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Can you ID this brown algae?


hazmat

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Didn't have the time today. I still have it open as a tab I just haven't gotten to it.

 

You've been too busy helping me with my issue! B)

Which I'm eternally grateful for.

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It looks like the active ingredient of that product is cycloheximide which is an inhibitor of protein and DNA synthesis in eukaryotic cells. That is, it retards cell growth and eventually leads to cell mortality (because they can't replace broken proteins) in everything but prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea). I use it in some of my dissertation work.

 

Any chemical media, ozonators, UV sterilizers or anything else who's purpose is to adsorb, breakdown or otherwise "remove" organic compounds via chemical binding or modification will reduce the effectiveness of the treatment. Use of a denitrator during the treatment might lead to a release of effluent containing toxic compounds as the bacteria in such a device will not be able to keep up with the influx of materials. This would lead to a release of H2S, NH3 or NO2 among other things until the bacterial populations can respond (by increasing in number).

 

Anything with a thick mucous coat (read: corals and clams) would be somewhat insulated from the most major effects for a period of time so long as the dose is low enough. Fish may or may not be directly affected depending on how sensitive they are. Indirect effects can be expected as the treatment kills off organisms in the tank en mass.

 

This would certainly not be a treatment you want to use long term as it would wreak havoc with everything except the prokaryotes in your tank. You also need to be very careful about how much you dose, which is why the sponsors over at RC who are selling/marketing it say that it is imperative to base your dosage based upon the volume of water actually in your tank (taking into account displacement by rock, overflows and large equipment) and not the volume of the tank alone.

 

This is a treatment that is likely to work on every nuisance algae except cyanobacteria but it will also kill any algaes you want to keep such as chaeto, gracilaria or other more ornamental species including coralline algae. It may also decimate your pods, favorable flatworms and umpteen other small macroinvertibrates.

 

I would not use this except as a last resort and only in a tank with a beefy skimmer to take care of all dissolved waste created by the die-off. I would also prepare myself for potential losses of livestock.

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Hazmat - How did they tank fair after the lights out period? I seem to have a small outbreak as well so I'm interested to see how you did.

 

Well, the actinics came on at 9am and I turned on the MH at 11:30. I am only keeping MH on for an hour today to sort of "re-acclimate" everything after being in darkness. But let me tell you....I am so freakin anxious! I keep walking over to the tank looking for an inkling of a brown string. MH goes out in 15 minutes. So far (besides a ton of microbubbles) so good. My corals are soooo happy right now. My Acan was looking a bit pale and puffy.

 

Mr. Fosi,

 

I read up quite a bit on diatoms, including the pennate diatoms you mentioned. it's amazing how these organisms use all kinds of sources for nutrients. Some use light, some use nitrate and some use BOTH. Some use trace elements....I can see how if you have problem algae there could be a myriad of sources for the many different kinds of diatoms. I got thru most of it but my head started to spin after awhile!

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The pennates are the ones we are most likey to see in our tanks since our tanks are almost entirely benthic habitats and most diatoms that thrive in the benthose are both pennate and motile. Centric diatoms are more often associated with the water column.

 

Some diatoms have hetertophic pathways but there are only two species of truely non-photosynthetic diatoms. That means that diatoms won't be defeated by short blackouts alone. The same can be said for dinoflagellates since some of those are mixotrophic as well. If you have sand sifting organisms or things that will eat the diatoms (a.k.a. "top down" control), you can be much more successful. A short blackout (or series of them) combined with diatom predators is a sure-fire way to be rid of a diatom infestation.

 

Dinos are another thing all together since many of them produce compounds that are either noxious or toxic so there aren't too many things that will eat them if other food sources are available. The best shot for them is to deny them light and nutrients (a.k.a "bottom up" control).

 

Did you have any luck getting access to a scope? I'd be interested to hear about what you were able to see.

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Wow! I actually understood eveything you just said cause that's exactly what I read. There were some graphs that I couldn't quite decipher. Good you clarified top down and bottom up because that was in there but wasn't explained. The article I was reading had certain pages "removed" that were not part of the available text. Go figure.

 

So far there are no brown strings to obtain. When you suggested that I was 2 days into my blackout. and so far today I do not see anything. So if they do reappear (please no, no, no!!! knock on wood) should I just google diatom and dino to find the appropriate cell image??

 

Edit: I did read that pennate is more abundant in freshwater so that made me feel a little better.

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The article I was reading had certain pages "removed" that were not part of the available text. Go figure.

 

Was it an article out of a peer reviewed journal? If so, I might be able to get you a full-text digital copy.

 

So if they do reappear... should I just google diatom and dino to find the appropriate cell image??

 

Sure. Once you take a look at a couple pics online you'll get a good feel for the difference between them. Unless the cells you scope are too small for good light microscopy, it will be very simple to tell what is in there.

 

Edit: I did read that pennate is more abundant in freshwater so that made me feel a little better.

 

I'm guessing that is because most FW habitats have a preponderance of well-lit benthic habitat (think rivers and streams). Of course, I could be way off since I know very little about FW diatoms...

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Brown slime algae AKA Brown diatom algae.

No biggie. Just means you need better filtration and a better clean up crew.

 

I wish it was that easy!!

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The Propagator
I wish it was that easy!!

 

 

It is.

It just takes time.

 

Right now your going through a nutrient spike causing the algae the grow.

You need heavy filtration right now to remove that nutrient. The excess nutrient could be coming from your source water in the way of phosphates, or TDS. That could be why it wont leave. Your treating the tank but not the source ?

stagnant flow will also cause it. switch up your current. Steady current in the same spot will build up GHA, RS, and BS easily in those spots and spread.

 

Do you skim? What type of filtration do you have ? How ol dis you tank ?

( sorry didnt read it before and I dont have time to now I gott'a go ....... ;) )

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For later reading...... :)

 

Red Sea max with Tunze 9002 skimmer. Custom StevieT media rack. Filter floss 1st level, purigen second level, chemi pure elite third level. Up since Feb. so 7 full months.

 

2 pumps with RSM one has hydro flo plus I have a Koralia 2 on the other side of tank so I don't think flow is an issue.

I have my own RO unit and use Red Sea Coral Pro. 3 fish, feed every other day. Tested everything today...0 on everything. pH a little low at 7.8. I even did a phos test on my RO water and it was 0. TDS is 4.

 

I'm pretty OCD about the tank so 4 gallon water changes every week but now every 5 days since the algae was occurring. What more can I tell you, hmmmm.

 

I can tell you it started in June and got better but then I upgraded my light in August and it became a problem.

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How long are you running your light cycle now ?

What type of lighting did you upgrade to and what kelvin ?

 

Upgraded to the Outer Orbit Pro with 150watt MH at 10K. Looking to change it to 14K just not sure which bulb I want.

 

Actinics on from 9am to 9pm. MH on from 11am to 3:30 pm. I needed to up the MH time but didn't want to cause of the algae (dinos). Then white LED from 9pm-11pm as well as blue LED's from 9pm to 9am.

 

MH is now on from 11am-2pm and I do not see any brown strings. (freakin knock on wood) I am slowly increasing time. Actinics still on from 9-9. BUT....now I have major microbubbles. I'm not sure if it's from adding the chemi pure elite or what but I've gone over everything and can't figure out where they are coming from.

 

Uhuru-

I bought my RO unit from Home Depot. It is a GE SmartWater RO system. It has 2 filters and a seperate carbon filter. It read 0 when I first got it and now reading 4-5. Might need to change the filters. Still thinking 4 is OK, isn't it?

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  • 2 weeks later...

So Hazmat, where did you finally land with your Dino issue? Did the lights out solve it for you? Last I read you were just getting the lighting cycle back into order and full strength. All good now?

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