ciao Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Can somebody tell me how to tell the difference between Cyano and DinoF algae? I don't want to misdiagnose the algae problem I have since I assume the remedy for either one is somewhat different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Dinos are brown and tend to have "strings" cyano is more of a reddish mat. I recently misdiagnosed dinos as cyano myself. They look very similar. Perhaps you could post a picture of what you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciao Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 Unfortunately my camera kind of sucks and can't take pictures that closely. Does Cyano have air bubbles on them or is that just something that Dinos have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Hoss' description sounds right to me. I'd add that diatoms look like brown dust or powder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Usually bubbles trapped in the stringy algae mats = Dinoflagellates. http://www.google.com/search?q=dinoflagellates&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 they both get air bubbles in them...either way the treatment is really mostly the same for both. Increase flow, decrease nutrients, especially phosphates. My dino problem was solved by adding a refugium, and decreasing feedings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 The only way to tell for sure is with a microscope. They have different cells. Other than that you can only guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharoleb Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Great thread, thank you. I thought I was having a cyano problem, but it sounds like dinof. I have increased feeding lately, trying desperately to get my dendro to come out (long story). Dendro is recovering, but now I have algae. DOH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 You can feed your dendro outside the tank, like some people do with young clams. This is an interesting post about dinoflagellates: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php#1 As you will read, if they are dinos, you might be able to help raising your ph. Off course you should slow down with feeding and lights for a while. Even turning the light off for a couple of days can help. Be sure to try to suck the most you can and do frequent wc. Don't blow them around, it is just worst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciao Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 The annoying thing is that I don't feel that I've been feeding that much. I only feed the 3 clowns, wrasse, and RBTA once every 3 days with some DIY fish food from Westside. The only other thing I feed is the Soho and Yellow tang with a small 3" x 2" sheet of dried nori every day. Could some of the nutrients be from the Palys, mushroom, and zoas when they let off slime? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharoleb Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 You can feed your dendro outside the tank' date=' like some people do with young clams.[/quote'] Hmmm, good idea. Though it kind of goes against what I've been told - STOP moving those corals!! This may be a good solution to get the dendro to eat for a while w/ out polluting the rest of the tank. (plotting) I'm going to try to find an article about this. Don't blow them around, it is just worst OOPS. DOH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Sometimes they show up even if everything is right, especially if you have a sandbed. How is your flow compared to the size of the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Hmmm, good idea. Though it kind of goes against what I've been told - STOP moving those corals!! This may be a good solution to get the dendro to eat for a while w/ out polluting the rest of the tank. (plotting) I'm going to try to find an article about this. You can also limit the amount of food trying to concentrate it to the target. Like with a plastic bottle. Cut the bottom and feed through the cap. Leave there some time and remove. So you don't have to extra feed because the food floats around or fish and inverts sit at the table without being invited ;-) Don't blow them around, it is just worst OOPS. DOH! Blowing a few minutes with the turkey baster is not helpful, but a constant flow of a powerhead is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 I used to have a dino outbreak about 2 months ago. it was horrible these little reddish-brown strings with bubbles were everywhere! it sucked and my water quality was great and i had a fuge and i didn't overfeed. Dino's can be a PITA!! but I was able to finally resolve mine by increasing my pH to about 8.4-8.5 and they went away. they can come even with perfect water conditions and don't need light to grow. turning your lights off for a little will help but only temporary. they will still be there when the lights come back on. Nothing really eats dino so the best thing I found was to increase pH. and cyano usualy has a more mat like appearance and is usually red and dino's are long and stringy and grow on anything including rocks, macro, sand and corals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciao Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 Sometimes they show up even if everything is right, especially if you have a sandbed. How is your flow compared to the size of the tank? I'm not sure to be honest. I worry about too much flow but I'm not sure if I have enough either. I have 2 K4 powerheads on opposite sides of the tank on a 72" tank and also the return which are also two. One of them I have facing down towards the bed and the other facing up. They are both hooked up to a snapper and when I move my hand away from the nozzle more than 2 feet away, I don't really feel anything it seems. Plus the rock work probably blocks some flow I'm sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciao Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 I've heard that increasing the magnesium level to 1500 helped some people. Has anybody else tried that here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 ciao you might need more flow, how many gallons is your tank? you take that and multiply by 20 and thats how many GPH you want between your pumps and powerheads. I plan on running my new tank at roughly 30x turnover, that way I know for sure I have plenty of flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciao Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 my main tank is 210 and the sump is ~30. So with a Snapper(2500 GPH) pump and 2 K4, does that sound about right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 I would add at least 2 more K4's I know a guy who has a 5' 120g tank, he runs 3 mp40's in his tank although he is running 60x turnover LOL but, seriously, add at least 2 more k4's, or, get 2 mp40's and ditch the koralias all together lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 im running about 40-50x in my tank and that didn't stop my dino's. i think it helped lol but anyway...so the best way for dino's IME is too increase the pH. the increasing the Mg trick usually helps with bryosis and some other macro's also, i would ditch the K's and go with either a mp40 or 2 or some tunze's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciao Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 Well the K4s are hooked up to a wavemaker. Maybe I'll sell it down the line but don't have the $$ right now to upgrade the entire powerhead system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 then add at least 2 more k4's, or, go even higher than the k4's, koralia now has 5, 6, 7 and 8, and the 8's are beasts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 then yeah i agree with ^^ if you can, get 2 more K4's or like 2 K7's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 and I agree with jason, jack your PH up to 8.4-8.5 and yes, ive heard good things about the high mag treatment, but, you have to go slowly, you can't increase your mag that high in a short period of time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 All great suggestions here. Let me add that siphoning them out and replacing that water with new water did the trick for me. When you disturb them with a pump or a turkey baster they pretty much disintegrate only to show up again an hour later. You need to get them out. Higher Ph is recommended but I'm not sure about Mg. That's for Bryopsis as Jason pointed out. Depending on your layout inside the tank, your current amount of circulation is OK. You can get away with less flow if your aquascaping is more open. If it's packed full of rock it will definitely need more flow. If there are no dead spots or detritus traps you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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