Help needed. Is this hair algae or Dino’s, or both?

[Monk005]

Nitrates are 0 or .4, depending on the reading from my Hanna nitrate HR. Phosphates are .09 or .04, again depending on the reading from the Hanna phosphate ULR.

Magnesium is 1360
Calcium is 400

Did a 3 day blackout when my previous tank sprung a leak and things improved greatly. Now we are going the other direction again, rapidly. I am almost positive there’s some hair algae in there, but I don’t know if that’s Dino’s or no.

I was convinced it was hair algae previously and wondered if part of the problem was that I have a HOB refugium that is see through on the back. I realized that my refugium light was shining at night and hitting the tank. I’ve blacked that out, but now I’m wondering if I should run my refugium light at the same time as the tank’s light, just in case some of it is still getting out from the top and hitting the tank.

Refugium light runs from 11 PM to 7 AM. Main light (blue only) runs from 2 PM to 10 PM. Is that too much light?

 

[Hunna]

Nitrates are reading low, because all that algae is eating them up most likely. A good temporary solution would be a sea hare to eat that algae up. That won’t solve the issue of what’s actually cause the algae growth though, so you’ll need to figure that out as well.

 

[Monk005]

Nitrates are reading low, because all that algae is eating them up most likely. A good temporary solution would be a sea hare to eat that algae up. That won’t solve the issue of what’s actually cause the algae growth though, so you’ll need to figure that out as well.

I tried a sea hare, but he died pretty quickly. It’s basically gotta be light or nutrients, right?

Is there something else I could use to eat it that wouldn’t damage my coral or send my rock tumbling.

 

[project1004]

I would get some more? flow in there and blow all those loose algae’s out of the tank. Snails and urchin are good cuc for hair algae.

You probably want to use tooth brush and keep it at minimum while bringing up the nutrients. If non works, I think reef flux tab? Works. I actually used that to beat the hair algae when my tank was initially setup. Managed it for about 3 month at bay (beating it with first method until I got tire of looking at em). Reef flux took care the rest within a week or so. Good luck,

 

[iu_gary]

The pictures are a bit tough for me to be sure but it looks a bit like bryopsis. It looks a bit more string like in the pic with the trumpet coral. You may need to treat the tank to kill it.

Gary

 

[kodock]

What size is the tank and need a better pic. Can you clean the glass and take another?

Looks like hair algae. Bryopsis would have fern like shapes and dinos would arguably be orange/brown. You could take a stern brush, scrub on everything, use a small micron mesh sock or net to catch the floating large chunks, and do a large water change, I’d say 50%. If the tank is getting any natural sunlight, block it. Turn red leds off, if you have that option.

Large Mexican turbos, maybe 4 here, and a zebrasomas tang (if your tank is big enough) with a long mouth should keep things at bay after. I’d do weekly water changes at 20% until you got the nutrients and lighting squared away.

 

[Monk005]

40g breeder

No red lights. Have a purple refugium light.

Also, just realized my emerald crab is eating one of my corals. Gonna have to deal with that…

Considering a royal tuxedo urchin.

 

[Monk005]

What size is the tank and need a better pic. Can you clean the glass and take another?

Looks like hair algae. Bryopsis would have fern like shapes and dinos would arguably be orange/brown. You could take a stern brush, scrub on everything, use a small micron mesh sock or net to catch the floating large chunks, and do a large water change, I’d say 50%. If the tank is getting any natural sunlight, block it. Turn red leds off, if you have that option.

Large Mexican turbos, maybe 4 here, and a zebrasomas tang (if your tank is big enough) with a long mouth should keep things at bay after. I’d do weekly water changes at 20% until you got the nutrients and lighting squared away.

Please see above post. Hopefully those pictures are better.

I’ve gone through a bunch of Mexican turbo snails. They just keep dying.

 

[kodock]

Please see above post. Hopefully those pictures are better.

I’ve gone through a bunch of Mexican turbo snails. They just keep dying.

Yes, much better pics, thanks! Looks like just regular hair algae and some dino snot. Hair algae can be tackled by a clean up crew or certain livestock. Dinos are going to be contained by starving it or unique stuff like silicate dosing, or creating a more diverse biome so that other algae or things like phytoplankton can compete for the nutrients… sort of like bring diatoms back in to overeat the nutrients, instead of the dinos. That’s what happens in my cycle experience.. diatoms, taken over by hair algae, then taken over by coraline algae.. maybe some dino scares here and there.

Dinos thrive on high phosphates, maybe your test is off? Are you using RODI water or Primed tap? Anything potentially leeching? Feeding too much/Food pellets not being eaten and dissolving at the bottom?

I’d do the massive water change and replace the HOB refugium with an HOB skimmer (assuming you have no sump), do another blackout after the water change and stick to water changes for nutrient export. I would get a baby Scopas Tang and rehome it once it got larger, or use it as motivation to get a bigger tank. Always a fun experience to establish a stable form of mechanical, livestock or manual method to keep the algae at bay. Hope this helps.

Good link here.

https://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide

 

[chaples55]

I highly recommend Flux Rx. I've used it a couple times with great results on hair algae and bryopsis, with no negative effects on any other livestock. IME clean up crew (including tangs) are really bad at eating full grown hair algae (except maybe sea hares, if they stay alive...). They're better at preventing it / eating it when it's small.

I would do all of these in roughly this order:

1. Manually remove a lot of it
2. Big water change
3. Flux Rx to kill off what's left
4. Add more clean up crew of your choice (ideally a variety, especially snails and fish).
5. Optimize skimmer/fuge (nutrients may rise now that it's not bound in the algae)
6. Optional: add some carbon dosing if nutrients are still a problem after step 5 (I like plain white vinegar)

 

[Hunna]

One thing that keeps being mentioned, is CuC dying. You said the sea hare AND turbo snails are dying shortly after being put in. That means something is very off with your water chemistry. Some big water changes are definitely needed.

 

[kodock]

One thing that keeps being mentioned, is CuC dying. You said the sea hare AND turbo snails are dying shortly after being put in. That means something is very off with your water chemistry. Some big water changes are definitely needed.

Agreed. OP. What is your salinity? I found CuC’s intolerant to higher salinity (by accident), at least salinity swings. Unless they aren’t getting acclimated, abundant bristleworms eating them at night, or some other bizzare PH/temp issue.

 

[Monk005]

Yes, much better pics, thanks! Looks like just regular hair algae and some dino snot. Hair algae can be tackled by a clean up crew or certain livestock. Dinos are going to be contained by starving it or unique stuff like silicate dosing, or creating a more diverse biome so that other algae or things like phytoplankton can compete for the nutrients… sort of like bring diatoms back in to overeat the nutrients, instead of the dinos. That’s what happens in my cycle experience.. diatoms, taken over by hair algae, then taken over by coraline algae.. maybe some dino scares here and there.

Dinos thrive on high phosphates, maybe your test is off? Are you using RODI water or Primed tap? Anything potentially leeching? Feeding too much/Food pellets not being eaten and dissolving at the bottom?

I’d do the massive water change and replace the HOB refugium with an HOB skimmer (assuming you have no sump), do another blackout after the water change and stick to water changes for nutrient export. I would get a baby Scopas Tang and rehome it once it got larger, or use it as motivation to get a bigger tank. Always a fun experience to establish a stable form of mechanical, livestock or manual method to keep the algae at bay. Hope this helps.

Good link here.

https://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide

I have an HOB skimmer, and a HOB Seachem Tidal 75 filter with Matrix in it. I need to do a better job of cleaning the filter and media in it. Nitrates are almost nonexistent and phosphates register but are low. I’m testing with a Hanna checker that I’m assuming is accurate.

I’ve quit feeding pellets, though I have to use pellets when I’m out of town as I don’t trust my help to do the frozen food correctly.

The tank was eaten up with hair algae before I had to switch to the new tank. It looked like a lawn. 2-3 days of blackout really helped that, as did getting the refugium light from shining off the back of the tank. It feels like I’m closer, just need to take the next step.

I considered going with fluconozale to kill the algae, but everything I read says that could cause Dino’s to explode. Is that because the hair algae is currently eating the phosphates and if I get rid of that, the Dino’s will feed on it?

 

[Monk005]

One thing that keeps being mentioned, is CuC dying. You said the sea hare AND turbo snails are dying shortly after being put in. That means something is very off with your water chemistry. Some big water changes are definitely needed.

I’ve got Nassarius snails that have been alive for a year. Have a good hermit population as well. The only ones that keep dying are the turbo snails. Would high phosphates cause that, even if the algae is eating it up to the point that my tests show it is in check?

 

[Monk005]

Agreed. OP. What is your salinity? I found CuC’s intolerant to higher salinity (by accident), at least salinity swings. Unless they aren’t getting acclimated, abundant bristleworms eating them at night, or some other bizzare PH/temp issue.

I have a new bottle of calibration fluid coming, but I’ve kept my tank at 35ppt. I’ll recheck today and report back. Temp stays stable between 78-79. Usually at 78.5.

I’ll check ph and alkalinity as well, today.

Someone asked earlier what kind of water I was using. I’m using RODI water that is currently reading 2 on the TDS. I’ve ordered a new DI to get that back to 0.

I really appreciate everyone responding here! Please offer all the help you can. I feel like I’m close to getting this worked out.

I did a 20% water change a couple of days ago. Is it okay to do another change today or tomorrow?

 

[sumtingwong]

whats the condition of your RO DI system? whats the TDS coming out of it?

 

[Monk005]

Should I add anything to spur diatom growth or coralline algae growth, or will that sort itself out once I get my water in check?

 

[Monk005]

whats the condition of your RO DI system? whats the TDS coming out of it?

2, which is odd as I put a new DI on it in January and the rest of the system was replaced in October.

I have very hard water, though.

 

[kodock]

Should I add anything to spur diatom growth or coralline algae growth, or will that sort itself out once I get my water in check?

I tagged a great read below. Coraline won’t take over the dinos, just that it can kick off after hair algae runs its course and you have stable cal, alk and mag levels. Dosing silicates to bring diatoms back in has had success stories, but seems complicated as there is no arguably solid silicate level test (to my knowledge).

Dosing bacteria, like Microbacter 7, and seeding your tank with other algae may help.

Try googling “getting rid of dinos in reef tank reef2reef” and see what pops up on their site forums. Lots of options, anecdotes and data.

Just start with the big clean up and weekly 10-20% water changes, along with working to keep a clean up crew alive, dose nitrifying bacteria, limit phosphates and excessive nitrates. Not sure what your sps sucess is, but adding corals that can consume the nitrates might be a help. Either way I wouldn’t expect immediate results, this will take time. Probably 2 weeks if not 4. I’ve had tanks that had algae problems similar and it’s just trial and error and patience.

A Dinoflagellate Treatment Guide

As the title suggests, this is intended as a short guide on what to do when you suspect dinoflagellates are trying to overtake your system. It is an attempt to boil down the protocols discussed across 11,000 posts in this "Are you Tired" thread...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Steve Burton]

+1 on @chaples55 post, except I'd try API AlgaeFix instead of Flux Rx. Fluconazole is great for Bryopsis which i don't believe you have. Flux RX is fluconazole. I don't believe it's effective for hair algae. I've used the highly overpiced Vibrant with great success, which we now know is the same as the much less costly API AlgaeFix.