Algae Mania!!!

[wedgee]

HELP GUYS...my tank slowly getting overrun by these stuff. I dont know exactly which one u guys call it; dino or cyano rite? Anyways, here's my tank:

This one shows them amongst mushrooms, and they are even producing tiny air bubbles!!!

[wedgee]

This is the first rock to have the stuff popping out initially; it's under the strongest light, so i guess it was the perfect catalyst? I observed the stuff, and it's not sticky or floating like someone described b4 in another thread, and i can scratch it off with my fingers... Wat the hell is this stuff? My mushrooms and a bubble seem to be fine, and nothing has died in the tank (in fact, more stuff have been popping out from the rocks after i put the lights in!) HELP....

[wedgee]

SIGH, there's more....there are tons of worm or individual-fur like stuff on my tank walls! Wat are these!?!?! They dont seem to be moving, but they can sway in the current...HELP!!!

[wedgee]

I've just tested the water for NO2 and NO3, but zilch! Now all i know how to do is to change water, change water...

[Achilles Tang]

It seems to be dinoflagettes.

They are photosynthetic so they do thrive under light.

There may be no detectable NO2 or NO3 but you could have a high DOM or phosphate level. Did you test for those?

It is pointless to just change water... you have to use a toothbrush to scrape them off and syphon as much as possible.

If not, make sure they are suspended in the water column and use filter wool to strain the water. Once the water is clearer, throw away the filter wool to avoid them reproducing or reintroducing them back into the system.

Those fur like stuff that is not moving is a strain of hair algae.

If it moves quickly like little fleas, then its pods, which is good.

[Tanzy]

It's definitely dinoflagellate. Good luck!

I've replied a few times as to how to get rid of them, if you do a search, you'll find them.

[clowntrigger]

wedgee, pertaining to those fur like thing, is it brown in color? I have those on the back of my tank and I have throw in some snails and they do eat it. Read the previous post that I have posted. Get hold of those snail if what you are seeing is the same as mine. Of course, this is only short term solution, the long term you need to find the source. How old is your tank?

[bawater]

wedgee, your're not alone- i'm in the midst of a battle(almost daily)

water changes won't do much,apart from keeping ur water quality good.

search & read tanzy's methods-in short: 1 day black out, then 4hrs light a day & raise by 1 hour each day till back to normal.

& try to lower phosphates(i'm pretty much sure this the main fuel-& i'm guessing should be a combination of our tap water & fish food).

Can't stop feeding & can't stop changing water(i wish!)

But Keong seong@havelock has a phosphate remover-i think abt $18-$20(comes with 2 packs). i've yet to pay a visit to try this stuff.

i'm into mine 3weeks already. phew! got rid of it on the substrate but now its on the back walls!!!!. hasn't affected any corals much but anemone won't go near the stuff & actually back away from any stuff growing near.

One thing though- a small leather polyp has sprouted on the stuff?? on the rock the parent is on.

[Phang]

I had this in my tank just a few days ago...

and this is what I did which seems to bring out the expected results..

Use a toothbrush brushed at rocks the dinos are attached on and siphon them out... and of course at the same time, giving them a clean up..

Next get Seachem's Phos guard... place these into cotton bags and leave it in the overflow compartment..

Had a mixture of Seachem's Matrix Carbon in the proportion of 2 parts carbon to 1 part Pros guard....

so far so good...

Will most probably leave the stuff in there for about 2 weeks......

[loonz]

wedgee,

I was hit by those stuff (dinoflegellates) until i had to overhaul the tank...and then i started using a DI unit for water changes and top-offs...i havent noticed them since, but i'm crossing my fingers...

[Tanzy]

I've used Seachem Phosguard to good effect. Helps a lot as long as your wallet can keep up! I use 1/8 of a bottle at a time in a bag and the contents are changed every week.

[Limpc]

Hi,

From all the replies, phosphates is the culprit of the dino...... thing. Any idea, why phosphates exists ? If phosphates were to be eliminated, would there be any side effect to the livestock?

Limpc

[Tanzy]

The culprit for high phosphate levels is the lack of an adequate nutrient export mechnism for the bioload of the system.

Phosphate is found in the food you feed the fish and corals. It's everywhere, bones, DNA, enzymes...etc, but there will be no shortage of phosphate in the tank with good feeding. Dissolved phosphates(HPO4, PO4, etc) in the water is the problem. There are two types, inorganic phosphates and organic phosphates(DNA, RNA, sugars...etc). Our testkits can only detect inorganic phosphates but the level of organic phosphate is often higher than inorganic. Algae can utilise both form of phosphates very quickly, so in a mature system, phosphate is not detectable. If phosphate is detectable, it must be really high!

Zero phosphate level is impossible to obtain. Elimination of phosphate is by good skimming, macroalgae growth or absorption resins.

[wedgee]

wedgee,

I was hit by those stuff (dinoflegellates) until i had to overhaul the tank...and then i started using a DI unit for water changes and top-offs...i havent noticed them since, but i'm crossing my fingers...

Hey, i'm going the same way as u...RO or DI unit! I feel it's better to eliminate or minimise the causes right from the start (water), instead of using filtration or liquids to remove them later, when they are already in the tank... Btw, where did u get yr DI unit, and how much? Is it good? Wat diff is it from RO?

[bawater]

i checked wif PUB, phosphates <0.1 in tap water (<0.23 in NewWater)

its ok to get rid of this small amount using a RO/DI unit but the main factor is still in the fish foods-organic substances in the tank,its an ongoing process? only resins/removers can get rid of that- well! or least lower it to trace amount.

[loonz]

There are RO ###### DI units out there, but they are quite expensive. The expensive part is the RO unit. I got my DI from Patrick at Marinelife. First stick at about 70bucks, subsequent recharge(he just gives u a recharged stick) is 50.

I asked around on the US forums (reefcentral, reefs,etc...), they said DI is more effective than RO. But of cos if you can afford it, get a dual system!

[Tanzy]

DI gives you the purest water, but people add RO infront of DI to save the resins and reduce cost of replacing it. I got my Spectrapure four-stage RO/DI directly from the manufacturer in US at www.spectrapure.com. I use tapwater for my tank though, the RO/DI is for lab use.

[Phang]

Hahahaa...

Tanzy's our resident Sea Turtle??????

[bawater]

just went to petmart to get a bottle of seachem phosGuard, hopefully it helps.......the instructions says change every 4 days???- might as well sprinkle gold dust into my tank as well!.

phew!- i'll follow resident tanzy & use a week between changes.

phang- cotton bag? can use coconut squeeze bag from ntuc?- got some media bags at home but holes too big.

[Phang]

Change every 4 days????

Don't remember seeing that???

Yap... That's what I use... the good old coconut squeeze bag.....

[wedgee]

Hmm, one question abt normal household used products tho...do they leech or contain any harmful stuff which would affect the corals in the long run? I guess we really dont know for sure, so is it advisable to trade a few dollars for whatever the risks? I, for one, do support the use of un-aquatic yet practical tools (using a japanese brand cooking bag for smoothing out micro-bubbles from my skimmer; cost me just $2), cause i think brand name and 'specialisation' is the manufacturer's excuse to charge more for simple objects!!!

[BarraCudaTM]

many of the equipment "made" for aquarium use are far too overpriced compared to their industrial counterparts.

For example, metal halides for aquarium use can cost a few thousand $$ and industrial metal halides only cost $100++

its mainly because of the looks and its "made for aquarium"

[Phang]

Change every 4 days????

Don't remember seeing that???

Yap... That's what I use... the good old coconut squeeze bag.....

BTW Brandon,

The good old coconut squeeze bag break open during my routine cleanup today... sort of unable to handle saltwater....

Agree with you guys that many times if we look around, we could get industrial counterparts to those equipments sold in LFS.....many times cheaper.....

Regarding Algae, I noticed some green strands that had developed on my Liverock...

Bought a sailfin tang just today... and now my liverock is clean....

[hongqixian]

Do you clean it with bleach? Bleach weakens the fabric.

[Phang]

Nah.... Jus placed it into my sump...

And the fabric sort of torn open when I did my routine maintenance.....

May have something to do with the fabric not Saltwater proof....