Please help me ID the dinos!

[tREEFarm]

Hey there friends!

What started as a small patch of dinos has started to take off and become more and more troublesome.. I finally put a sample under a microscope, but I'm having trouble ID'ing what I'm seeing amidst the other fauna. I did attempt to cross reference using the dino ID guides - but I'm sufficiently lost and could use a more knowledgable eye.

Here's all the pics I have so far:













Appreciate any help y'all can provide!! Thank you!!

 

[Dan_P]

Hey there friends!

What started as a small patch of dinos has started to take off and become more and more troublesome.. I finally put a sample under a microscope, but I'm having trouble ID'ing what I'm seeing amidst the other fauna. I did attempt to cross reference using the dino ID guides - but I'm sufficiently lost and could use a more knowledgable eye.

Here's all the pics I have so far:













Appreciate any help y'all can provide!! Thank you!!

Lookup and compare to images of Osteoporosis

 

[tREEFarm]

Lookup and compare to images of Osteoporosis

As stated in my post, I have compared to images of all sorts of dinos even using @taricha Dino ID guide - to my eyes it also looks like it could be Amphidinium maybe in addition to Ostreopsis.

I'm hoping someone can confirm what I'm dealing with because to my untrained eye it all sort of looks the same.

 

[Dan_P]

As stated in my post, I have compared to images of all sorts of dinos even using @taricha Dino ID guide - to my eyes it also looks like it could be Amphidinium maybe in addition to Ostreopsis.

I'm hoping someone can confirm what I'm dealing with because to my untrained eye it all sort of looks the same.

None of them resembled Amphidinium.

 

[EnterName]

I see ciliates (maybe Nassula sp.?), some cyano bacteria that create chains, diatoms, and a nematode. No dinoflagellates. If you have brown slime it might be due to the diatoms not dinoflagellates.

You can compare what you see with images from my microscopy thread. You are also invited to share images there :)

Don't worry about the nematode (worm), these guys are everywhere :)
“If all the matter in the universe except the nematodes were swept away, our world would still be dimly recognizable, and … we should find its mountains, hills, vales, rivers, lakes, and oceans represented by a film of nematodes.” - Nathan Augustus Cobb

 

[tREEFarm]

I see ciliates (maybe Nassula sp.?), green hair algae or some cyano bacteria that create chains, diatoms, and a nematode. No dinoflagellates. If you have brown slime it might be due to the diatoms not dinoflagellates.

You can compare what you see with images from my microscopy thread. You are also invited to share images there :)

Don't worry about the nematode (worm), these guys are everywhere :)
“If all the matter in the universe except the nematodes were swept away, our world would still be dimly recognizable, and … we should find its mountains, hills, vales, rivers, lakes, and oceans represented by a film of nematodes.” - Nathan Augustus Cobb

Thank you for your response! It's a green slimy mat with bubbles. It's on the sand, racks, glass, pumps.. it's everywhere and begins to float on surface, creating little mats of what I thought were dinos/bubbles.

 

[EnterName]

Thank you for your response! It's a green slimy mat with bubbles. It's on the sand, racks, glass, pumps.. it's everywhere and begins to float on surface, creating little mats of what I thought were dinos/bubbles.

Green Cyanobacteria.

If you take a look at the green hairs in your photos, you see that they consist of small little segments. These are cyano bacteria connecting to build larger structures (these hairs/strings).

Even if your nutrient levels appear low, it might be due to the excessive growth. Reducing nutrients and detritus/organic matter will probably resolve the issue. Targeted feeding, less feeding, wetter skimming, manual removal of the slime, increased flow (30 - 40x the tank volume per hour), etc.

 

[tREEFarm]

I've had patches or coverings of this stuff for over a year.. it seems to travel around my system (I have 5 tanks plumbed into the same system) and there's no ryhme or reason as flow and nutrients don't really change. Is it possible there is cyano AND dinos?

 

[EnterName]

I've had patches or coverings of this stuff for over a year.. it seems to travel around my system (I have 5 tanks plumbed into the same system) and there's no ryhme or reason as flow and nutrients don't really change. Is it possible there is cyano AND dinos?

It is possible to have both, but I can't see any dinoflagellates in your images. Everything looks normal besides the green chains of cyanobacteria, which are probably causing the green patches in your tanks.

 

[tREEFarm]

It is possible to have both, but I can't see any dinoflagellates in your images. Everything looks normal besides the green chains of cyanobacteria, which are probably causing the green patches in your tanks.

I believe you and I can't thank you enough for sharing your opinion. I'm having a slight mental breakdown hah

I've spent thousands of dollars (150w Pentair UV, UV sweeper, two large batches of TBS rock, gallons upon gallons of bottled bacterias) and thousands of hours ripping tanks clean, sweeping the sand with the UV, etc over the last year.. sigh.

Even after decades this hobby can make one feel like a beginner time and time again. Thank you!!!

 

[EnterName]

I believe you and I can't thank you enough for sharing your opinion. I'm having a slight mental breakdown hah

I've spent thousands of dollars (150w Pentair UV, UV sweeper, two large batches of TBS rock, gallons upon gallons of bottled bacterias) and thousands of hours ripping tanks clean, sweeping the sand with the UV, etc over the last year.. sigh.

Even after decades this hobby can make one feel like a beginner time and time again. Thank you!!!

Always happy to help :)

Maybe with this "new" knowledge you will be able to get rid of the issue. If you don't know how to properly proceed, you could open a new thread on how to deal with the issue. I'm sure some community members will be able to find a solution that fits your setup.

Otherwise I would just start with the typical "Cyano" protocol:

• regular manual removal of the slime (this effectively removes all the nutrients and organics bound to the bacteria)
• regular filter sock/whool replacement
• higher flow to flush detritus into the skimmer
• wetter skimming
• macro algae refugium / algae scrubber / algae reactor
• target feeding / less feeding
• activated charcoal, zeolite, bio pellets

It will take a while, but sooner or later these guys have to run into a carbon, nitrogen, or phosphorus limitation and stop growing excessively.