Diatoms or Dino?

[MrMeanyHead]

Tank smells like an agar plate which definitely sucks but it is what it is.

 

[Dan_P]

Tank smells like an agar plate which definitely sucks but it is what it is.

A new a aquarium typically develops a diatom growth. Dinoflagellate growth usually follows sometime later.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

How old is your tank?

Parameters?

 

[MrMeanyHead]

How old is your tank?

Parameters?

maybe 1 or 2 months since the cycle finished, parameters are 0 except for my nitrate which is about 10-20(closer to 20), a bit higher than I’d like but I’ve done like 4 50% water changes to bring it down from very high so happy where it is now.

 

[BryanM]

Parameters are zero is a little hard to decipher.

We're really wanting ALK, Salinity, Nitrates, Phosphates. FWIW Nitrates at 10-20 is just fine.

 

[EnterName]

How old is your tank?

Parameters?

maybe 1 or 2 months since the cycle finished, parameters are 0 except for my nitrate which is about 10-20(closer to 20), a bit higher than I’d like but I’ve done like 4 50% water changes to bring it down from very high so happy where it is now.

If it's only 1 or 2 months old its most likely diatoms but even if there are dinos it doesn't matter this is just the beginning of the ugly phase, no need to do anything. Phosphates are probably low because all that growth is eating it up, I wouldn't dose or overfeed to increase nutrients this will not help in your case, even if it's dinos.

Just let nature do it's thing it's going to be fine :)

 

[MrMeanyHead]

I attached a video of my tank. Sorry for focusing on my frog spawn but it appeared to have some algae on it. Based on the video and the stringy look would you say it’s Dino

 

[EnterName]

I attached a video of my tank. Sorry for focusing on my frog spawn but it appeared to have some algae on it. Based on the video and the stringy look would you say it’s Dino

The bubbles point towards dinos or a mix of dinos and diatoms which I saw a few times during the first months. I would not worry about it. Performing any treatments against dinoflagellates now will just mess with the tank and prolong the inevitable. Your tank is doing fine, it will pass on its own
Next up: Green hair algae phase. Sometimes the hair algae will look brown as residual diatoms attach to it. That's normal as well, it just shows that there is quite a lot of silicate to get rid of. All you need to do for now is make sure you don't accidentally add more silicates with water changes or top-off water. The water you use needs to be properly deionized and deionization filters need to be replaced far more frequently than others if you have your own RO/DI system.

 

[MrMeanyHead]

The bubbles point towards dinos or a mix of dinos and diatoms which I saw a few times during the first months. I would not worry about it. Performing any treatments against dinoflagellates now will just mess with the tank and prolong the inevitable. Your tank is doing fine, it will pass on its own
Next up: Green hair algae phase. Sometimes the hair algae will look brown as residual diatoms attach to it. That's normal as well, it just shows that there is quite a lot of silicate to get rid of. All you need to do for now is make sure you don't accidentally add more silicates with water changes or top-off water. The water you use needs to be properly deionized and deionization filters need to be replaced far more frequently than others if you have your own RO/DI system.

Yea I use Rodi water for changes and top offs. Thx for the help