Dino? Diatoms?

[CanesReef]

Hey all,

So my tank is about seven months old and everything was running smoothly until last week I noticed some “algae” growing on my sand bed. Didn’t think much of it so I sucked it up and did a water change. Over the next few days I started to see more and more spread around my sand bed. Every time I would suck it out of my tank it would pop up a few hours later once more.. under my lighting it appeared to be reddish brown so I immediately thought it was cyano. I changed up my circulation pumps and rearranged some of the rock work to make the flow more efficient around the tank. I also bought some of the red slime remover and that didn’t seem to do anything. now it’s starting to make its way up onto my rock work. I’m not sure what the heck it is but I took some pictures. I’m hoping this isn’t an issue with Dino as I’ve read about the many war stories from other reefers...

 

[LAReefer4Life]

I hate to say but it does look like early stages of dinos. One way to be sure is to syphon growth from aquarium, sand bed into plastic tub w/lid and shake it up. Then pour it through filter sock or paper towel into 2nd plastic tub and wait approx. an hour and see if the algae clumps back together. If it does then you're dealing with Dinos if not then it is Diatoms.

 

[Hallowhead]

I hate to say but it does look like early stages of dinos. One way to be sure is to syphon growth from aquarium, sand bed into plastic tub w/lid and shake it up. Then pour it through filter sock or paper towel into 2nd plastic tub and wait approx. an hour and see if the algae clumps back together. If it does then you're dealing with Dinos if not then it is Diatoms.

Are you saying pour the growth through a filter sock or paper towel? The algae will make it through the sock / towel?

 

[LAReefer4Life]

To identify dinoflagellates you'll need to siphon some algae into a container preferably with a lid or cap. After filling up the container shake the water up vigorously to break up the algae. Then filter the water through a paper towel or filter sock, the water should be rather clear. Leave the water exposed to ambient light in this container for approx 60 minutes. Dinoflagellate algae will be the only type that aggregates back together quickly in the container.

 

[CanesReef]

To identify dinoflagellates you'll need to siphon some algae into a container preferably with a lid or cap. After filling up the container shake the water up vigorously to break up the algae. Then filter the water through a paper towel or filter sock, the water should be rather clear. Leave the water exposed to ambient light in this container for approx 60 minutes. Dinoflagellate algae will be the only type that aggregates back together quickly in the container.

Thanks for the replies, im gunna go ahead and try that method when i get home in a couple of hours. So lets say that it does turn out to be dinos. Would you suggest a blackout as well as finding a way to outcompete the dino? I dont want to shut down this tank so any advice would be appreciated.