Phytoplankton bloom?

[Alexraptor]

I've never seen this happen before, even years ago when I dosed live phyto.... but I think my newly set up reef is having a phytoplankton bloom.

My skimmer has been producing a lot of dark, but very green skimmate for the last couple of days, and today skimmate production spiked. At the same time my tank has been hazy all day, and when I turned off my lights I noticed the water had a very distinct 'green' tone.

I tried to take pictures, but the phone camera does not entirely do the green-ness justice.


This tank does stand right next to a skylight, but its not the first I've let be exposed to natural or even direct sunlight. It is a new startup, with both completely fresh live rock and live sand, and already cycled and stable enough to supper inverts and hardier LPS. Speaking of which, my Siderastrea colony is showing greater polyp extension today, than it has at any point in the year I've had it.

Is this actually a phyto bloom? And is it going to cause me problems, or probably just peter out eventually? Should I maybe even try to take a sample and see if I can start a culture?

 

[Stephen8169301]

I've never seen this happen before, even years ago when I dosed live phyto.... but I think my newly set up reef is having a phytoplankton bloom.

My skimmer has been producing a lot of dark, but very green skimmate for the last couple of days, and today skimmate production spiked. At the same time my tank has been hazy all day, and when I turned off my lights I noticed the water had a very distinct 'green' tone.

I tried to take pictures, but the phone camera does not entirely do the green-ness justice.


This tank does stand right next to a skylight, but its not the first I've let be exposed to natural or even direct sunlight. It is a new startup, with both completely fresh live rock and live sand, and already cycled and stable enough to supper inverts and hardier LPS. Speaking of which, my Siderastrea colony is showing greater polyp extension today, than it has at any point in the year I've had it.

Is this actually a phyto bloom? And is it going to cause me problems, or probably just peter out eventually? Should I maybe even try to take a sample and see if I can start a culture?

Do you dose phyto?

 

[Alexraptor]

I do not.

 

[Alexraptor]

Bloom has continued for a whole week and escalated to the point where it's no longer in doubt.



Plus I also got myself a microscope today, and was able to confirm the presence of a very diverse mixture of phytoplankton.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

That is so neat! What a perfect time to add a clam or feather duster lol
As long as your animals seem happy, I wouldn't worry about trying to eliminate it. The bloom will probably fade as it eats up your remaining nutrients.