HELP - Algae ID - dinoflagellate? calothrix? other?

my name is mike

New member
I have an algae problem. It all started when I was running my biopellet reactor effluent into my skimmer. I did not realize that the mesh wheel was clogged up and therefore compromising my skimming ability. Organics built up and algae showed up. I have since taken the biopellet reactor offline.

The first battle was red cyano on the substrate. That has since been controlled, but I am not left with this golden brownish, somewhat soft, kinda snotty stuff clinging to my rocks. From online pics, it looks somewhere between dinoflagellates and calothrix. But to be honest, it doesn't seem to fit perfectly into either category. It doesn't have a ton of bubbles in it, perhaps some, but they seem random and not be coming from the algae itself.

It covers the rocks mostly and somewhat the glass, but not the substrate. Most all my SPS have been over run with it (one picture you can see a struggling pokerstar monti). It even seems to stick to what look like healthy corals (not just the bleached bits). I still have some red cyano in a few select spots, but it stays in check for the most part.

I have been doing weekly 10% water changes. Siphoning the rocks. Scrubbing where I can get to with a tooth brush. Keeping carbon and GFO fresh. It looks a lot better than it did, but still not great. If I went a week without maintenance I think it would take over completely.

I really need is an identification so I know how to attack it. The process of killing dinos is very specific and I want to make sure I have them before I go through all the trouble.

Parameters
SG 1.026, Ph 8.0 "“ 8.2, Temp 75-76, Alk 8.5 (hanna), Calc 450 (salifert), Mag 1500 (salifert), Nitrate 5 (red sea), Phosphate .015 (hanna phosphorous)

Tank specs
50 gallon glass tank (36" long x 18" deep x 20" tall)
Eshops R100 sump ~15 gallons (chaeto chamber that doesn't grow for some reason)
Glass holes 700gph overflow with mag5 return pump
SWC 120 cone skimmer
Bulk reef media reactor with ROX carbon and GFO mixed
2 vortech mp10 (anti sync short pulse mode)
4 Retrofit t5 36" bulbs with individual reflectors
ATI bulbs, 2 blue, 1 white, 1 purple (10 hour photoperiod)
2 boost led par30 led spot bulbs (4 hour photoperiod)
Apex lite controller
Bulk reef dosing pumps (B-ionic 2 part)
Bulk reef RODI with double deionization for 0tds water
Elos auto top of (RODI)
Dry pukani rock from bulk reef
Araglive black Hawaii sand bed "“ 1"

algae ID 1.jpg

algae ID 2.jpg

algae ID 3.jpg
 
Just ordered a silicate test. I'll check that before I do anything.

Growth seemed to have slowed somewhat over the last couple days. Fingers crossed that trend continues. The more think about it, I believe it was a side effect of having a bioreactor in combination with a skimmer that wasn't pulling it's weight (because of the clogged mesh wheel). This caused tons of bacteria to get into the system without being properly removed. Coral death and mystery algae followed.
 
I know this is old, but did you ever get your problem fixed? I'm having an issue and it looks exactly like yours did...
 
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