Urchinhead
08/25/2009, 01:49 PM
Title says it all. This started about 3 weeks ago +/-.
Cascade of events may have brought it on including the loss of a tube anemone to a powerhead, finding some undigested silverside in the rockwork, a dead turbo snail decomposing slowly, overfeeding by someone taking care of the tank, and possible silicate contamination.
Tank: 56 gallon with 10 gallon sump
Stats:
pH 8.2 to 8.5
dKH 8 to 10
Ca 380 to 420
NO3 5 ppm*
NO4 0
NH3 0
NO3 0
PO4 < .25
Temp 77' F to 81'F depending on local weather and time of day
* Down from 20 and will be at or near zero after today's 20% water change and the removal over the weekend of the stuff mentioned above
Skimmer is off line until this Friday
Filtration is polyfilter, active carbon, GFO, and refugium
Lights are T5 VHO and 2 months old.
Light cycle is 10 hours per day.
Snails have not been dying so I am not sure if its dinoflagellates as I understand them to be toxic to snails and it behaves somewhat like cyanobacteria as well as dinoflagellates plus its a reddish brown color so I am stumped...
... So what the heck is it and how do I treat it?
I know that with cyano its erythromycin and I believe that if its dino's then its raising pH and temp but other than dosing CaCO3 I am not sure of a safe way to elevate pH to 8.5+... Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
Photos:
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/urchinhead_photos/misc/algae1.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/urchinhead_photos/misc/algae2.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/urchinhead_photos/misc/algae3.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/urchinhead_photos/misc/algae4.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/urchinhead_photos/misc/algae5.jpg
Cascade of events may have brought it on including the loss of a tube anemone to a powerhead, finding some undigested silverside in the rockwork, a dead turbo snail decomposing slowly, overfeeding by someone taking care of the tank, and possible silicate contamination.
Tank: 56 gallon with 10 gallon sump
Stats:
pH 8.2 to 8.5
dKH 8 to 10
Ca 380 to 420
NO3 5 ppm*
NO4 0
NH3 0
NO3 0
PO4 < .25
Temp 77' F to 81'F depending on local weather and time of day
* Down from 20 and will be at or near zero after today's 20% water change and the removal over the weekend of the stuff mentioned above
Skimmer is off line until this Friday
Filtration is polyfilter, active carbon, GFO, and refugium
Lights are T5 VHO and 2 months old.
Light cycle is 10 hours per day.
Snails have not been dying so I am not sure if its dinoflagellates as I understand them to be toxic to snails and it behaves somewhat like cyanobacteria as well as dinoflagellates plus its a reddish brown color so I am stumped...
... So what the heck is it and how do I treat it?
I know that with cyano its erythromycin and I believe that if its dino's then its raising pH and temp but other than dosing CaCO3 I am not sure of a safe way to elevate pH to 8.5+... Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
Photos:
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/urchinhead_photos/misc/algae1.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/urchinhead_photos/misc/algae2.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/urchinhead_photos/misc/algae3.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/urchinhead_photos/misc/algae4.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/urchinhead_photos/misc/algae5.jpg