Please ID the algae?

shiladitya1991

New member
Does this look like diatoms?? My tank is new and it(algae) started around 10 days back. They have bubbles ( the areas directly under the Radions) and the sand is still white in the shady places.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shiladitya1991/8548030705/" title=". by shiladitya1991, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8242/8548030705_39bc51847f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="."></a>
 
It looks like it could either cyanobacteria, diatoms or dinoflagellates. I can't tell just by the picture alone.

Could you explain it's texture? What happens when you blow on it?
 
Its like a thin film of algae. If I vaccum out a bit of the sand, the film remains intact. My turbos are eating it pretty well, so I guess its not dino.
 
looks like cyan. is this tank new ? try turning the lights downs, water changes and watching nutrients. this worked for me
 
1991

Here is a link that will aide you in your algae battle. Use it, there's non better

http://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium/nuisance-algae-id-guide

If this is what you have then it is Dinoflagellates and they my friend do not make for a ... Merry Skerry


Dinos_zps349570e3.png
 
If you're certain that the snails are eating it instead of just pushing it around, then they're not dinos. Snails do not eat dinos because they're toxic. I don't think turbo snails eat cyano either. They're probably just diatoms.
 
Snails donot eat cyanos, they eat dinos but die eventually.. Whereas in my case the snails are fine and I can see a part of the rock being cleaned everyday. I siphoned out the thin mat from the sand and I have started dosing vinegar. Lets see how it turns out.
 
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I can ID that algae for you, it is called Cyclingus Randomcrapalgaeus and will usually go away with time :) It is supposed to be there in a new tank and nothing you do or hope for will change that. Once it goes away you will get a batch of Cyclingus Secondrandomcrapalgaeus and there is nothing you can or should do about that either.

If it really bothers you and it is loose, get a fish net or airline hose and get it out of the tank. I will just grow back though. You probably have about 6 months of various algae blooms ahead of you.
 
I agree that it could be any of the microbial pests that are mentioned, or even some sort of algae. I'd ignore it, and I agree that most tanks get similar blooms when started. If you spend a few minutes each day removing what's easy to get, that might speed the process a bit, but it's optional, and I'm not sure I'd bother.

Snails are unpredictable in what they eat, so that's not a good sign to use.
 
Nynick-- Thank You for the ID :D

I siphoned out the algae mats last night , some tid bits are remaining here and there. I have kept very few CUCs since the last time I carbon dosed my tank, the turbos multiplied to the point that it became a nuisance. Never had this type of algae in my tank before, is this because of the dry rock?
 
If you could pull it out with ease it is most likely Cyano, one of 2 (the other being Diatom algae) pests everyone gets in a new tank. It loves phosphates which is abundant in pretty much everything. Once it has mopped up any imbalances in that department you will probably get Diatoms to mop up excess silica. After that...who knows what fun stuff will grow in :)

Nothing eats Cyano btw don't waste yout time in this department. Many people will tell you about some miracle critter that does and it is simply not true. Larger critters might make a path through it that looks like they ate it but they did not. Cyano is toxic and what ever natural predators it has is not avaliable in the hobby. Given that many slugs etc that eats toxic stuff seems to concentrate poisons and use them as a defense this is probably a good thing.
 
After going through the thread "dino experiment" I think it can be dinos. The turbos are fine though and eats some of the algae from time to time. Neways I got some H2O2 and giving it a try. The H2O2 i am using is 30% diluted, so according to the thumb rule of 1ml/10 gallons should I be dosing thrice the amount?

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shiladitya1991/8557707430/" title=". by shiladitya1991, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8233/8557707430_170db2676e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="."></a>
 
91

If you have determined that this is Dino's there is a couple of things you should do to protect your livestock prior to dosing H2O2, as the die off of Dino can pollute your tank w/ toxiins.

1. Run some extra carbon to absorb what you can.
2. Remove manually all you can before dosing H2O2
3. It can be beneficial to raise pH to 8.4
4. Turn the skimmer up all the way w. full H2O and Air to help w/ oxygen depletions.

Good Luck and Merry Skerry
 
That does not look like your regular Dinos to me, not the least. There are thousands of different Dinos and Cyanos but mostly we get 1 version of each. Yours look like the common garden variety Cyano.

It looks too flat and too dark for Dinos and bubbles can be on a lot of algae that forms mats, including Cyano. Dinos usually are greener with a lot more texture at least the version that peroxide works well on.

Having said that, peroxide is fairly harmless in small doses to anyting but the smallest organisms. I have used it on a mixed reef and seen no ill effects what so ever. THe recommended dosage for Dinos is 1 ml of a 3% peroxide solution per 10 gallons. If yours is 30% you would use 1 ml per 100 gallons. My bet would be that it will do nothing but make your water really clear as it oxidises organics.
 
I dosed about 10ml last night.. oops. No ill effects though. I have used peroxide previously on a goldfish bowl long ago to provide oxygen. I am not sure what kind of he**ish crap this algae is, never had this in any of my tank EVER. On march 3rd 2013 my tank was spotless and now within 4-5 days the rocks were covered with this algae. Maybe it was because of the RED leds from Radions. Anyways i have had cyano in the past and vinegar has worked wonders for me. So I have been dosing it too. I am at work now,will post a picture of my tank on 3rd march when I get home .
 
...ok, so it is Cyano :) Vinegar dosing is better at removing nitrates than phosphates. Cyano is what you get when other algae are blocked from growing by lack of nitrates or imbalances between the 2. Cyano can somehow make it's own nitrates (or if memory serves, harvest a source earlier than other algae).

Peroxide will not directly do anything for this problem, might help a little by oxidizing dirt.
 
Some forms of colonial cyanobacteria can fix nitrogen from the air, but the kinds we see in our tank require fixed nitrogen from the water column. You might be able to kill the cyanobacteria with peroxide, but I'd just wait, personally.
 
1991

Here is a link that will aide you in your algae battle. Use it, there's non better

http://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium/nuisance-algae-id-guide

If this is what you have then it is Dinoflagellates and they my friend do not make for a ... Merry Skerry


Dinos_zps349570e3.png

thanks for the link; it's a very useful summary and id guide:

Just a couple of notes:
Diatoms use silicate to build structures ;. They feed on nutrients .
Nori is not particularly high in phosphate and is a fine food for herbivores.
Don't see why higher alk would discourage cyano.
 
I'm not sure the cyanobacteia in reef tanks fix nitrogen or not. Many species do; it's cyano's star role in the life cycle.
 
Since I have no corals in the tank, I have turned off the lights and will do a 5 day black out period.. This is how my tank looked 2 weeks ago
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shiladitya1991/8559443547/" title=". by shiladitya1991, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8559443547_309dd9910f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="."></a>

I am only feeding my fish Formula 2 flakes and New Life Spectrum Pellets. I have 3 Spotted Cardinals, 1 Hippo Tang, Black Saddleback Clownfish Pair.
 
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