Spider web algae (stringy) growing on top of corals. PLEASE HELP!

[dommythaGOAT]

Hello, first of all, sorry for the low quality of pictures. If anyone has any idea what this may be (algae, Dino’s, cyano?). A little background, I have had this tank for nearly a year now, about 2 months in, this spider web looking stuff (hard to see in the photos but it is a dark brown/reddish color) started growing on top of my corals and caused many of them to close up and for some of them to die. I have been told it is many different things from hair algae, to Dino’s, to cyano and I have previously tried dosing hydrogen peroxide for a week, and that did not seem to help at all. Daily I use a turkey baster to blow them off the corals and rockwork, but each and every day it has come back. I discovered a few weeks ago that a good amount of it was growing in the back compartment of my All in one where the return pump is, so I made a cover for the back sump area to allow no light to enter back there and I change the filter floss every two days to remove the stuff that I was able to get off the the corals and rocks. i have tried so many things and nothing seems to work. If anyone has any ideas it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Reefer5640]

Does it blow off easily with a baster? Looks like Dino’s to me. Best corse of action at the moment is manual removal and keep your filter pad/socks changed out daily. Get a microscope and post pics of what you see in the microscope. I have dealt with Dino’s quite a bit and have gotten rid of them every time. But there are different types and some of them take different actions than others to beat them. Highest priority- get a pic of what it looks like under a microscope. There are a lot of very knowledgeable reefers on this matter.

 

[dommythaGOAT]

Does it blow off easily with a baster? Looks like Dino’s to me. Best corse of action at the moment is manual removal and keep your filter pad/socks changed out daily. Get a microscope and post pics of what you see in the microscope. I have dealt with Dino’s quite a bit and have gotten rid of them every time. But there are different types and some of them take different actions than others to beat them. Highest priority- get a pic of what it looks like under a microscope. There are a lot of very knowledgeable reefers on this matter.

It blows off pretty easy, but for the most part it stays in tact. I thought it was Dino’s for the longest time and have been doing this manual removal and it has not seemed to fix the issue, but I will continue to do so. I will try to get a hold of a microscope, but for the time being are there any more suggestions? also I have noticed that as nutrients in the tank have gone up(due to the use of a automatic feeder) the more it grows and spreads. I was under the impression that Dino’s was from low nutrients generally, so I found that to be surprising as I thought it was Dino’s from what I have read.

 

[Reefer5640]

Could be just coincidence that as time passes they are just growing in numbers. Raising nutrients alone won’t kill them off. Every tank has Dino’s. It’s the lack of nutrients that gives them a foothold. Raising nutrients is necessary to keep them at bay but knowing what type you are dealing with crucial. They don’t seem to be growing on your sand bed and that’s usually a sign of one of the harder to get rid of so that’s a good sign. They look similar to what I’ve dealt with but without a microscope there’s no knowing for certain. I can post what I’ve done to get rid of them but it only worked for the type that have dealt with.
Here are my notes I’ve gathered from past experiences and research. But again, this has only helped for the type(s) I’ve dealt with. It will take someone with more experience to identify once you post a pic from a microscope.


Dinoflagellates

Dinoflagellates are mixotrophic- they can make their own food and/or eat other organisms. They are a single celled organisms with a flagellum. While trying to ID Dino’s via microscope (@500-100 mag). Also use caution not to confuse with cyano or diatoms

Some contributing factors to a Dino breakout can lead back to; dry rock, carbon dosing, GFO, zero nutrients, lack of biodiversity.

A good link to go to on R2R is “are you tired of fighting all together”

Here is a list of what I go through when I start experience a Dino breakout (not in any specific order, I just check all of this to make sure I’m good) Also a couple of things to keep in mind;

-Things to keep in mind-
-Zero nutrients is a bad thing
-No water changes, they can feed off certain trace elements in the new salt
-Dosing H2O2, metro, Dino X, and blackouts are last resort (every success story with these have just as many devastating stories of killing some or everything in the tank.
-Deep sand beds and other low flow/cryptic areas are a place for Dino’s to hide and reproduce.
-Sand in general is where some species stay during the day and swim in the water column at night.
-Copepods are a great defense against Dino’s but when Dino’s die they can release toxins that can kill the pods and that creates food for the living Dino’s so if you start to get an outbreak get your hands on some Acartia pods right away. Maybe only add half the order at first and then a few days to a week later add the second half.

-A list to go through-
-water parameters to target
NO3- at least .5 ppm preferably 1-5 ppm
PO4- At least .01 and obviously not too high either
pH-8.4 (don’t stress about this one, it’s not the time to be chasing pH if it’s not already there)
*if you’re going to raise your nutrients do it slowly over a 1-2 week period and expect an ugly phase
-Check RODI filters & TDS change if necessary (Tap water is a huge F no in any reef tank scenario in my opinion- seen too many people quit the hobby because they didn’t realize the importance of clean top off water)
-Employ a refugium or chaeto reactor
-Employ Acartia tonsa Pods
-Reduce photo period on display tank and employ UV sterilizer (adults swim in the water column at night so this is when you’ll be able to kill some off- flow set to low flow to kill protozoans, not high flow for algae)
-Remove any natural sunlight from the scenario-**This is a big one**
-Manually remove as much as possible and change mechanical filter daily if not twice a day-**This is a big one too**
-Run carbon and change it frequently. It will help remove the toxins they release when they die.
-Keeping water/nutrient parameters stable is key. (Once you get the nutrients where they need to be that is)

 

[adittam]

Could be just coincidence that as time passes they are just growing in numbers. Raising nutrients alone won’t kill them off. Every tank has Dino’s. It’s the lack of nutrients that gives them a foothold. Raising nutrients is necessary to keep them at bay but knowing what type you are dealing with crucial. They don’t seem to be growing on your sand bed and that’s usually a sign of one of the harder to get rid of so that’s a good sign. They look similar to what I’ve dealt with but without a microscope there’s no knowing for certain. I can post what I’ve done to get rid of them but it only worked for the type that have dealt with.
Here are my notes I’ve gathered from past experiences and research. But again, this has only helped for the type(s) I’ve dealt with. It will take someone with more experience to identify once you post a pic from a microscope.


Dinoflagellates

Dinoflagellates are mixotrophic- they can make their own food and/or eat other organisms. They are a single celled organisms with a flagellum. While trying to ID Dino’s via microscope (@500-100 mag). Also use caution not to confuse with cyano or diatoms

Some contributing factors to a Dino breakout can lead back to; dry rock, carbon dosing, GFO, zero nutrients, lack of biodiversity.

A good link to go to on R2R is “are you tired of fighting all together”

Here is a list of what I go through when I start experience a Dino breakout (not in any specific order, I just check all of this to make sure I’m good) Also a couple of things to keep in mind;

-Things to keep in mind-
-Zero nutrients is a bad thing
-No water changes, they can feed off certain trace elements in the new salt
-Dosing H2O2, metro, Dino X, and blackouts are last resort (every success story with these have just as many devastating stories of killing some or everything in the tank.
-Deep sand beds and other low flow/cryptic areas are a place for Dino’s to hide and reproduce.
-Sand in general is where some species stay during the day and swim in the water column at night.
-Copepods are a great defense against Dino’s but when Dino’s die they can release toxins that can kill the pods and that creates food for the living Dino’s so if you start to get an outbreak get your hands on some Acartia pods right away. Maybe only add half the order at first and then a few days to a week later add the second half.

-A list to go through-
-water parameters to target
NO3- at least .5 ppm preferably 1-5 ppm
PO4- At least .01 and obviously not too high either
pH-8.4 (don’t stress about this one, it’s not the time to be chasing pH if it’s not already there)
*if you’re going to raise your nutrients do it slowly over a 1-2 week period and expect an ugly phase
-Check RODI filters & TDS change if necessary (Tap water is a huge F no in any reef tank scenario in my opinion- seen too many people quit the hobby because they didn’t realize the importance of clean top off water)
-Employ a refugium or chaeto reactor
-Employ Acartia tonsa Pods
-Reduce photo period on display tank and employ UV sterilizer (adults swim in the water column at night so this is when you’ll be able to kill some off- flow set to low flow to kill protozoans, not high flow for algae)
-Remove any natural sunlight from the scenario-**This is a big one**
-Manually remove as much as possible and change mechanical filter daily if not twice a day-**This is a big one too**
-Run carbon and change it frequently. It will help remove the toxins they release when they die.
-Keeping water/nutrient parameters stable is key. (Once you get the nutrients where they need to be that is)

Thanks for the info. I’m dealing with a very similar-looking problem right now.

I can’t seem to find that specific type of pods from any of the common retailers I’ve used. Is it a broad taxonomic classification that includes some commonly available copepods?

 

[Reefer5640]

RUSalty usually has them but it looks they don’t at the moment. This blend has some in it but there are 4 other types. https://getpods.com/5-types-mix/

 

[DE FISH]

You got any pictures under white light ?

 

[Screwgunner]

Dinos use light to live turn lights out for 3 days and start putting nitrobacteria 7 in every other day. Leave your nutrients up. So a differant bacteria can take its place.