Just need a bit of help with identification. Dinoflagelates?

Daniel Berazadi

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I am fairly new to this, so here I come seeking help from more experienced people.

I have something growing on my dry rock in my 6month tank. It really has exploded in the last few weeks. It is sort of fluffy, but also jelly-like, when I blast it with the baster it comes off and sinks unless there is not enough current. Its color is pale, whitish, none brown or green at all. It does not have bubbles. the ones it has look like are bubles that come of the rock and are trapped by the growth. And it is not stringlike, it forms thick clumps.
I have seen pictures of how dinoflagellates are supposed to look, and although mine looks nothing like those pictures I suspect it is dinos mainly because my nutrients are too low.

I have also another growth on my sandbed, and it looks like another type of dino, but I have no idea, here, have a look:

IMG_20220220_1052488.jpg
IMG_20220220_1052380.jpg

IMG_20220220_1052153.jpg
IMG_20220220_1055085.jpg
 

J1a

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The best way to be sure is to take a look at them under the microscope. Very often, dino, cyano, diatoms can look really alike.

Perhaps you can get help from local reef community, or get an affordable microscope to enjoy the microscopic side of reef keeping.
 

taricha

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Chrysophytes.
Not a dino. Tiny motionless spherical golden brown, embedded in thick gel, sometimes the gel is strong enough to hold shape out of water (unlike dinos).
 
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Daniel Berazadi

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Chrysophytes.
Not a dino. Tiny motionless spherical golden brown, embedded in thick gel, sometimes the gel is strong enough to hold shape out of water (unlike dinos).
Yes! Exactly, I took a sample and put in a vial, and stir it.
I read that there is a test where you take a sample of dinos, stir them before putting the water through a filter to see if they bunch up again under light, and when I was stirring it, I noticed they did not dissolve the aggregation.
So that could be it, Chrysophytes. Thanks, I will investigate more.

It is clearly photosynthetic as it mostly grows on the rock that is facing the light, so my plan was to do a blackout for 3 days, and add new bacteria and maybe after that try and use some vibrant.
I would use Dr. Tim's products but where I am from it is almost impossible to find his products at a reasonable price.

Thanks again.
 

lancesmith1

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i have had this before with a barebottom tank. I tried everything, blackouts, chemicals you name it. I eventually started over due to inability to get rid of this stuff.
 

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