Trying to ID this...

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Long story short, yound tank, about 8 months now. Had tons of GHA about a month and half ago with virtually no nutrients detected. Gave up and blasted it with Fluconazole; 3 weeks later GHA was gone. Then came cyano, killed it with chemiclean. Now week after chemiclean, I have this.



Parameters:
SG - 1.026
Ph - 8.2
Alk - 8.7
PO4 - 0.01ppm on Hanna ULR
NO3 - 2ppm on Red Sea.

I dose approx 0.04ppm of PO4 and 1ppm NO3 every twice a week.

Stuff looks kinda slimy kinda hairy... No bubbles, it's on the rocks and on the sand, present at night and day.

Any ideas?

EDIT: Also I syphon sandbed, scrub rocks (2x), and 15% WC weekly. Running UV as well. Skimmer run intermittent to as to not strip all nutrients out, so I don't have to dose as much.

 

[homer1475]

Looks like dino's to me. But with no bubble present, I could almost say your having a cyano outbreak again.

Chemiclean will kill it temporarily, but unless you clear up the underlying problem, it will just return a couple weeks later.

Do you clean out your sandbed?

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Looks like dino's to me. But with no bubble present, I could almost say your having a cyano outbreak again.

Chemiclean will kill it temporarily, but unless you clear up the underlying problem, it will just return a couple weeks later.

Do you clean out your sandbed?

Yes, sorry I added and EDIT to the original post. Sandbed syphoned at least once a week, sometimes twice a week. Rocks get scrubbed. Nutrients always reading low but my thought was algea was taking it up.

 

[homer1475]

Only one way to know for sure if your dealing with Dino's(for your sake I hope it's not). Get a cheap microscope, take a pic, and post it in the dino thread.

Dealing with Dino's was the worst thing I've had to deal with in 20+ years of reefing(first tank I ever started with dead dry rock). It wasn't until I found this forum, and the dino thread that I finally got them cleared up. Yes I know it's a massive thread, but the information it contains is priceless and well worth the read if you truly are dealing with them.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Yeah... Dinos are the one thing I've been trying to avoid since before I started this hobby. I guess it's off to Amazon for a microscope.

Any suggestions? What's all required other than a microscope itself, slides?

 

[homer1475]

Let me see if I can find a link to the one I bought on amazon...... Just a cheapo, but it worked for the ID I needed.

 

[homer1475]

Heres the cheapo one I bought. Used once, and now it sits on a shelf in my fish room. lol

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

So you just suck some of the stuff with a dropper/syringe, drop it on the slide?

 

[homer1475]

Yup....

Do you remember grade school science class when they taught us how to use a microscope? Just suck some of the snot up, add a drop of water, put a slide on top(sandwich), then view under scope.