Ugly Brown Algae, Diatoms or Dino?

[EthanKyle]

I've had this ugly brown algae on my sand bed for about three months now. It all started when I added a mushroom rock to my system. The algae seems to stay on the sand bed. I do have brown algae on the glass which I scrape off about every 5 days. When looking at the algae on the glass, it seems flat with no clumps. When I scrape it I sometimes get strands of stringy algae which my fish go nuts over. It doesn't seem toxic as I haven't lost a fish to it. I recently started doing research on dinos and of course, I'm now paranoid about having them. I looked closely this morning, and noticed small bubbles on top of the algae. There are no long strains of algae with bubbles on top though. Don't know if it's trapped gas from the sand bed that is being released. Below are some pics. These are the best I can do with the cheap camera I have. Please provide your input as I'm ready to give my system a 3 day blackout for starters. I don't want this to get worse if it is indeed dino.

 

[EthanKyle]

Forgot to mention that I also have a Diamond Goby that sifts throught this stuff and is still as healthy as ever.

 

[gveng]

I have the exact same problem. Where do you get your water?

 

[EthanKyle]

I mix my salt water using RODI. My reading are perfect.

 

[sneeyatch]

Those are diatoms. No worries, leave them alone and they go away on their own. Your diamond goby is probably the culprit by stirring the sand.

 

[EthanKyle]

Thanks for the info.

 

[scubadan206]

looks More like mild brown cyano to me. I neglected my tank a bit, and now it grows on the other algae. The fish don't like it, and will not eat the hair algae that I have.
I only let the hair algae grow to feed the darn tangs, and now they won't touch it!:deadhorse1:
I have been aggressively trying to get the nutrients under control, but that's a long process for me.
Be glad you only have a little.
It doesn't need much nutrients. I have a new frag tank run directly off the outlet on the GFO reactor, and it's even started in their now.
Daniel. :wildone:

 

[JeffreyJ]

I have had dinos and that doesn't look like what I had. If you have access to a microscope that's the best way to figure out what this is. Scrape some out, put it on a slide, and take a look. Dinos, cyano, and diatoms can all look very similar in a tank but look very different under 100x magnification. Best to know what you are dealing with before doing a black out.

 

[sneeyatch]

Not cyano, not dinos.

Diatoms.

There is no nutrient issue, it's normal - even in well established systems. What usually causes the die-off is either from the initial cycle, or from someone or something rooting around in the sand or moving rock around.

 

[whosurcaddie]

How old is your DI section? Silicates could be getting through even if it reads 0TDS.

 

[jrozzi]

those are diatoms. No worries, leave them alone and they go away on their own. Your diamond goby is probably the culprit by stirring the sand.

+1

 

[EthanKyle]

How old is your DI section? Silicates could be getting through even if it reads 0TDS.

DI section would be about 6-7 months. I'll test for silicates just to be sure.

 

[DSMpunk]

How old is your DI section? Silicates could be getting through even if it reads 0TDS.

This ^^ Diatoms seem to thrive on silicates.

 

[sneeyatch]

Silicates aren't a bad thing, either are diatoms. Diatoms are always present in your system and what you see is them dying off. Nothing you can really do about it, Its a normal thing. Silicates are beneficial to a lot of organisms as well as diatoms.

 

[whosurcaddie]

Silicates aren't a bad thing, either are diatoms. Diatoms are always present in your system and what you see is them dying off. Nothing you can really do about it, Its a normal thing. Silicates are beneficial to a lot of organisms as well as diatoms.

Your right silicates are beneficial to a certain point. But if the water becomes saturated with silicates you can have large diatom blooms.

 

[TheGovanator]

Hi everyone. this is my first time on this forum. I'm hopping around trying to figure out what this is and how to get rid of it.

I have a 29BC with:
-2 clownfish
-1 yellow watchman goby
-1 (recently purchased) algae blenny
-1 yellow tang
-6 crabs and snails
-2 peppermint shrimp
-2 Frags
-CC as substraight

I do a 5 gal water change every sunday and by the next sunday it looks like this again. All my parameters are spot on according to my LFS testing my water. I have a syphone for my CC and I turkey baster the live rock during my water change. I have a skimmer and a media tray. My tank is 3 months old and after about a month this stuff started appearing. Some people say its just the "uglies" and others say it could be DINO. After reading up on DINO I got worried. So any help would be awesome. Oh yea I mix my own salt water using RO water. I have included 2 pictures so hopefully they upload.

 

[TheGovanator]

2nd try

 

[TheGovanator]

and again

 

[ReeferBill]

TheGov ; you need more water flow and a yellow tang in a 29 is a very bad situation. Tangs need 75 gallons and larger tanks. Get more flow in there and agitate your water surface , trade in your yellow T for a powerhead.

 

[TheGovanator]

Someone told me today about the yellow tang. My LFS steered me wrong with that one. I've got great flow i thought. My both my frags are always moving with the flow and the food i put in whirls around the tank. I was just reading that it could be the amount of natural light that hits the tank. I'm not sure though.