I tried to do the paper towel test to see if I have Dinoflagellates in my tank.
I pulled out a few strands of brown hairy growth off my rock (that I suspected is dinoflangellates), and placed in a clean bottle of tank water. I shook the bottle vigorously for about 2 minutes. However, much of the hairy stuff didn't dissolve. Should Dinoflagellate have broken down easily? Or should I have used a more mechanical method such as sticking a tooth brush in there to try to break it apart?
After pouring the water through a paper towel, I let the water sit in the window for several hours, and there wasn't any growth inside. Either I don't have dinoflangellates, or I didn't break the stands down completely and the papertowel caught everything?
Don't know if the stuff on the paper towel is cyano or GHA?
The frustrating thing is that my clean up crew isn't interested in eating it, and it is growing on soft coral tissue such as my Purple People Eater Palythoa stems.
Photos below:
1st picture to the left is before shaking, 2nd picture is after 2 minutes of shaking, 3rd picture is the paper towel after pouring the water and the last picture is the clear bottle after several hours.
Thanks
I pulled out a few strands of brown hairy growth off my rock (that I suspected is dinoflangellates), and placed in a clean bottle of tank water. I shook the bottle vigorously for about 2 minutes. However, much of the hairy stuff didn't dissolve. Should Dinoflagellate have broken down easily? Or should I have used a more mechanical method such as sticking a tooth brush in there to try to break it apart?
After pouring the water through a paper towel, I let the water sit in the window for several hours, and there wasn't any growth inside. Either I don't have dinoflangellates, or I didn't break the stands down completely and the papertowel caught everything?
Don't know if the stuff on the paper towel is cyano or GHA?
The frustrating thing is that my clean up crew isn't interested in eating it, and it is growing on soft coral tissue such as my Purple People Eater Palythoa stems.
Photos below:
1st picture to the left is before shaking, 2nd picture is after 2 minutes of shaking, 3rd picture is the paper towel after pouring the water and the last picture is the clear bottle after several hours.
Thanks
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