Major brown hair algae bloom

[RickvD]

Hey, sorry for a bit of a slow reply. Work has been killing me for the past few days.

 

On 8/20/2023 at 8:02 PM, mcarroll said:

SCOPE AND PICS

The scope was a 25 euro toy for a kids first microscope but it was the best I could get fast. It's all plastic, only 400x zoom with a way to bright led under it. It also has no fine focus and the lens is pretty shitty (lots of stains). It might be fine for the algae, but for anything else I'm definitely getting a better one. It's fun to mess around with, but I can't wait till I'm done with algae and can put it far far away and get a better one.

 

On 8/20/2023 at 8:02 PM, mcarroll said:

When you say "triangle", that makes me things diatoms – they are very symmetrical and often geomentrical as well.

I indeed have Diatoms. I've tried 2 methods for Dinos and both came back negative. I got a turkey baster, and I managed to blow all the rocks 80% clean. Same for the glass and sand. There are a few strings that are really stuck and need to be removed with a sponge or something, but it's a good start. For now I blow everything loose once a day, place a filter floss and remove it after all the diatoms have settled (sucked up). The extra feeding also seems to help. My nitrates are 1-1.5PPM and Phosphate is now noticeable at +-0.25.

It's not much but it's a start. I'm also getting some copepods, as I've heard they are great to lower the Diatoms population.

 

On 8/20/2023 at 8:02 PM, mcarroll said:

From your description it sounds like they were living as epiphytes on the main algae though – and the main algae is what we're most interested in.

Yea the thing is, most of the Diatoms, even the strings can be blown off. There are a few that are just quite stuck. Diatoms can form a string right? Tomorrow is waterchange day (actually it was past Sunday, but I wanted to get some extra nutrients in there) so then I'm going to try to get a good string out of the tank and put it under the microscope again. My clowns have been getting really interested in biting my hand, and my glove delivery has been delayed so getting things out by hand is getting a dangerous hobby haha.

[mcarroll]

10 hours ago, RickvD said:

I indeed have Diatoms. I've tried 2 methods for Dinos and both came back negative.

NOT having dino's might be the main good thing.  Whatever else will generally work itself out once you make these minor adjustments.

 

10 hours ago, RickvD said:

My nitrates are 1-1.5PPM and Phosphate is now noticeable at +-0.25.

It's not much but it's a start.

Indeed.  And if it's a trend, that could be all you need.  👍

 

10 hours ago, RickvD said:

I'm also getting some copepods, as I've heard they are great to lower the Diatoms population.

Adding pods won't hurt, just don't break the bank on them or have lots of expectations.  🙂 

 

The Uglies are normal, but adding them could help shrink how long the phase lasts.  

 

10 hours ago, RickvD said:

Yea the thing is, most of the Diatoms, even the strings can be blown off. There are a few that are just quite stuck. Diatoms can form a string right?

Not to my knowledge.  In general, stringy algae would be hair algae, cyano, or (worst case) dino's....and diatoms might be found growing along (and maybe attached) with both of those.

 

10 hours ago, RickvD said:

Tomorrow is waterchange day (actually it was past Sunday, but I wanted to get some extra nutrients in there) so then I'm going to try to get a good string out of the tank and put it under the microscope again.

This should shed more light on the situation. 👍

 

10 hours ago, RickvD said:

My clowns have been getting really interested in biting my hand, and my glove delivery has been delayed so getting things out by hand is getting a dangerous hobby haha.

I've been gotten lots of times....it's amazing how well they target the MOST sensitive spots. 😖

[RickvD]

On 8/22/2023 at 9:56 PM, mcarroll said:

Adding pods won't hurt, just don't break the bank on them or have lots of expectations.  🙂 

They are quite cheap over here, Not expecting too much, but every little bit of help is great.

 

On 8/22/2023 at 9:56 PM, mcarroll said:

Not to my knowledge.  In general, stringy algae would be hair algae, cyano, or (worst case) dino's....and diatoms might be found growing along (and maybe attached) with both of those.

 

Not sure if it was something I did, but I couldnt manage to find any real strings. Every little stringy but just started flying off the moment I blew on them.

 

On 8/22/2023 at 9:56 PM, mcarroll said:

I've been gotten lots of times....it's amazing how well they target the MOST sensitive spots. 😖

Yea I finally got my gloves and I can feel them attacking me. They ain't getting through luckly...

[banasophia]

Sorry I'm a little late to the party. Looked like diatoms to me, but I didn't read all that info from mccarroll. A good way to ID algae is to check out Reef Cleaners:

 

https://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide

 

You can even email them a picture and they will let you know what they think it is and how to eradicate it.

[RickvD]

16 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Sorry I'm a little late to the party. Looked like diatoms to me, but I didn't read all that info from mccarroll

I ended up buying a kids microscope from the toy store 😂 it is indeed diatoms. There are however also stringy parts and from what I’ve heard diatoms are never stringy. When I get the diatoms under control I will focus on the other algae.

[banasophia]

5 minutes ago, RickvD said:

ended up buying a kids microscope from the toy store 😂 it is indeed diatoms.

That was a good idea!! 

[TheKleinReef]

2 hours ago, banasophia said:

Looked like diatoms to me, but I didn't read all that info from mccarroll

 

people read his posts? lol

[RickvD]

9 minutes ago, TheKleinReef said:

people read his posts? lol

Wait I do? Did I miss something?