Some kind of bacteria? Eggs? Dino’s...?

[Reefer5640]

So I found this odd Dino looking stuff in one of my grow outs. I have battled Dino’s before but never seen anything quite like this. It resembles Dino’s in the way that it is brown snot and under a micro scope it looks like little round critters but without any movement. When I pulled a strand off the rock it held together better than Dino’s would. I ended up finding that sucking it up with a turkey baster was the way to go. Came off very easy and very quickly. That was two days ago and it hasn’t grown back like Dino’s or cyano would have. Here are some pics. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here’s what it looked like on the ro

Here’s after manual removal. You can see it didn’t really fall apart like Dino or cyano would if being removed with a baster.

And here are some pics under the microscope 10, 40, & 100 objectives respective to the order of the pictures. I didn’t include a video since they don’t move like Dino’s would. Also I apologize for the blurry pics I need to clean my objectives.

 

[daybreaksky]

looks like Chlamydomonas algae to me. just film algae that feeds on carbon and comes in many colors of green/brown

 

[daybreaksky]

I'm guessing you are posting out of concern for cyano or dinos, this doesn't look like either under the microscope as far as my limited knowledge can tell

 

[Reefer5640]

I'm guessing you are posting out of concern for cyano or dinos, this doesn't look like either under the microscope as far as my limited knowledge can tell

I assumed it wasn’t Dino’s or Cyano. I’ve dealt with both quite a bit. I guess the title is misleading. I just haven’t seen this before. That’s what’s concerning, in 15 years of reefing I haven’t seen this before. Where the others I have seen plenty in my and fellow reefers tanks. It doesn’t look like algae under the microscope to me. It’s more of an agglomeration of single organisms like Dino’s. That’s why the title is worded that way I guess, it has similar attributes. I’ll look into your suggestion. Thanks for your input.

 

[Reefer5640]

looks like Chlamydomonas algae to me. just film algae that feeds on carbon and comes in many colors of green/brown

So after looking into Chlamydomonas algae I don’t think that’s what this is. They are very active under a microscope. These are very still, almost motionless. I’m sure with better equipment I might be able to see some motion but at 100 mag I can’t see any sign of movement.

 

[taricha]

Blobs of thick gel that hold together,
Light yellow-brown,
Super tiny (smaller than dinos),
Nearly spherical,
Separate cells that are suspended in gel,
Totally motionless.

Checking all these boxes makes it a very good fit for "chrysophytes"

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chrysophytes-help-me-cure-it.263759/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/c...fy-treat-and-remove-it-from-your-tank.299585/

Check out these two threads.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It’s a macro algae similar to ulva

 

[Reefer5640]

Blobs of thick gel that hold together,
Light yellow-brown,
Super tiny (smaller than dinos),
Nearly spherical,
Separate cells that are suspended in gel,
Totally motionless.

Checking all these boxes makes it a very good fit for "chrysophytes"

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chrysophytes-help-me-cure-it.263759/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/c...fy-treat-and-remove-it-from-your-tank.299585/

Check out these two threads.

It’s not chrysophytes, I’ve dealt with chrysophytes before. This is not fuzzy but thick almost the texture of lobophora but not as strong or resilient. Almost like the skin on jello. I appreciate your input though. Thank you for taking the time.

 

[Reefer5640]

It’s a macro algae similar to ulva

Any chance you know the name of the macro algae you’re thinking of @vetteguy53081?

 

[vetteguy53081]

My mind is drawing a blank but like this stuff in pic

 

[Reefer5640]

My mind is drawing a blank but like this stuff in pic

Hard to say since I didn’t really let it grow out to establish that growth pattern but what was there I can see some similarities. I might add that it only grows on either the rocks or clumps of hair algae. Every macro algae I’ve ever had will only grow on the rocks and typically has a pretty good hold on the rocks. This comes off very easy and grows on top of hair algae as well as rocks. But for now I’ll look into this and see what I can find. Thanks for your time.

 

[taricha]

It’s not chrysophytes, I’ve dealt with chrysophytes before. This is not fuzzy but thick almost the texture of lobophora but not as strong or resilient. Almost like the skin on jello. I appreciate your input though. Thank you for taking the time.

This is how a "chrysophyte" sample that was sent to me grew in a beaker.
Note the thick gel mucus that holds its shape out of the water, as well as the structure of the colonial single-cell microalgae that make it up.

you've already posted the microscope pics showing that your nuisance is made up of colonies of single-cells embedded in thick gel - in much the same way.

The large scale structure of these colonies could grow in a fashion to look like a macroalgae/seaweed or something, but your scope pics prove otherwise.

(Got a link to your previous hairy "chrysophyte" outbreak? I'm just curious.)

 

[Reefer5640]

This is how a "chrysophyte" sample that was sent to me grew in a beaker.
Note the thick gel mucus that holds its shape out of the water, as well as the structure of the colonial single-cell microalgae that make it up.

you've already posted the microscope pics showing that your nuisance is made up of colonies of single-cells embedded in thick gel - in much the same way.

The large scale structure of these colonies could grow in a fashion to look like a macroalgae/seaweed or something, but your scope pics prove otherwise.

(Got a link to your previous hairy "chrysophyte" outbreak? I'm just curious.)

After reading your post I did a quick glance at the two links you sent just for good measure and it didn’t look similar under a microscope or on the rocks. I also did a quick google search and those pics didn’t look similar to me either. I am no pro at using a microscope, so if the picture I’m referencing isn't using the same parameters as I am it can be difficult for me to tell the differences, or in this case the similarities. Back when I thought I had chrysophytes I didn’t post, I didn’t start an account here or on any reefing forum for about 10 years into reefing. I just went off posts I had read back then. I most likely misidentified then because what you are showing me here is definitely the same thing. Thank you for your help I really appreciate that.

This grow out system has been a pain lately. I hit a crazy growth spurt that started sucking up way more nutrients than usual. I ended up falling short on my nitrate dosing which led to pretty much non existent readings. Which led to a Dino break out. I got that under control pretty quick but then ended up with cyano, got that beat back and then ended up with a hair algae breakout. Finally getting that beat back with manual removal and vibrant and now chrysophytes. I ended up loosing some pretty big acro colonies through this. Hopefully I can get this system back to its formal glory soon. I’ll do some research and read through the links you posted more closely.