Help me get rid of this stuff...

[krazykdnb]

Algae???

Ok...so I have had my 55 gal running for almost a year and has been running perfectly untill about a month ago. I did as much research as I could before I started, bought an RO/DI unit that has tested to be working perfectly, and I am very consistant with bi-weekly water changes. I test my water weekly and it is always perfect on all levels including phospates and silicates. I have a protein skimmer, custom refugium, and a canister filter that runs activated carbon and "harmful element" removing filter flosses. My temperature runs an average of 79 degrees and does not fluctuate much. The tank is about 20 feet from an east facing window that gets no direct sunlight and has constantly closed shades.

My problem seems to be some sort of Cyno. However, this stuff likes high flow AND low flow areas, grows quickly in long stings, and is all over EVERYTHING. It grows on my corals, on my FISH, and takes root in my sand bed. I moved most of my corals out into the hospital but am waiting for my second hospital to cycle before I can get ALL of them out. Alot of them, I moved to the refugium because there is far less of this CRAP in there. My hospital tank uses the same water but everything is perfect in there.

I have tried syphoning it out...comes back in a matter of hours. I tried a sea hare...couldn't keep up with it. I turned the lights off for 3 days...put a dent in it, but it came back within hours. I tried red slime remover TWICE (with my biological filtration removed and skimmer off)...It got worse. I have limited my daylight time to 6 hours from 8...still nothing. The light is also fairly new and of good quality.

Picture...you can see one of my zoanthids closed up there...:-(

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m313/krazykdnb/S1050503.jpg

So..anyone?

[patman]

looks like cyno to me. have you checked your water for phosphates? your tank water could be fine, but that would be due to the fact that the cyno is using it up. check your RO water before adding it to the tank. when was the last time you changed the membrane in your RO unit? Is there any chance that you have a piece of lava rock in your tank? That stuff is full of phosphate.

[krazykdnb]

Both the tank water and the Ro/Di tests perfectly. Absolutely no phosphates. This, among the other things that I listed, is what is leading me to believe that this stuff is something else.

[alton]

Gary Powell one of the originals had an articile here years ago about the undetectable phosphate that grew undesirable algaes. I run a phosphate reactor and still once a year, sometimes two, I get a little case of Cyno in my tanks. As the aquifer lowers and other water supplies dwindle I believe our water quality goes down, and even if you use an R/O system I still believe sometimes undesirables get through our filters and continue this problem. So I use one of these: Blue Life Red Slime Control or Chemi Clean(Chemi Clean has been around the longest). And then it is gone once again it gone for a year or two.

[patman]

well, ozone will take care of it. I've always run ozone and will again when I set up my new tank. do a bunch of reading before you start it, if you decide to. it can be unsafe to your tank and to you if it's not done correctly. done right though....the results are outstanding!

[krazykdnb]

thank you! I will begin reading!

[hobogato]

also, how deep is the sand bed in your tank?

[ErikH]

Boost up your cleanup crew. It's quite possible that not enough of the excess food is being eaten/broken down. Powerspray your rocks with a powerhead, and run your fingers through your sand. Once all of that gunk is in the water column, do a LARGE water change, siphoning out most of the gunk.

[Jonthefishguy]

It looks like dinoflaggelates. If it is, DO NOT do a water change. Test your silicates and recheck your phosphates. I would have your water tested with a TDS meter and find out if in fact your unit is working properly. Keep your alk up and use kalkwasser in your top off. Run carbon...... By the way, snails will die (drop dead) if it is dinoflagellates.

[Gilbert]

blueleg hermit crabs helped me out when i had that stuff

[krazykdnb]

also, how deep is the sand bed in your tank?

The sand bed is about 3 in.

[RayAllen]

I recently started running a Phosphate reactor and am using little fishes phosban. Its only been a week but I hope to see some good results within the next few weeks.

[krazykdnb]

It looks like dinoflaggelates. If it is, DO NOT do a water change. Test your silicates and recheck your phosphates. I would have your water tested with a TDS meter and find out if in fact your unit is working properly. Keep your alk up and use kalkwasser in your top off. Run carbon...... By the way, snails will die (drop dead) if it is dinoflagellates.

I have had a few snails and hermits "drop dead" since this crap came about, so this is definately possible. There are still many, many of them. I have tons of assorted hermits and snails still. The TDS is testing very low. Phosphates and silicates were tested by two LFS this week and are not present. I was told that they have "never seen better water"

[krazykdnb]

It looks like dinoflaggelates. If it is, DO NOT do a water change. Test your silicates and recheck your phosphates. I would have your water tested with a TDS meter and find out if in fact your unit is working properly. Keep your alk up and use kalkwasser in your top off. Run carbon...... By the way, snails will die (drop dead) if it is dinoflagellates.

Okay, I looked at some pictures of dinoflaggelates...and we have a positive ID. Thank you!

[Jonthefishguy]

No problem.