# Dino or diatom?



## pretzelsz (Jan 14, 2010)

So as some know I have some problem with my tank. It was brought to my attention it might be dino. I got some pictures of the rock and everything. If it is just a diatom then I don't have a clue to what killed my snails and coral. any help would be great. Thanks.


















































Also there are stringy things on my return. What is that?


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

That is not a diatom my friend. You have some serious algae combination's there. The red slime and bubbles are cyno, and the green stringy stuff is just hair algae. I would consider the life of your bulbs and if they need to be changed. Also, raise the alkalinity to 12 to 14 DKH and increase water flow until the cyno goes away. Whatever you do, do NOT pop the bubbles or attempt to siphon the bubbles out. This is going to take some time.


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## pretzelsz (Jan 14, 2010)

Is there an animal I can put in to take care of this?

Also there aren't any bubbles. There was cyano that made bubble but it hasn't made bubbles in a long time. Should I some how restart the tank somehow? Also my GSP showed up again so that is a good sign, also that the tank is clearing up


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## reefsahoy (Jul 16, 2010)

if it's not red algae and you have bubbles on the brown stuff it's Dinoflagellates. to treat it turn off lights for 3 to 4 days and it will all die off. you may have to lights off again like a week later to get the remainding leftovers. luckly enough you don't have too much corals and even if you did you could lights off for 3 days. i did that on a sps tank with no problems, just slowly acclimate corals to light using shorten light period and lengthen over time. Dinoflagellates will kill snails and hermit crabs so it kinda sounds like thats what you have.


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## pretzelsz (Jan 14, 2010)

ok thanks. I alos have this Kent Marine Rock Prep stuff, would that work to get it off or should I just blackout?


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## reefsahoy (Jul 16, 2010)

i've blacked out for 3 days on my sps tank and it was all gone without using anything. now this is assuming its dingo's. let us know what you chose to use and how it worked so others can benefit from experiences.btw dingo's won't kill corals fast anyways, so there might be other issues in your tank. check your parameters as well as salinity. you might want to do a water change too but after you do the lights out solution so you can get the dead stuff out.
thanks


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## pretzelsz (Jan 14, 2010)

Tomorrow I'll start a black out and see if I can get the rock that has alot of stuff on and and scrub it. Then wait a few days and I will post my results.

Thanks for the help


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

pretzelsz said:


> Also there aren't any bubbles. There was cyano that made bubble but it hasn't made bubbles in a long time.





reefsahoy said:


> if it's not red algae and you have bubbles on the brown stuff it's Dinoflagellates.


I just want to make sure that both of you understood each other. It doesn't sound like you are both talking about the same issue.


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## reefsahoy (Jul 16, 2010)

Pasfur said:


> I just want to make sure that both of you understood each other. It doesn't sound like you are both talking about the same issue.


if it has fine bubbles if its dino's and the treatment is lights out for 3 days. if it doesn't have fine bubbles then its probably red algae then the treatment is red slime remover( follow the label). the pics are hard to see if the bubbles are actually there so look closely. these treatment will rid the aquarium of the stuff but it will come back if you don't address how it's getting in and probably get worse. Make sure you are using quality water for topoff and SW making, this is more than likely where it's being introduced to the tank.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

reefsahoy said:


> if it has fine bubbles if its dino's and the treatment is lights out for 3 days. if it doesn't have fine bubbles then its probably red algae then the treatment is red slime remover( follow the label). the pics are hard to see if the bubbles are actually there so look closely. these treatment will rid the aquarium of the stuff but it will come back if you don't address how it's getting in and probably get worse. Make sure you are using quality water for topoff and SW making, this is more than likely where it's being introduced to the tank.


There we go. Just getting us all on the same page. I agree with this line of thinking.

In terms of permanent battle against cyno, I have always found increasing alkalinity and water flow to be effective. This is the direction I was headed on my first post.


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