Do I Have Dinoflagellates?

[animalrie]

So I just set up my new 24g Fluval m60 about a month ago. I tested the water after 2 weeks and saw high nitrites, no ammonia, and no nitrates. Tested again throughout the week and saw the nitrites drop and a few nitrates appear.

I went out and bought 5 snails and 5 blue leg hermits. They went to town on the brown algae in the tank (that I assumed was diatoms) and after a couple of days became fairly inactive.

Anyway, after doing some research, I'm nervous that what I have is dinoflagellates and not diatoms. I've included a picture but here are the characteristics of the algae:

• Short brown/green hairs
• Bubbles at the top
• Disintegrates if I blow it with a turkey baster
• Only on the rock as far as I can see (sand is black)
• Hasn't grown too much after it appeared. The spots the snails/crabs ate still haven't grown back after 4+ days

So my question is: is this algae dinoflagellates or diatoms?

None of my hermits or snails appeared to have died but they have stopped eating from what I can tell. So is this just because they're all full from eating so much, or could they have been poisoned by dinoflagellates? My one nassarius snail ventures to the top of the tank every night and chills there so not sure if that's his own weird quirk or a sign of something bad.

I would really appreciate any help you can give me! After reading about dinoflagellates I'm so scared that could be the problem.

Thank you!

 

[animalrie]

Whoops! Forgot to include the pic.

 

[animalrie]

Here are microscope pics of them

 

[SAT]

You're pictures aren't quite clear enough to be definitive... there are too many possible shapes of both types. However, this being a brand new tank, I suggest patience. It's pretty normal for nuisance algae to be a problem at this stage. If the slime persists after the nutrient levels are under control, try increasing the water flow.

 

[SAT]

BTW, there are RC members who specifically look for threads with zero replies. When you add posts to your thread before getting a reply, your thread is less likely to be noticed. Also, you are somewhat more likely to get a helpful response to questions like this in the "New to the Hobby" forum.

Hope that helps.

 

[animalrie]

Oh gotcha! Thanks for the advice