as you can during the water change process.

Keep on top of the water changes and try something like Microbacter7 when you do your water change.

Also keep your bed stirred up after maintenance and your skimmer will remove some of the junk that settles on the bottom and reduce the nutrients that cause this unsightly stuff.

 

[mekesterson93]

Thank you for the reply! It does not seem to die back when lights are off. It's just a little less noticeable. I didnt think <5 ppm of nitrates was considered high. And what exactly is microbacter7? Again, thank you for the advice.

 

[westmichigan]

So, my tank is about 2 months old. Ammonia and nitrite have been 0 for the past month or so. Nitrates have been between 0- 5ppm. Phosphate has read at 0 with salifert test kit. I've been dealing with this stuff for the past week or 2. Not really sure what it is. Had some reddish/purplish spots about the size of a nickel, I blasted/scrubbed some of it off. Astrea snails did most of the work of cleaning the rocks off and keeping them somewhat clean. My main problem as of now is the sand bed and the bubbles that form on the LR as well as sand bed. Sort of "hairy" in some spots but mostly more of a "film" with bubbles on top that dislodge easily. Would like some help with identifying what this is so I can appropriately deal with it as need be. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

My tank is only a few months older than yours. I had cyano and then dynos. I am pretty sure my water was too clean. I was doing about 40% water changes weekly. (Trying to avoid the dreaded nitrates) I think my tank was too clean because I stopped doing water changes and left my lights off for a day or two. And it slowly went away. I'm on about four weeks and I'm going to change the water now. Now the green hair algea is starting. I suggest adding copepods and more bacteria of some sort. if you haven't and keep your water clean but not at 0. I think the biggest struggle we will both have is letting a little brown or green bug us. The tank is growing. Let it grow.

 

[Ludders]

Thank you for the reply! It does not seem to die back when lights are off. It's just a little less noticeable. I didnt think <5 ppm of nitrates was considered high. And what exactly is microbacter7? Again, thank you for the advice.

http://www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter7t.php
5 isn't high, but it's enough to grow algae and other unsightly bacteria.

Like I suggest it could be nutrients in the bed which is feeding it.

My aquarium is around 0.25 after a water change and peaks at about 0.5-0.75 nitrate and I don't let it go higher than that.

Copepods as suggested is good practice in general and I agree with things being too clean, or lacking biodiversity. This can lead to other problems and or imbalances, which can bring on dinoflagellates.

 

[quiet99storm]

So, my tank is about 2 months old. Ammonia and nitrite have been 0 for the past month or so. Nitrates have been between 0- 5ppm. Phosphate has read at 0 with salifert test kit. I've been dealing with this stuff for the past week or 2. Not really sure what it is. Had some reddish/purplish spots about the size of a nickel, I blasted/scrubbed some of it off. Astrea snails did most of the work of cleaning the rocks off and keeping them somewhat clean. My main problem as of now is the sand bed and the bubbles that form on the LR as well as sand bed. Sort of "hairy" in some spots but mostly more of a "film" with bubbles on top that dislodge easily. Would like some help with identifying what this is so I can appropriately deal with it as need be. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

To me it looks like diatoms, keep up with water changes, maybe lower the photoperiod by a a little bit if it starts getting thicker. Hard to ID dinoflagellates without a microscope. Also keep in mind with nitrate readings, it's possible there is more than 5ppm being produced, but if the organisms are using the nutrients as fast as they are being made then it will show a lower reading than is the reality. After 2 months diatoms should start getting outcompeted by other forms of algae. If it seems like it's still expanding and growing after another few weeks to a month then perhaps you have something more sinister. Tank looks pretty good though imo.

 

[mekesterson93]

http://www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter7t.php
5 isn't high, but it's enough to grow algae and other unsightly bacteria.

Like I suggest it could be nutrients in the bed which is feeding it.

My aquarium is around 0.25 after a water change and peaks at about 0.5-0.75 nitrate and I don't let it go higher than that.

Copepods as suggested is good practice in general and I agree with things being too clean, or lacking biodiversity. This can lead to other problems and or imbalances, which can bring on dinoflagellates.

Thank you for the link and the continued support. I may give microbacter7 a try. I do have a HOB fuge with chaeto and a decent amount of pods. Probably not an over abundance but enough to keep my clowns grazing on them throughout the day.

 

[Ludders]

that's fine then. My instinct would be to say weekly 10% water change and disrupt the bed whilst doing so and as things mature, these uglies will disappear.

Get nitrates down to about 0.5, so watch you don't start getting undetectable traces of Nitrate as mentioned before, as this can lead to other issues or imbalances.

Check phosphate level periodically as well.

 

[truepercs]

Your tank is new... Also a similar company/ option... Stinky (bacteria) but it works ;)
https://www.microbelift.com/home-aquarium/

 

[mekesterson93]

Well.. the rocks cleared up. Pretty much the only algae on them is some green algae that doesn't come off and the start of corraline. But I cant get the sand bed clean. It gets covered in this brownish-reddish film with bubbles underneath the film as well as on top. There is also some stringy/hairy algae growing on a frag plug and on a couple snails.

 

[Ludders]

Siphon it out during water changes, but I suspect if you are starting with good RO water and using quality salt mix, this is just a phase that will pass in time.

There are so many variables in this hobby and patience is one thing you need in abundance.

 

[mekesterson93]

Thanks bud, I'm using RO water and coral pro salt. I just did another water change and sucked alot of the algae, along with gravel, out. Also turned up my wavemaker.

 

[Ludders]

Give us an update next week with how things are and keep testing the water.

 

[Ludders]

One other thing I have just thought to ask is, how often do you need to clean your glass at the moment?

 

[mekesterson93]

I was having to clean it every day or else it looked real fuzzy. But as of the past couple days it hasn't been near as bad. Mostly just a little at the bottom of the glass by the substrate and a little spot here and there.

 

[Ludders]

I usually find frequent cleaning of glass is indicative of nutrients, which is why I ask.

I clean my glass weekly and it's not desperate by the end of the week.

Just to reassure you, as I believe you're heading in the right direction, you should see over the next month, with the weekly water changes, everything will settle down.

 

[mekesterson93]

Day 2 after water change.. sandbed is looking pretty good. We'll see how it looks after a couple more days.

 

[Ludders]

It will come back a bit towards the end of the week, but eventually it will stop.

 

[mekesterson93]

Yesterday made day 6, went ahead and did a water change sense I had to work today. Attached is a couple pictures of the tank before I did the water change.

 

[Ludders]

Looks loads better