HELP! What the H... is this??? Dinos? Diatoms?

[aquadog]

I have a reef tank that most likely has either brown diatoms or dinoflagellates growing on the gravel/sand. Tank is at least a year old. Tests indicate excellent water quality with the possible exception - API kit shows nitrate @ 0 & phosphate checker shows it @ 0.03 so maybe too low? meaning many believe these levels can cause dino problems. Also the water used is RODI with a silica blaster di resin. Light is Kessil/black Box for 10-12hrs/day. The brown algae is only on the gravel and very bottom of glass but not on any of the rocks. Been growing for several months now and is getting worse. How do I get rid of this??? Thank you in advance.

 

[Bfragale]

Hello,

The only way I know that can give you a for sure diagnosis would be to take a look under a microscope.

But if I had to guess I would say it’s Dino’s. I am currently battling it as well, and it’s not an easy fight. There are so many different methods that work for some and not others. There are like 2000+ different “strains” of Dino’s, and not all are treated the same.

I did 3 day black out, with vibrant and hydrogen peroxide- I saw it cut back some but then came back with a vengeance. I’m still doing vibrant but I have fairly high po4 and no3- so not typical to most other people’s Dino problem.

I’ve gotten po4 down from .24 to .03. And no3 has been staying between 15-25ppm. Can’t seem to to get nitrates down. Plus test (Salifert) is hard to see the colors and it’s kind of more of a range then an exact number so I really don’t know for sure where no3 is.

I’m running refugium and gfo- this was only way to control po4. I also have uv which helps some doesn’t seem to make a difference.

I’ve just not started to try to increase temp to 83 degrees as this has helped others but one week in and I don’t see any change. Corals and fish all seem ok but no real change with Dino’s.

I’m sorry to say, but it’s not an easy battle. And it a slow process to rid the tank of it.

Sorry I’m not more help. Maybe others can chime in with what worked for them.

Take care and happy reefing.

 

[aquadog]

Thanks for your awesome reply! I hope your problem goes away too!
After spending several hours on YouTube and this forum, I think I'm going to attack it with Doctor Tim's Waste Away, a protein skimmer, some gravel vacs/water changes, possibly a small army of nerite & cerith snails, and I'll probably reduce the photoperiod. Maybe even a three day black-out. I do own a UV sterilizer so if need be, I shall call her into service. However, if these are dinos, they are not the tell-tale kind that send up the stringy snot-like thing with a bubble on each end which is why it could very well be a bad case of diatoms. I'll also try to post a picture of them under a microscope but not sure how that will go as the microscope itself has no camera. Lastly, I think I will post a couple of pictures without any blue lights because I think they negatively affect the photos. In years past, I have dealt with this same issue in a number of tanks and have won the battle so I should be able to figure out how to fix this problem by checking my past notes. Right off hand, I believe the addition of snails took care of the problem. Anyway, thank you for all the replies, suggestions and comments! I'll try to keep this thread updated. Hopefully it will turn out to be something TO do if you have this problem as opposed to something NOT to do. Lol!

 

[brandon429]

Why the new thread? We are discussing this here

HELP! What the H... Is this stuff? It's driving me crazy and I can't get rid of it!

I have a reef tank that most likely has either brown diatoms or dinoflagellates growing on the gravel/sand. Tank is at least a year old. Tests indicate excellent water quality with the possible exception - API kit shows nitrate @ 0 & phosphate checker shows it @ 0.03 so maybe too low? meaning...

www.reef2reef.com

one thread is sufficient for ideas

 

[aquadog]

Why the new thread? We are discussing this here

HELP! What the H... Is this stuff? It's driving me crazy and I can't get rid of it!

I have a reef tank that most likely has either brown diatoms or dinoflagellates growing on the gravel/sand. Tank is at least a year old. Tests indicate excellent water quality with the possible exception - API kit shows nitrate @ 0 & phosphate checker shows it @ 0.03 so maybe too low? meaning...

www.reef2reef.com

one thread is sufficient for ideas

Brandon, if you are talking to me, and I created a new thread, then I must have made a mistake. Not sure why a new thread would have been created but I will say that I have only posted a couple of times and am very unfamiliar with the program. So yeah, probably a mistake on my part.

 

[Tyler Miceli]

Hello,

The only way I know that can give you a for sure diagnosis would be to take a look under a microscope.

But if I had to guess I would say it’s Dino’s. I am currently battling it as well, and it’s not an easy fight. There are so many different methods that work for some and not others. There are like 2000+ different “strains” of Dino’s, and not all are treated the same.

I did 3 day black out, with vibrant and hydrogen peroxide- I saw it cut back some but then came back with a vengeance. I’m still doing vibrant but I have fairly high po4 and no3- so not typical to most other people’s Dino problem.

I’ve gotten po4 down from .24 to .03. And no3 has been staying between 15-25ppm. Can’t seem to to get nitrates down. Plus test (Salifert) is hard to see the colors and it’s kind of more of a range then an exact number so I really don’t know for sure where no3 is.

I’m running refugium and gfo- this was only way to control po4. I also have uv which helps some doesn’t seem to make a difference.

I’ve just not started to try to increase temp to 83 degrees as this has helped others but one week in and I don’t see any change. Corals and fish all seem ok but no real change with Dino’s.

I’m sorry to say, but it’s not an easy battle. And it a slow process to rid the tank of it.

Sorry I’m not more help. Maybe others can chime in with what worked for them.

Take care and happy reefing.

Just a heads up if dosing vibrant still, take out the gfo when dosing vibrant. Try chemipure blue, that should keep phosphates low