Dinos? Cyano?

[birddawg]

Hey everyone, I have had this algae on the sand now for more than a month and I don’t know how to beat it. The tank is coming up on 3 months old and I know there are ugly stages but I just want my sand bed clean….In my previous reef tank I got bad Dino’s and decided to completely start over. I currently do weekly water changes and I do not have a wavemaker. I am getting a wavemaker soon so hopefully that can help. I’m just hoping it’s Cyano and not Dino’s. I have had an increase of Green Hair Algae on my middle rock so that’s good in a way because of some nitrate correct? I just want my sand bed, I currently have 3 nassarius snails and 1 Mexican turbo. If you guys have any idea what it could be on my sand we please let me know.

 

[Lavey29]

Looks like dinos to me but would need microscope to ID. What are your complete current parameters? What do you do for flow? Just the return? Does the algae disappear overnight?

 

[Uncle99]

Concur with Lavey29.

 

[brandon429]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/h...no-before-i-drop-the-chemiclean-bomb.1001599/
read that to fix your tank

notice post #14
thats sixty pages of other people’s tanks being fixed

see how there isn’t another link like that in the thread, but the op chose to still follow the masses, without any proof from the recommends? That’s a risk to his system

run what we did in post 14, or don’t, and watch this turn into a six month invasion

B

its not that it won’t work, or we couldn’t have sixty pages of it working already on file to read with recent jobs completed
it’s that reefers will avoid work at all costs, then just buy a new setup when they get tired of having no tank control

your eutrophication has started

there’s only one way to fix that correctly in a nano. The age of your tank doesn’t matter, did we check for age of tank before fixing them? Age of tank reasoning is an excuse for inaction.

take 30 minutes to study threads in the nuisance algae forum, wrecked tank threads

select their avatar, then select find all threads go look at the initial ones

notice what the masses has them do: leave it alone is #1 reco, dose a doser is #2
Take a param guess measurement with a non digital cheap test kit and make an approximation adjustment is #3


compare to what the tank looks like following that advice, those advices require leaving the mass in the system either to degrade or fill every niche

and some, 5%, get lucky and it all goes away

the nuisance forum is the 95% who don’t

the one thing we do in rip clean threads is command control, we don’t allow 95% noncompliance


pick a rip cleaners thread from the logs in post 14 from the above thread, chart their history after the tank clean


if anyone wonders why I press for this action, it’s because we get better results than the stickies in the nuisance algae forum.

 

[birddawg]

So do you think I have Cyano? I don’t see any bubbles or anything in the mats.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/h...no-before-i-drop-the-chemiclean-bomb.1001599/
read that to fix your tank

notice post #14
thats sixty pages of other people’s tanks being fixed

see how there isn’t another link like that in the thread, but the op chose to still follow the masses, without any proof from the recommends? That’s a risk to his system

run what we did in post 14, or don’t, and watch this turn into a six month invasion

B

its not that it won’t work, or we couldn’t have sixty pages of it working already on file to read with recent jobs completed
it’s that reefers will avoid work at all costs, then just buy a new setup when they get tired of having no tank control

your eutrophication has started

there’s only one way to fix that correctly in a nano. The age of your tank doesn’t matter, did we check for age of tank before fixing them? Age of tank reasoning is an excuse for inaction.

take 30 minutes to study threads in the nuisance algae forum, wrecked tank threads

select their avatar, then select find all threads go look at the initial ones

notice what the masses has them do: leave it alone is #1 reco, dose a doser is #2

compare to what the tank looks like following that advice, both those advices require leaving the mass in the system either to degrade or fill every niche

and some, 5%, get lucky and it all goes away

the one thing we do in my threads is command control, we don’t allow 95% noncompliance


pick a rip cleaners thread from the logs in post 14 from the abive thread, chart their history after the tank clean


if anyone wonders why I press for this action, it’s because we get better results than the stickies in the nuisance algae forum.

 

[birddawg]

Looks like dinos to me but would need microscope to ID. What are your complete current parameters? What do you do for flow? Just the return? Does the algae disappear overnight?

I will Take a pic tonight. I only am running the return for flow at the moment but am getting Nero 3 soon. I don’t have any tank parameters at the moment so I’m sorry.

 

[brandon429]

We don’t ID invasions, because that doesn’t change the course.
we didn’t test

we didn’t hesitate, we just produced clean tanks. Here from page one of the thread, readable:

Changed to, in two days to

 

[brandon429]

To this very day years later we still don’t know what species that was that we flushed down the drain

the ket to controlling a nano reef is act first, then plan from the clean condition

planning from the invaded condition is a form of hesitation, it’s what the masses do. If you had a huge inaccessible reef we’d plan from the invaded condition but a nano can be made to comply, before understanding why. Knowing all that, the majority will choose to let the invasion remain and plan from the invaded condition, it’s occurring as we speak in the nuisance algae forum

scan the offers to fix: they involve test guessing, dosers and dosing changes + waiting to see what happens

very few job workers there actually clean the tank completely, it’s the most foreign idea they could behold.

 

[Lavey29]

I will Take a pic tonight. I only am running the return for flow at the moment but am getting Nero 3 soon. I don’t have any tank parameters at the moment so I’m sorry.

Ok, well without accurate current parameters it's difficult to identify a problem. I would cut lights to 6 hours with blue and uv only no whites. Weekly water changes with manual removal. Get flow started and get a test kit so you know your number's otherwise take water to LFS for test. Knowing your numbers with a new tank set up is imperative.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey everyone, I have had this algae on the sand now for more than a month and I don’t know how to beat it. The tank is coming up on 3 months old and I know there are ugly stages but I just want my sand bed clean….In my previous reef tank I got bad Dino’s and decided to completely start over. I currently do weekly water changes and I do not have a wavemaker. I am getting a wavemaker soon so hopefully that can help. I’m just hoping it’s Cyano and not Dino’s. I have had an increase of Green Hair Algae on my middle rock so that’s good in a way because of some nitrate correct? I just want my sand bed, I currently have 3 nassarius snails and 1 Mexican turbo. If you guys have any idea what it could be on my sand we please let me know.

Microscope images are the best and accurate means but often certain characteristics can also determine which your pics point to cyano. Cyano is often matted and can be more than just red also being green, brown, yellow and purple. Ive even seen orange.
What is your Phos and nitrate levels?
I ask as Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 3-5 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons which serves as an oxidizer. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the 5 days, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.