algae?bacteria ? identication

[refonpit]

Just making sure I have the right identification on this. it is "red slime" right? I have it all over my tank. Try to clean it with a turkey baster everyday. Getting to be a pain in butt. Have gotten some stuff called "RedSlim Control". Has anyone here ever used it?
My water seems ok. Nitrates 0
Calcium 440
pH 8.4
alkalinity was low 5.8 dKh
salinity 1.027
water temp. 76
Also have problems with green algae being all over glass walls. Have to wipe down everyday. Amazing how fast it all grows. I go to work and within 9 hrs. its hard to see the inside of tank. I just replaces all bulbs in t5 nova extreme. Hoping that can take care of some of it.
Doing water changes of 20% every other week. Also bought a new protein skimmer. Reef Octopus 160. Wow a skimmer. Tons of gunk the very first day.
I believe all this algae came from old protein skimmer dying and having to wait 3 weeks on a new one. I also had 3 fish die that I could never find.
The tank is a 72 bow front with a 20 gallon sump. I have 3 powerheads and a korolla 3 (?). I think I have enough water flow. I have directed them to try and get all dead spots. I have also reduced lights from 12 hrs. a day to 10.
Can anyone think of what else to do? Some of this red slim is starting to get on my corals. Thanx a bunch, Debbie

 

[ade]

If it is cyanobacteria, there is a few things that can bring it on. Any changes in your tank, over feeding...
Once you get your tank parameters in line it should go away if not there is an easy fix. Fresh water Maracyn,turn off skimmer and carbon if used, just mix 2 x tabs (crushed) with fresh water and add to sump/tank. Do that for four days. On the seveth day do a 20% water change then add new carbon to your system. You can then turn your skimmer back on but at its lowest setting, it might go crazy for a while but it will calm down. Freshwater Maracyn is reef safe and it is a lot cheaper than the other cyanobacteria removal treatments out there.

 

[ThurlowR]

Just making sure I have the right identification on this. it is "red slime" right? I have it all over my tank. Try to clean it with a turkey baster everyday. Getting to be a pain in butt. Have gotten some stuff called "RedSlim Control". Has anyone here ever used it?
My water seems ok. Nitrates 0
Calcium 440
pH 8.4
alkalinity was low 5.8 dKh
salinity 1.027
water temp. 76
Also have problems with green algae being all over glass walls. Have to wipe down everyday. Amazing how fast it all grows. I go to work and within 9 hrs. its hard to see the inside of tank. I just replaces all bulbs in t5 nova extreme. Hoping that can take care of some of it.
Doing water changes of 20% every other week. Also bought a new protein skimmer. Reef Octopus 160. Wow a skimmer. Tons of gunk the very first day.
I believe all this algae came from old protein skimmer dying and having to wait 3 weeks on a new one. I also had 3 fish die that I could never find.
The tank is a 72 bow front with a 20 gallon sump. I have 3 powerheads and a korolla 3 (?). I think I have enough water flow. I have directed them to try and get all dead spots. I have also reduced lights from 12 hrs. a day to 10.
Can anyone think of what else to do? Some of this red slim is starting to get on my corals. Thanx a bunch, Debbie

Looks like the start of Dinos to me. I got mine to go away by reducing light cycle to 3 hrs for a couple weeks. Once they left they never came back. My levels at the time were perfect so Im not sure what caused them.

 

[ade]

Dinos?

 

[ThurlowR]

Dinos?

Dinoflagellates - http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=81

 

[ade]

Good thread

 

[mike68]

the second pic looks like cyano to me. has a definte red tint. i hope its not dinos i've been down that road its not very pleasant.

 

[ThurlowR]

the second pic looks like cyano to me. has a definte red tint. i hope its not dinos i've been down that road its not very pleasant.

The clear "air" bubbles is what makes me think dino

 

[refonpit]

more pics of (whine) dino

more pics of (whine) dino

Read replies. Thanks everyone. I read the thread on algae identification. Im thinking dinos now as well. If its possible I think I may have a mixture of both. Unfortunately i think the dinos are winning. Ill go the ThurlowR method first. In the thread it said to boil the rocks and sun bake for 3 days. Whoa!!! What to do with all the corals. Ill be turning the lights down. 3 hrs. a day. I have read were some have turn lights off for 5-7 days. Even covered with a blanket.Im attaching more pics to see if this will help.

 

[mike68]

You really need to get the ALK up as well those stony corals don't really like it to be that low. When i had DInos i raised my ph to as close to 8.5 as i could using kalk. thats what got rid of them for me the lower light thing didn't help mine much.

 

[ThurlowR]

You really need to get the ALK up as well those stony corals don't really like it to be that low. When i had DInos i raised my ph to as close to 8.5 as i could using kalk. thats what got rid of them for me the lower light thing didn't help mine much.

I agree on all points with mike. If theyre real bad I would also raise the ph. I didnt resort to that but I also only had a slight breakout.

 

[mikimis]

That is positively cyanobacteria growing on top of dinoflagellates. You need to reduce nitrate and phosphate levels. Do a big water change (absolutely must be with RO!) and then run some chemipure or GFO. The dinos will remain until they have eaten all of the phosphates they can. You need to stay on top of it with the baster, otherwise they will film over everything, even if it doesn't look like it is. Manual removal of larger clumps will expedite the process. Shortening the photo period helps, as it seems that it factors into their metabolism. They produce the bubbles over the course of the day as they consume the phosphates.