Lots of brown algae and whatever this is...

nopenotpeter · May 31, 2022

Hey guys,

I have a relatively new tank (~5mo). I'm seeing a lot of bubbles on the ground all of the sudden, and this weird moving thing. I've attached both blue and white light pictures. I did have to move my rock around to get to a snail that died, but everything else seems fine. Not sure where the bubbles came from. Thoughts? These bubbles are on some of the rock but mostly on the substrate.

EDIT: Crap.. did some googling and it appears to be Dinoflagellates. That look right?

Reading more, I should note that I had to pull all my fish out of my DT (this tank) due to Ick. They've been out for about 2 weeks. I haven't checked water params in a few days but I'm going to do that all after work.

nopenotpeter · May 31, 2022

Hmm.. tested my nitrate (unfortunately with an API test as it's all I have atm) and it came in at somewhere around 15-20ppm. Which is high, I intended on doing a water change today. Phosphates with my Hanna checker came back at 0.11. Again a touch high but that doesn't sound like a very good breeding ground for Dino, right?

ZombieEngineer · May 31, 2022

Unlikely to be dinos with that high of nitrate and phosphate. Much more likely to be diatoms. A microscope would tell for certain or at least the paper towel test.

If it's diatoms, they need silica to survive, so they will go away on their own pretty quick with just normal water changes if your tap water isn't high in them (your DI resin consumption would be ridiculous if this were the case).

nopenotpeter · May 31, 2022

ZombieEngineer said:
Unlikely to be dinos with that high of nitrate and phosphate. Much more likely to be diatoms. A microscope would tell for certain or at least the paper towel test.

If it's diatoms, they need silica to survive, so they will go away on their own pretty quick with just normal water changes if your tap water isn't high in them (your DI resin consumption would be ridiculous if this were the case).

That's reassuring! I'm currently using salt water from my LFS - though I intend to purchase a RODI filter in the very near future (there are just so many I don't know what to choose from) to mix my own. I have slacked on my water changes the last two weeks as all my fish are out with Ick. I'll do a decent size change today.