saltcreep1025
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Is that what this is? Tank is about 6 months old and this just started showing up a couple days ago. Anyone have tips for taking care of it? I use RO water and don't believe I am over feeding.
dinoflagellates?
- Thread starter saltcreep1025
- Start date
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mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hard to say. It could be cyanobacteria, it could be dynos, it could be diatoms.
All from high nutrients.
All from high nutrients.
saltcreep1025
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Well it is only stringy if that helps... doesnt matt up on the sand bed. Nitrates and Phosphates both showing close to 0.
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
Again, all of those three are fueled by excess nutrients. Go through the list.....source water, feeding, water changes/nutrient removal, bio load...
saltcreep1025
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Source water is from a RO machine at a grocery store. They have a maintenance log with dates and TDS readings, but I havn't looked at it recently. I'll have to check. I usually do about 20% water change around every other week. I have both chaeto and caulerpa in the tank for nutrient export and trim them as needed. This is a 5g tank and besides corals, there is only snails, 2 peppermint shrimp, 3 sexy shrimp, and a rainford goby. The rainford won't eat prepared food, so I feed my corals about 3 times a week (cyclopleeze and mysis shrimp) and a very very tiny amount of flake food daily for the shrimp. If it was because of overfeeding, wouldn't I be showing nitrates and/or phosphates?
Massimo
Aquarium Advice FINatic
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2012
- Messages
- 534
Looks like dino.. I had the exact same thing, not as bad as yours however. What I did was clean it off from everywhere I can possibly clean, did 50% WC, changed the filter floss in my canister filter, added Chemi Clean Elite in my canister filter, I put phosguard in my canister filter also, and cut down on the lights about 2 hours.
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
Possibly. There are a few variables to think about- test kit accuracy (these are made for a hobby and not a medical procedure and are not scrutinized by anyone)
Could be a false reading due to the nuisance in question, or perhaps the macro.
You could be adding nutrients another way- perhaps the salt mix.
You just have to narrow it down and figure it out by a process of elimination.
saltcreep1025
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Ok thanks for the help mr X! The test kits are getting close to expiration so that is a possibility. Also I've been using instant ocean salt mix and have been meaning to switch to another brand. I'll cut back on the feeding too until it goes away. Thank you!
