Dinoflagellates?

805reef

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#1
Does this look like Dinoflagellates to you guys?



It's stringy and slimey and kind of dissolves when I try to touch it.
 

Six2seven

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#2
there are many types of dino, some harder than others to remove. is that in your overflow? is it only in there?
 

805reef

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#5
There are bubbles... I thought it was hair algae so I reached in to try to grab it and I couldn't...

It is in my frag area in my sump. and yes it is only in there for now. I'm thinking of emptying it out and giving it a good scrubbing and try dipping the corals or something... I think it came in on a frag I got a couple days ago.
 
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#6
There are bubbles... I thought it was hair algae so I reached in to try to grab it and I couldn't...

It is in my frag area in my sump. and yes it is only in there for now. I'm thinking of emptying it out and giving it a good scrubbing and try dipping the corals or something... I think it came in on a frag I got a couple days ago.
You could siphon out as much as you can, then leave the fuge light off for a few days. A bottle of bacteria would help too..
 

sonnus

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#7
kind of dissolves when I try to touch it.
This is the key to identifying dinos. I think some people might be confusing this with diatoms which are not the same. Dinoflagellates are actually plankton that can group together to form what looks like brown hair algae. When you try to pull it out it simply dissolves by breaking up into the individual plankton only to reassemble later again.

Dinos are actually a toxic algae that is very bad for corals and fish. This should be taken care of immediately to prevent serous damage to your tank.

The most effective way I've seen to treat dinos is with increasing pH. This is accomplished with large doses of kalkwasser through the freshwater topoff. Usually, a pH of 8.6-8.7 is needed to kill the dinos. You must be very careful raising the pH and maintaining it. Large quantities of kalkwasser are needed.
 

Smite

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There are bubbles... I thought it was hair algae so I reached in to try to grab it and I couldn't...

It is in my frag area in my sump. and yes it is only in there for now. I'm thinking of emptying it out and giving it a good scrubbing and try dipping the corals or something... I think it came in on a frag I got a couple days ago.
That'd knock it back some, but it will mostly likely return as its in your water column as well. A toothbrush and siphon worked well for me when I had it on my rocks. Id start with the easiest treatment first, a 3 day blackout and heavy skimming during that time.I had to empty my skimmer 2x a day once it started dying off. I've eased back into my water changes and stop dosing trace elements as I read that can feed dino's and cause outbreaks, but there seems to be mixed opinions on whether that's true or false.
Also Vitamin C dosing constantly brought them back in my nano.
This last time they popped up in my fuge with some cyanobacteria. I killed the fuge light and it popped up in my display. So if it were me I'd do the whole tank at once. After 3 days ease back into you light schedule and see if it comes back.
 

Titanwerx

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#10
That'd knock it back some, but it will mostly likely return as its in your water column as well. A toothbrush and siphon worked well for me when I had it on my rocks. Id start with the easiest treatment first, a 3 day blackout and heavy skimming during that time.I had to empty my skimmer 2x a day once it started dying off. I've eased back into my water changes and stop dosing trace elements as I read that can feed dino's and cause outbreaks, but there seems to be mixed opinions on whether that's true or false.
Also Vitamin C dosing constantly brought them back in my nano.
This last time they popped up in my fuge with some cyanobacteria. I killed the fuge light and it popped up in my display. So if it were me I'd do the whole tank at once. After 3 days ease back into you light schedule and see if it comes back.
I'm on my third day of trying this blackout thing now.
 

Smite

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#11
I caught mine early this time and it worked like a charm. Its only been a week but no signs so far. You going with just blackout or doing the h2o2 as well?
 

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