What algae is this? (Growing extremely fast, within an hour)

Subnautica

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I'm dealing with a very weird kind of algae (asked around and no one knows for sure). It's brown, hairy, and wavy. I turned off the light and within a day almost all of them are gone, but as soon as I turn the light back on, they grow back extremely fast, only a couple hours. No matter how dim the light is, they still grow. Is this dino or diatom?

Tank: 75gal
Sand: Fiji Pink
Lights: 2 x Kessil A360WE
Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia, Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10


20200105_174649.jpg


20200124_183418.jpg


20200107_003534.jpg




Breeder box behind the tank (with Finnex stingray)
20200127_164435.jpg


20200127_171249.jpg
 
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vetteguy53081

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I'm dealing with a very weird kind of algae (asked around and no one knows for sure). It's brown, hairy, and wavy. I turned off the light and within a day almost all of them are gone, but as soon as I turn the light back on, they grow back extremely fast, only a couple hours. No matter how dim the light is, they still grow. Is this dino or diatom?

Tank: 75gal
Sand: Fiji Pink
Lights: 2 x Kessil A360WE
Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia, Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10


20200105_174649.jpg


20200124_183418.jpg


20200107_003534.jpg




Breeder box behind the tank (with Finnex stingray)
20200127_164435.jpg
Dinoflagellates. I see you have very little coral which is good for right now. Begin now and turn off the white lights for 3-5 days. Reduce blue to 5%.
Add starting tonight 1ml of hydrogen Peroxide per 10 gallons at night each night. (will not harm tank). Increase water flow if you can and blow the stuff loose with a turkey baster and net it.
Also butt liquid bacteria such as bacter 7 each day during the day. Do NOT feed any coral foods during this time. Day 3 you can increase BLUE ONLY 10 15$ . . . leave whites off a couple more day.
YOU SHOULD SEE THIS VANISH BY DAY 5. LGHTS OFF IS important
 
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Subnautica

Subnautica

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That last shot of the breeder box, most certainly looks like dinos to me.

Know what your nitrate and phosphate levels are?

There's no bubbles in my tank (though I heard dino can have no bubbles)

Nitrate is 10 and phosphate is unknown. I accidentally got the Hanna Low range so I kinda screwed up
 
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Subnautica

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@vetteguy53081 Thank you for the valuable advice. So

- Will the algae kill my snails and other inverts?

- Can I still feed the fish?

- Can I turn off the light completely until it's gone?

- Liquid bacteria, you mean Bio-spira?
 

Billldg

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There's no bubbles in my tank (though I heard dino can have no bubbles)

Nitrate is 10 and phosphate is unknown. I accidentally got the Hanna Low range so I kinda screwed up
I have used a low range with no issue, just the margin of error is a little wider. The margin of error on a LR is .05 and its .03 on a ULR.
 
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Update: this ia what's growing in the breeder box within just an hour of light on. HOLY COW!

20200127_171249.jpg


20200127_171533.jpg
 

Lizbeli

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Im am not a dino expert by any means. But my understanding is if you dont see the dinos at night then they are in the water column. With they type you have, you would probably have a good chance knocking them down with a UV sterilizer.
 

Billldg

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Update: this ia what's growing in the breeder box within just an hour of light on. HOLY COW!

20200127_171249.jpg


20200127_171533.jpg
If it seems to go away during lights out then it is photosynthetic, which is why is seems to get worse throughout the day. That looks like cyano in the last picture, with the possibility of Dinos as @vetteguy53081 said. I have tried several methods to get rid of cyano, and the only thing that worked for me was Chemiclean. You will have to correct what caused the issue as it will eventually come back.
 

Dennis Cartier

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I was going to suggest cyano as well, and trying Chemiclean would be a good first step. I would try to rule this out first as you can easily get your tank out of balance attempting to treat something it is not, espescially something like dinos as they can be a tough, long fight.
 

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Put some RO water and a tsp of white vinegar in a small glass. Add a good sized piece of the growth. If the water turns red in a while it’s cyano.
 
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@vetteguy53081 Thank you for the valuable advice.

- Will the algae kill my snails and other inverts?

- Can I still feed the fish?

- Can I turn off the light completely until it's gone?

- Liquid bacteria, you mean Bio-spira?
 

vetteguy53081

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I had that stuff. Does it great tiny air bubbles that are attached to the red algae like strands if so it’s dinos for to low of a nutrients. Get some microbacter7 from brightwell aquatics works amazing got rid of it in less than two weeks for me.

YES
 

vetteguy53081

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@vetteguy53081 Thank you for the valuable advice.

- Will the algae kill my snails and other inverts? Should not unless left untreated

- Can I still feed the fish? YES but do not add coral food or NoPox liquids

- Can I turn off the light completely until it's gone? YES

- Liquid bacteria, you mean Bio-spira? bacter 7
 

saltyhog

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@vetteguy53081 Thank you for the valuable advice.

- Will the algae kill my snails and other inverts?

- Can I still feed the fish?

- Can I turn off the light completely until it's gone?

- Liquid bacteria, you mean Bio-spira?


I would urge you to get access to a microscope and take a picture of this. There are several strains of dinos and not all of them act the same. UV is very helpful ostreopsis and some others but almost useless for amphidinium. If you post a picture we can see if it's dinos (and what kind) or if it's cyano(and what type of cyano).

Ok to feed your fish. Some types of dinos are very toxic especially when they die. If you haven't had snails dying it's probably not one of those types. There are multiple types of bacteria available...diversity seems to be important so using more than one kind might be helpful.
 

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