Dinoflagellates? If so how do I exterminate

[gizmoody]

I would very much appreciate your help if you can.

 

My tank is about 15 months old and I recently started dosing two part. Part of the sand bed was disturbed recently by my clown and also change in flow. I saw some brown stuff on the sand the next few days that made me think my tank was going through a mini cycle. I did a 25% water change and went away for 4 days. Came back tonight and more of my sand and now rocks are covered in brown stuff with air bubbles attached on the ends. It actually looks like dinoflagellates based on pics I saw online. I am sure it's not red slime algae (red slime remover didn't work). Below are a few quick cellphone pics.

 

1. Do you think these are dinoflagellates?

2. How do I deal with this? I read that no water changes helps to get rid of them.

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

Nishal

[surf&turf]

Looks like Cyano to me.

 

Have you tried increasing flow to those areas.

[Buucca]

From what I see in the pix it looks like diatoms, probably from the mini cycle you spoke of. Doing large water changes just worsens the situation IMO because all the fresh water knocks your bacteria out of balance. If its possible siphon water from your tank down to the sump with a fine filter bag over the end, and siphon as much a you can off the rocks, coral and sand. The red algae meds won't affect it.

[gizmoody]

Looks like Cyano to me.

 

Have you tried increasing flow to those areas.

 

I thought about doing that but hesitant about spending on a tunze right now. I have a closed loop system (Red Sea Max 250) and my just get something cheaper. Thanks.

[gizmoody]

From what I see in the pix it looks like diatoms, probably from the mini cycle you spoke of. Doing large water changes just worsens the situation IMO because all the fresh water knocks your bacteria out of balance. If its possible siphon water from your tank down to the sump with a fine filter bag over the end, and siphon as much a you can off the rocks, coral and sand. The red algae meds won't affect it.

 

I don't have a sump. Should I avoid water changes as much as possible for now? Thanks.

[firecrackerbob]

from the pic it looks pretty reddish to me- if so +1 on cyano. if its more brown than I would say dynos. I will defer to others on cyano, as thats probably the only nuisance that I havent dealt with... if its more brown(dynos) I can make some other recommendations...

[firecrackerbob]

BTW- you have a nice tank there! if you dont have a sump/fuge you might want add one if its any possibility. IMHO macro algaes really help balance a tank out.

[gizmoody]

from the pic it looks pretty reddish to me- if so +1 on cyano. if its more brown than I would say dynos. I will defer to others on cyano, as thats probably the only nuisance that I havent dealt with... if its more brown(dynos) I can make some other recommendations...

 

It looks brown and fuzzy but I am red green color blind. What are you recommendations for the dynos? Thanks!

[gizmoody]

BTW- you have a nice tank there! if you dont have a sump/fuge you might want add one if its any possibility. IMHO macro algaes really help balance a tank out.

 

Thanks!

[treesprite]

I don't see any dinoflagellates there.

[gizmoody]

Could an Alk drop from 10 to 7 during the last 4 days of not dosing cause a cyano outbreak?

[Jan]

It's hard to tell from the pictures. Dinoflagellates look like mucous. It looks like drippy bubbly mucous. The dinos I've seen in tanks are a pale brown gray. I've seen it look like it's dripping down the walls of the tank; thick, drippy, bubbly, brown, gray, gooey, yuck. Cyano will have bubblesTtoo. the bubbles often appear after the lights have been on for a little while. Once you turn the lights off and leave them off for a few hours the cyano appears as though it's going away. Lights on again and it gets darker and bubbles start to appear again. Each time getting darker and spreading more. I'd suggest doing a google image search on the internet for both; Cyanobacteria and Dinoflagellates. See which photos best match what you have. Test it with lights off for a day and then lights on for a few hours and see what happens.

[zygote2k]

An alk drop from 10 to 7 in 4 days is enough to bring out stressors on a reef.

Cyano is usually attracted to high nutrient/low flow areas.

Rather than use red slime remover since this is treating the symptom, I find ways to direct the currents by using deflection.

[F&Fmgr]

I don't see any dinoflagellates there.

 

why?

 

Giz... if youre curious to find out what it is then scope it. i've seen dinos short long bubblyh and not. If you want to fix the PROBLEM then definately raise alk and adde some carbon. If you maintin water chemistry and siphon as much as possible, it will subside. Icreased water movement is a control for pretty much any algae IME

Oh and like firecracker said macro is the best thing to outcompete these pest algaes.

[gizmoody]

Thank you very much for all of the great advice as your opinions really matter to me. One thing that is consistent is the mention of increased flow. Flow has worried me recently hence the disturbance of the sand by moving the output nozzles in my tank but maybe not enough as detritus has been building up over time in some areas but more so recently. I will pick um an MP40 today, clean my pumps in case they are less efficient now and siphon off as much of the brown/red stuff to start. I'll update here on what is working and probably bother you guys again if things aren't working. I do feel positive about increasing the flow and thanks again for your time.

[gizmoody]

It's hard to tell from the pictures. Dinoflagellates look like mucous. It looks like drippy bubbly mucous. The dinos I've seen in tanks are a pale brown gray. I've seen it look like it's dripping down the walls of the tank; thick, drippy, bubbly, brown, gray, gooey, yuck. Cyano will have bubblesTtoo. the bubbles often appear after the lights have been on for a little while. Once you turn the lights off and leave them off for a few hours the cyano appears as though it's going away. Lights on again and it gets darker and bubbles start to appear again. Each time getting darker and spreading more. I'd suggest doing a google image search on the internet for both; Cyanobacteria and Dinoflagellates. See which photos best match what you have. Test it with lights off for a day and then lights on for a few hours and see what happens.

 

Jan, you are right about it seeming to go away with light. It is cyano mixed with some hair algae which has been an issue that I had mostly under control but is starting up again. The combo of the cyano on the hair algae misled me. MP40 is in tank and has helped immensely and the tank is going dark for 3 days to get rid of the hair algae. On the positive side, the corals are growing like crazy. Thanks for your input everyone!