Swimboy123 October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 I have a few copses of this weird light green algae. I have 4 tangs in the tank and none of them seem to touch this stuff. I want to get it out of my tank!!! Any advice or help would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 Can't really tell from the pic's what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firecrackerbob October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 Looks like dinoflagellates to me.. heres some basic info- http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php these can be viscous if left unchecked. I would suggest turning off your lights for about 3days then run them for a while for no longer than 6hrs. it killed mine off. per the article PH seems to help, but no matter what I do I cannot get my tank above PH=7.9, so that was out for me... good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanglandJoshua October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 Uh oh, that is one that I think I missed. I look forward to hearing how it goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 Yep, looks like dinoflagella. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimboy123 October 3, 2011 Author Share October 3, 2011 I'm not sure if turning the lights off would be an option or not as I have a good bit of coral and a couple of clams. Does anyone have a canister filter I could borrow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 Corals will be fine for a few days without lights. I had a really bad dinoflagellate breakout early this year. Several treatments of high pH and no lights got it under control for me. I did three weeks in a row where I went three days with no lights. No coral losses (or appearance of stress... if anything it improved polyp extension). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 I have a hard time telling from your pictures, but it does look like dinoflagellates to me as well. Here is a picture of when mine was really bad. Like brown, swampy, snot spead about the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimboy123 October 3, 2011 Author Share October 3, 2011 yup it looks like that! What about the clams? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 I have two clams in my system... they also came through the treatment appearing no worse for the wear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 I'd move the clams. This is going to be a tough one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanglandJoshua October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 I have a fluval, think it's a 205. If you need polyfilters, I have two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanglandJoshua October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 If your clams need a temporary home. I have space. I would just like to check my chem levels first. I've gotten some new fish, and have overfed a bit lately. So there is red algae. My maxima is showing no signs of a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 3, 2011 Share October 3, 2011 I'm not sure if turning the lights off would be an option or not as I have a good bit of coral and a couple of clams. It should not hurt them, happens in nature all the time. There was a very long thread on RC a few years ago about turning off the lights for a few days each month. General consensus was that the corals actually seemed to thrive, with better color and polyp extension afterwards--not to mention a noticeable reduction in electricity costs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimboy123 October 4, 2011 Author Share October 4, 2011 Doesn't it seem like too simple of a solution? just to turn off the lights for a couple days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 It won't be that simple. I had to do it multiple times and dose kalk/ca to raise pH to ~8.4... I also lost a hand full of corals that didn't recover after being smothered with the dinoflagellates (any that were not covered actually looked better after lights off). But it isn't horrible, either, just takes persistence with the treatment and removal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 It can knock the algae back but it will not solve the problem. Once the algae dies, it will break down and new algae will grow back from the released nutrients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 Right, this just helps kill the algae so you can remove the trapped excess nutrients through filtration, water changes, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 dinoflagellates are not technically an algae. However, this treatment of lights/kalk can reduce the level of infestation to a controllable level. Many folks, myself included, have seen dinoflagellates get worse after changing water more frequently. Here is a link to the thread I made when I was fighting it. http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/40472-the-law-of-the-reef/page__p__342358__fromsearch__1entry342358 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 dinoflagellates are not technically an algae. Good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firecrackerbob October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 +1 with Chad- it really wont be that simple. depending on your level of infestation you may be looking at a real headache and losses-dinos almost made me give up the hobby. I lost all of my snails and about 30% of my corals ( and it probably would have been worse, but I had already lost a good amount of my stock to a crash...) something else to do for this- make sure you spot siphon out as much of the slime as you can on a daily or every other day dasis. I found in my case the stuff formed thick globs of snot that could be pretty easily sucked out of hte tank. to get rid of mine I had to bake out some of my base rock, dose kalk about 10 times to the point I had precipitation(which caked over my entire tank, including the glass and jammed all powerheads-all fun to clean out), spot siphoined, tunrned of lights for 5days, changed bulbs, and have not run my lights longer than 6hrs a day for about 6 mo now.... its been a long ride but ive been dino free for about 3mo now... like all things in this hobby, changes can be made, but it takes time... hopfully your situation is better than mine was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimboy123 October 4, 2011 Author Share October 4, 2011 Well, the lights are off and the canister filter is hopefully on its way. I'll keep you posted on how it works out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rangerD275 October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 I also went through a bad case of dinos. Strangely enough Microbe Lift special blend seemed to knock them out. I tried lights out for five days and they just came back 3 weeks later (BTW lights out for dinos means tank wrapped in black trash bags) . I used the microbe lift and it wiped them out. Also if you dose solid carbons (i.e. vodka) it will get worse. I think someone said this, but water changes will make it worse also. I would try the microbe lift, it's only a couple bucks and it definitely can't hurt. I will warn you that it stinks BAD, I would do it when no one will be home for a while. Smells like dirty skimmer x10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad October 24, 2011 Share October 24, 2011 How goes it, Braden? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 October 24, 2011 Share October 24, 2011 sorry i have not read this whole thread but did you try more flow? Seems like its in a dead spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now