Help me ID this algae with my new scope please!

[KRas1014]

So as a backstory.. my tank is currently just under 5 months old. In hindsight, I am aware that I screwed up a bit in the beginning right after cycling by starting to dose NoPox and Vibrant and wasn't paying attention to my nutrient levels. When I did test, I found NO3 and PO4 to be at or near 0. At the end of July I started to get some brown "algae" growing on the sand and quickly spreading up the rocks. I started dosing Neophos and NeoNitro about 1.5 months ago and finally got NO3 to about 9ppm and PO4 to .06. The outbreak got pretty bad for a couple weeks and I have been removing as much as I can daily. I also have been running a 55W UV since after cycling. I was hoping this was just a case of the uglies with diatoms, but after I got my microscope today, it looks more like dino's. I am hoping someone can give me a positive ID on this and maybe give me some pointers on a plan of attack. Thanks in advance!

 

[KRas1014]

After doing some research I am starting to lean towards it being the dreaded Ostreopsis.. can any confirm with a second opinion?

 

[SMSREEF]

That’s what it looks like to me.

Dino thread has a multitude of info. When I had them, I increased nutrients NO3 5-10 and PO4 0.05-0.1 and used UV sterilizer in the tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its dino. Do you have a pic or two of your tank so that we can see how it has progessed in your tank ?

 

[SMSREEF]

How big is your tank?
Is the UV hooked up directly to the display?

 

[KRas1014]

Its dino. Do you have a pic or two of your tank so that we can see how it has progessed in your tank ?

Thanks for the confirmation. I’ll attach a few pics here.
Essentially how it started

Again about 2 weeks ago

I probably made the mistake at first by blowing it off the rocks with a turkey baster and things really went wild. But right now it seems like it is “mostly” contained to the sand bed and a couple sections of the rocks.

 

[KRas1014]

How big is your tank?
Is the UV hooked up directly to the display?

Tank is 100G internal overflow and a trigger 39 sump. UV is plumbed off a manifold from my return pump with the outlet of the UV in the first chamber of the sump. Trying to think of another way of designing this because I know that’s not very efficient.

 

[KRas1014]

The odd thing is that my snails and hermits chomp on this stuff all night on the rocks and back wall, and my tang pecks on it here and there during the day and have not lost a single member of my CUC or a fish. LPS frags, torch, nem, all look great; only things that look bothered are my acros.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ok good. . . . it s very light and easy to conquer.
For 3-4 days, turn off white lights and bring blue down to 15%. Using a turkey baster, blow this stuff loose and siphon up or net it.
For the next 5 nights, add 1 ml of hydrogen Peroxide per 10 gals. Each day, clean your filters and if you have liquid bacteria, add 1 ml per 10 gals during the day.
Day 5 it should be gone and you can bring blues to 50% and whites to 15%
Day 7. . . Blues to 60% and whites to 25%.
Day 12 Blues to 75% and whites to 32% and leave whites there. Dino loves bright white, so keep it down
DO NOT FEED CORAL FOOD OR ADD NoPox DURING THIS TIME AS IT IS FOOD FOR DINOS

 

[dwest]

Tank is 100G internal overflow and a trigger 39 sump. UV is plumbed off a manifold from my return pump with the outlet of the UV in the first chamber of the sump. Trying to think of another way of designing this because I know that’s not very efficient.

If you you plumb your UV temporarily to and from your display tank you will likely eradicate these quickly. About 300 gph of flow.

 

[KRas1014]

Ok good. . . . it s very light and easy to conquer.
For 3-4 days, turn off white lights and bring blue down to 15%. Using a turkey baster, blow this stuff loose and siphon up or net it.
For the next 5 nights, add 1 ml of hydrogen Peroxide per 10 gals. Each day, clean your filters and if you have liquid bacteria, add 1 ml per 10 gals during the day.
Day 5 it should be gone and you can bring blues to 50% and whites to 15%
Day 7. . . Blues to 60% and whites to 25%.
Day 12 Blues to 75% and whites to 32% and leave whites there. Dino loves bright white, so keep it down
DO NOT FEED CORAL FOOD OR ADD NoPox DURING THIS TIME AS IT IS FOOD FOR DINOS

Thank you for the help! I have tried the 3 day lights out about 3-4 weeks ago and I think that did greatly help reduce it from matting across the rocks, but I have not tried the h2o2 method yet. I actually read an article the other day stating that oxidizers such as ozone or h2o2 should not be used on ostreopsis because it will kill more beneficial bacteria than dino's...
" Unless we are trying to eliminate certain species of amphidinium, symbiodinium or any other dinoflagellate considered banal, we must avoid the use of ozone generators, hydrogen peroxide or any commercial product not properly tested with the dinoflagellate species we want to deal.... Most commercial products are completely ineffective against certain species of dinoflagellates such as ostreopsis and can cause greater damage by limiting the spread of other beneficial microorganisms while weakening corals and other invertebrates."
http://blog.coralwonders.com/en/dinoflagelados-en-el-acuario-marino/

However, if you found to have success in combating this strain of dino I would rather take the words from someone with experience than a write up I found online. Did you experience any negative side effects to your coral when dosing the h2o2? I have MB7 as a source of liquid bacteria that I have been dosing. Was using Vibrant but havent dosed it in about 2 weeks.

 

[KRas1014]

Ok good. . . . it s very light and easy to conquer.
For 3-4 days, turn off white lights and bring blue down to 15%. Using a turkey baster, blow this stuff loose and siphon up or net it.
For the next 5 nights, add 1 ml of hydrogen Peroxide per 10 gals. Each day, clean your filters and if you have liquid bacteria, add 1 ml per 10 gals during the day.
Day 5 it should be gone and you can bring blues to 50% and whites to 15%
Day 7. . . Blues to 60% and whites to 25%.
Day 12 Blues to 75% and whites to 32% and leave whites there. Dino loves bright white, so keep it down
DO NOT FEED CORAL FOOD OR ADD NoPox DURING THIS TIME AS IT IS FOOD FOR DINOS

Hey one last question for ya, when you dosed the h2o2, did you have any acro/sps frags in your tank?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey one last question for ya, when you dosed the h2o2, did you have any acro/sps frags in your tank?

Yes- I have Mixed reef

 

[KRas1014]

Yes- I have Mixed reef

Alright so its been almost 2 weeks of following the plan that you shared with me, so I figured I would post back with an update to share with anyone else who is interested. Following along exactly with the first 5 days of h2o2 and lower light settings, I noticed some really great results. I was blowing off the rocks and gravel vac the sand into a 200 micron filter sock every night to stir everything up, and then dosing 1ml per 10g h2o2. I finally started to see some green film algae growing on the rocks and glass by around day 7, definitely happy to see that!

However, now the the lights are slowly ramping back up to normal schedule, I am starting to see the dino's come back on the sand more quickly though. I am still dosing the h2o2 every night, not sure if I should still be disturbing the sand bed every night with a gravel vac so I have only been doing that maybe once every 2-3 nights. Good news is that there is barely any dino growth on the rocks, glass, or back panel, it just seems to live in the sand bed. Should I up the dosage of the h2o2 and start doing the gravel vac again every night? Or would I be better off just leaving things be and hope the algae soon spreads to the rocks and kicks out the dino's on their own? Thanks for the help!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Alright so its been almost 2 weeks of following the plan that you shared with me, so I figured I would post back with an update to share with anyone else who is interested. Following along exactly with the first 5 days of h2o2 and lower light settings, I noticed some really great results. I was blowing off the rocks and gravel vac the sand into a 200 micron filter sock every night to stir everything up, and then dosing 1ml per 10g h2o2. I finally started to see some green film algae growing on the rocks and glass by around day 7, definitely happy to see that!

However, now the the lights are slowly ramping back up to normal schedule, I am starting to see the dino's come back on the sand more quickly though. I am still dosing the h2o2 every night, not sure if I should still be disturbing the sand bed every night with a gravel vac so I have only been doing that maybe once every 2-3 nights. Good news is that there is barely any dino growth on the rocks, glass, or back panel, it just seems to live in the sand bed. Should I up the dosage of the h2o2 and start doing the gravel vac again every night? Or would I be better off just leaving things be and hope the algae soon spreads to the rocks and kicks out the dino's on their own? Thanks for the help!

Dose .5 ml per 10 gallons for next 2 weeks and same with liquid bacteria
You got this !!
Also be sure to rinse filters daily as Dino will end up there

 

[KRas1014]

Dose .5 ml per 10 gallons for next 2 weeks and same with liquid bacteria
You got this !!
Also be sure to rinse filters daily as Dino will end up there

Thanks! I will begin lowering the dosage with tonight's dose. What are your thoughts on still blowing off the rocks and doing a gravel vac to the sand bed prior to the dose? As far as filters go, I have a auto fleece roller in my sump so hopefully that should be pulling it out everyday. I have noticed I have been going through the roll of fleece muchhh faster over the last month or so.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks! I will begin lowering the dosage with tonight's dose. What are your thoughts on still blowing off the rocks and doing a gravel vac to the sand bed prior to the dose? As far as filters go, I have a auto fleece roller in my sump so hopefully that should be pulling it out everyday. I have noticed I have been going through the roll of fleece muchhh faster over the last month or so.

By all means even for a week, do so

 

[KRas1014]

Alright so I am at a bit of a loss right now.. So the dino's were barely present anymore so I discontinued the use of h2o2 and things seemed ok for a day or two. But now pretty much all of my SPS coral are looking on the verge of death with either STN or bleaching. Dino has started to come back a bit and is mostly noticeable on the areas of the dying coral and a bit small amount on the sand. Water params are still all the same and holding stability. NO3 around 10ppm and PO4 at .06. I dont know if the dino's are poisoning the coral, or if it was the h2o2 that is now finally catching up with me. I should add that all my LPS and torch corals look just fine, only SPS are affected. Any ideas? Greatly appreciated!