What is this?

[Hults]

Thinking Cyano have been dosing nutrients nitrate: 3.4
Phosphate: .03

 

[CoralB]

Thinking Cyano have been dosing nutrients nitrate: 3.4
Phosphate: .03

Is there any way to get a picture with whites on ?

 

[Hults]

Thinking Cyano have been dosing nutrients nitrate: 3.4
Phosphate: .03

Is there any way to get a picture with whites on ?

 

[Hults]

Thinking Cyano have been dosing nutrients nitrate: 3.4
Phosphate: .03

Is there any way to get a picture with whites on ?

 

[slingfox]

My guess is Dino’s

 

[Bucrob]

Newer tank I assume? If it's only a month or so old it's just diatoms and other forms of algae starting to grow onto the sand and rocks.

 

[Hults]

Newer tank I assume? If it's only a month or so old it's just diatoms and other forms of algae starting to grow onto the sand and rocks.

Tanks been running 6 months lights have been on for 2 months I had crysophites and once I started dosing nutrients it went away and seen green patches on the rocks and this afterwords

 

[ReefRob82]

Microscope is the best way. That way there is no guessing. Very useful tool to have on hand.

 

[Hults]

Microscope is the best way. That way there is no guessing. Very useful tool to have on hand.

I agree unfortunately I don’t have one yet

 

[ReefRob82]

Microscope is the best way. That way there is no guessing. Very useful tool to have on hand.

I agree unfortunately I don’t have one yet

I’ve had my own issues in the past and always put buying one on the back burner. If I could go back, I would have ordered one before I even got in the hobby lol.

 

[Bucrob]

Tanks been running 6 months lights have been on for 2 months I had crysophites and once I started dosing nutrients it went away and seen green patches on the rocks and this afterwords

With your lights on for only two months I highly doubt its dinos and its not cyano, cyano is red and dinos normally come with cyano in my experience

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I almost want to say they are diatoms. Do you notice any O2 bubbles associated with the algae that disappear once the lights go out?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

IMO possibly detritus build up and subsequent micro algae growth. Even the rocks have sand or dusting on them, how is the flow in the tank?

 

[Hults]

IMO possibly detritus build up and subsequent micro algae growth. Even the rocks have sand or dusting on them, how is the flow in the tank?

I have one powerhead across the tank thinking about adding a second I know I will need one in the future anyways

 

[EnterName]

Going through the images I would say there is both: Diatoms and Dinoflagellates. I can see some bubbles on the rock in one of the images and a little bit of slime on the sand, but there are also very subtle patches that are probably still mostly diatoms.

The tank is really young and you haven't been running lights for long, so I can only recommend to leave the tank alone and not to start any treatment methods that would just mess around with the tanks biology. Some Dinoflagellates prey on diatoms, which means when a tank enters the ugly phase with diatoms it is very common to also get dinos. During the ugly phase dinoflagellates are not something to worry about and extremely common and do not require any treatment. Messing around with the tank to prevent the microbiology from developing will probably just prolong the inevitable. Both diatoms and dinoflagellates are at the bottom of the food chain and they will always be present in a healthy reef tank. Soon green hair algae will follow as well and once its gone (which can take a really long time if the tank was started with mostly dry rock and sand), the ugly phase is finally over.

My tank was started with 100% artificial dry reef rock and dry sand. It took really long for the ugly phase to end, but I didn't have to worry about hitchhikers, etc. It's definitely not the easy way to start though and you will have to be patient. In the first year you might see dinos, diatoms and algae blooms from time to time, but in my experience all those issues resolve themselves if you keep nutrient levels very low.

In other words: Everything looks fine, you don't have to worry about it, and treating it will probably just cost time and money without a real benefit. Keep being patient and your tank will keep developing a healthy microflora and fauna.