Please Help ID Dino Type

[JKenny]

Moved this to the "Dino - Are You Tired"... thread.

Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

Not sure what Dinos I had, but raised my tank temp to 83 and they gradually went away.

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks,

I've been chasing what I thought was an algae problem for weeks only to now believe it is Dinos... I have put it under a microscope but, in hindsight, I was looking at it wrong...

I've attached a few pictures but I'm still confused. What I'm seeing, I think, doesn't line up with written descriptions - or maybe I'm still looking at this wrong. I think what I'm seeing is Prorocentrum but I don't see any movement under the scope. I do see other "stuff" moving but it is much smaller and I can't get a good view of it. Also, I've read that the Prorocentrum strands are short and I'm seeing strands that can be a couple of inches long.

I suspect I have more than one type of Dinos but getting on ID on this one will help start me down the right road.

So far, all of my coral have been growing and not showing stress although I do find times where these Dino(?) strands will get caught up in the polyps & I need to blow/suck them off and I've been pretty diligent about sucking this stuff up every morning.

Tank:
Tank is a 9 month old RS250 mixed tank. I use Tropic Marin Pro for salt and been dosing (GHL) 2 part to keep the ALK (Hanna) between 8 and 8.3. I also use Apex DOS for AWC for 1.5 gallons a day. Cal (RS) runs high (466) and Mag (RS) 1320-1400. My phosphate bottomed out for a couple of weeks this past March when I was adding ReefFlux and Vibrant to get rid of a Bryopsis outbreak. Since then, the testing (Hanna Phosphorous) shows between .03 and .08. Nitrates (RS) have been pretty stable between 5-10ppm. I have a mix of LED/T5 with a PAR range of ~400 top to ~150 bottom. Also, I have 2 powerhead and 2 ReefWaves providing plenty of water movement.


Any help with an ID would be most appreciated...

Joe

 

[Idoc]

Ostreopsis dinos in the first 3 pics

 

[JKenny]

Idoc, Thank you as well, I very much appreciated your help...

 

[Wampatom]

I agree. The small creatures in photo 3 are something different however. I can't see them very clearly but I think I can detect a beak so they may be amphidinium (small cell).

 

[JKenny]

[B]Wampatom[/B], thank you.

In reading about the Amphidinium they are described as fast swimmers. There was no way to tell from my still pictures, but, the small creatures in photo 3 are motionless. As of last night, I'm thinking they are Chrysophyte - which I think fits with what I've observed. Having said that, I'll look at them again under a higher magnification.

I have an oversized UV coming my way that I'll hang off the DT so I can at least start a process. I do think that I have a few challenges going on at the same time here so I'll take this one at a time.

Again, thank you for your help.

 

[chvvkumar]

What are these things on my sand bed?! I looked at a couple of ID guides and they don't really match with any thing I have seen Full picture and a part cropped in to show detail:

 

[chvvkumar]

What are these things on my sand bed?! I looked at a couple of ID guides and they don't really match with any thing I have seen Full picture and a part cropped in to show detail:

Oops, wrong thread.

 

[Wampatom]

Diatoms of different species.