looks like someone sneezed in my tank

[Marco3995]

I have this brown alge that looks like a light brown mucus from someones nose! It covers the surface of rocks and gravel and chokes out low lying corals. The "mucus" also rises about1/4 - 1/2 inch in the tank and sways in the current, you can easily blow it off with a powerhead and get rid of the base of the alge as well. However, in the next 10-15 hours you can see it on the gravel substrate again and then forms on the rocks, and corals, after that. Not sure what it is.

My water parameters look like this:
Nitrite =0
Nitrate =10 (lowest reading on test kit)
Ammonia=0
PH =8.2 (and has been constant)
Alk. =9 dkh (and has been constant)
Calcium = 400 mg/l (has been constant)
Phosphate= 0
Calcium reactor PH 7.4 (coming out drip line into sump)

My 2 175 MH bulbs have been replaced a month ago as well as my 2 actnics.
I use RO water and have my membrane tested to make sure it is still working and it is.

Can`t fiqure this one out


Thanks


Thanks for the help this one is baffeling m

 

[inwall75]

Now you know why people call dinoflagellates "snot algae" don't you. It's because it looks and feels like snot.

Crank up your skimmer, reduce your feeding, lower your photoperiod, and drip Kalk 24/7 to increase your alk. They don't like high alk nor high pH so this should help a lot. Siphoning is a good thing to do as well.

 

[Marco3995]

If I drip in Kalk and raise my alk. then my calcium drops right? Cannot I just increase my drips from my Calcium reactor and raise alk. in balance with Calcium? I am still learing the ropes of water chemistry.

 

[Marco3995]

Have you ever heard of taking the water from the main tank and plumb it in to the protein skimmer even if you have a sump to place all these parts.

I read this somewhere stating that this helps clear the dinoflagellates faster by cutting to the chase, I assume.
You ever hear of this?

 

[inwall75]

Dino's are the most annoying thing that I've ever dealt with in my life. However, they are beatable so have no fear.

Because Kalk is a balanced additive (both Calcium and Alk) you won't drop your Calcium a lot. In fact, temporarily, I would lower the amount of effluent from your reactor because it will have a depressing factor on pH and you will get your Ca from the Kalk. However, you are correct....if you tried to boost your alk with buffer alone, your Ca would likely go down. The unfortunate thing is that you want your pH raised as well and that is hard to do simply changing your effluent. That's why I recommend Kalk instead of increasing your effluent.

At night, when your lights are off, you might want to consider adding filter bag model FB1 from aquatic ecosystems to your sump. Then wash and change daily each morning. Siphoning is good but you likely have noticed that the population can grow exponentially in a day or two.

I had success by leaving the lights off for a couple of days, running the 1 micron filter bag at night, and keeping the alk and pH increased for several days in a row. Obviously, the day before I started this, I siphoned up as much snot as I could. I tried this and I tried that. Finally I did all of the above at once and I suspect it was the combination of hitting them from all sides that fixed it.

In terms of the protein skimmer question, this is the most effective way to use a PS assuming that it can handle the flow from your main tank. However, there are a number of variables and I cannot say if this is a good idea for your particular setup or not with the information that I have at this point.

 

[Marco3995]

Thanks Curt, your info is helpfull. I did some research on dinoflagellates and its all really very interesting.

 

[inwall75]

You are more than welcome.

I personally (and I suspect you as well) prefer dinoflagellates when they infect a coral, drop their flagella, and become zooxanthellae. Then they help our corals grow as opposed to looking ugly.

There is something that I forgot to mention. While you are fighting them, make sure that you have a powerhead breaking the surface of the water at night so they don't prevent gas exchange. If possible, try to aim the powerhead towards your overflow.

 

[Marco3995]

I am dripping in Kalk now, as prescribed, and turned down the effluent from my CR. How long should it take before I get a reading of incresed alk? I am 9 DKH now before I started dripping Kalk...I looked into those filter bags (1 micron size) cheap but its a american company and they want $30.00 USD just to process the transaction! Anyone know of a canadian on-line distributor?

 

[ItsMee]

http://www.bigalsonline.com