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Help!! Algae ID

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by StormyMoe, Jul 3, 2017.

  1. StormyMoe

    134
    Waukee
    Ratings:
    +50 / 0 / -0
    I've had my 90g up and running for a few months now and I've been fighting some sort of algae that I can't seem to beat... or identify. Before setting up my 90 I had a dino outbreak in a 45g that I successfully got rid of by dosing hydrogen peroxide so I tried that again thinking I had dinos but to no avail. I did about a month long stint of the peroxide daily and also tried Vibrant after reading some reviews online.

    The algae is almost like a sheet of bubbles, is clear for the most part, and is located only on the rock and not the sand bed. I tried not dosing the peroxide for about 10 days, and didn't do much else beside clean the glass once, hoping to see more of the string like algae I saw previously but there was no change to the overall appearance.

    I've got a ball of chaeto in my sump that's a little bigger than a softball when I compress it together and seems to be doing really well. I've taken an airline tube and siphoned off everything I could a few times while I was dosing peroxide but it just came back. I haven't tried a complete blackout yet, though I did reduce my light period by a few hours. Not currently running GFO as I'm worried it would just be expended in a couple of days. All water is from a brand new BRS 4 stage and the inline TDI meter is showing 0. All parameters are normal including Mg.

    All corals, all 6 frags is all, are doing really well and don't seem to be bothered by the algae but I'm hesitant to add anymore until I figure out what's going on. Anyone know what I'm dealing with or have some suggestions? Thanks!
     

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  2. blackx-runner Administrator Website Team Leadership Team

    Cedar Rapids, IA
    Ratings:
    +738 / 5 / -0
    Interesting looking algae. Not sure what it is.
    What kind of rock and where did you get it from? Being only on your rock I would guess that you have a significant amount of phosphate and nutrients bound up in the rocks that is feeding the algae.
     
  3. StormyMoe

    134
    Waukee
    Ratings:
    +50 / 0 / -0
    The rock is BRS Reef Saver that I had in a plastic tub with a powerhead for at least 2 weeks. While it was in there I was dosing lanthium chloride to remove phosphates. Once it tested 0 I rinsed it well and put it in the tank. Maybe I didn't do as good of a job as I thought with the LC.
     
  4. blackx-runner Administrator Website Team Leadership Team

    Cedar Rapids, IA
    Ratings:
    +738 / 5 / -0
    sounds like you went through all the right steps with the rock. How's your clean up crew? Anything you have munching on the stuff that you can add more of?
    Hopefully its something that will pass with regular maintenance and time. Lot's of things pop up with new tanks that are part of the cycle and maturing process. I'd say you're on track with your methods to beat it. Just keep trying and hopefully you'll get it under control.
     
  5. StormyMoe

    134
    Waukee
    Ratings:
    +50 / 0 / -0
    Clean up crew consists of some crabs and nassarius but nothing seems to be touching them. Took the pics into the LFS and they're thinking a strain of dinos still. Guess I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and hope for the best.
     
  6. StormyMoe

    134
    Waukee
    Ratings:
    +50 / 0 / -0
    Personally I like to read success stories when it comes to people beating algae in their tanks so I'm happy to report I've been able to beat, or got lucky with, whatever this stuff was. The things that seemed to work for me were: dosing Vibrant, siphoning off as much as I could pretty much daily with an airline tube, and watching how much I feed. Could have been possible there were still some phosphates leaching out of the rock I suppose and it finally was done too. In any case, back to adding livestock!
     
  7. blackx-runner Administrator Website Team Leadership Team

    Cedar Rapids, IA
    Ratings:
    +738 / 5 / -0
    Good to hear. Glad you didn't get discouraged when things weren't looking the best.
     
  8. Fence13 Experienced Reefkeeper

    Des Moines
    Ratings:
    +300 / 1 / -0
    Dose some Vibrant and it'll get rid of it. Is a great motto for algae issues.

    I've also heard that h2o2 works well but needs to be done very carefully. I've used Vibrant to get rid of bubble algae infestation on a fish only tank, and I've used h2o2 to get rid of byropsis. Even if it's bacteria related, the vibrant should out compete it.
     
  9. jeffmr4 Well-Known ReefKeeper GIRS Member

    304
    Marion, IA
    Ratings:
    +56 / 0 / -0
    I have something that looks very similar. I think it is dinoflagellates. I'm glad to hear the Vibrant worked. Am going to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
     
  10. DangerJ Well-Known ReefKeeper

    894
    Des Moines, IA
    Ratings:
    +322 / 4 / -0
    I may be way off, but that looks more like a sponge than algae...?
     
  11. Bud Loves Bacon Website Team Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member Vendor

    West Des Moines, IA
    Ratings:
    +1,818 / 14 / -0
    I had to take a second look at the pics - I see what you mean @DangerJ@DangerJ in some of those it looks like sponges, but those are typically found on the shade-side of the rock (at least, they are for me). If you look really close, you can see fine algae strings so it's definitely algae.
     

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