Algae ID

[MiataRacer]

Okay, so I've got some weird hairy/stringy stuff in my tank. It's been in my tank for a while now, but it was originally just growing on plastic surfaces. Now it's spreading, growing on my live rock and one of my zoas. I don't know what this stuff is; I dose NoPox daily. Does anyone know what this is? Here are my parameters:

Nitrates: 5 ppm.
Calcium: 450 ppm
Alkalinity: 9.9 kH.
Salinity: 1.025-1.026
pH: 8.0

[scooter31707]

Hard to tell, but may be the beginning of Dinos. Is the algae attached to the frag? If so, can the frag be removed? If so, dip it in hydrogen peroxide. Just do a search on here how to dose and use it. There are plenty of them. Catch it early before it gets out of hand. If it is hair algae, I have had great results with API Marine Algaefix. there are also threads for this too.

[MiataRacer]

It seems like some of it is attached to the frag, but removing it wouldn't do much good; the pic I posted is just of a little bit of the stuff, it's on most of my rocks already. There's some on my protein skimmer and some in my powerhead too. I didn't notice this show up until after I added GAC to my tank, could that have something to do with it?

[mcgyvr]

I don't see much.. You sure its not just bacterial slime/strings from over carbon dosing?

[MiataRacer]

And if it is dinos, I read that carbon can actually cause more of them to appear. I've read that dosing NoPox actually can cause them to increase, could that be part of the problem as well? I was using it because even with 25% water changes each week I couldn't get my nitrates below 20 ppm. Like I said, I didn't have a problem with this stuff until I put GAC in my tank though.

[MiataRacer]

I don't see much.. You sure its not just bacterial slime/strings from over carbon dosing?
That was another thought I had. I reduced my NoPox dosage to the recommended amount after I tested my nitrates again, and still this stuff got longer. That picture didn't show much of it either, it was just to give an example of what the stuff looks like. I've attached a better picture, all the little stringy lines in it are the algae or whatever this is.

[mcgyvr]

All I see is bacterial slime.. (maybe some cyano..but that could just be new coralline too)
I'm running a DIY nopox blend now on my 40B and need to stay at less than 1/2 the recommended dosage to avoid the darn snot..

[MiataRacer]

Yeah it's just new coralline algae, never had a problem with cyano. So the recommended dosage on the NoPox bottle is too high then, and cutting it in half might get rid of this stuff?

[mcgyvr]

Yeah it's just new coralline algae, never had a problem with cyano. So the recommended dosage on the NoPox bottle is too high then, and cutting it in half might get rid of this stuff?

Yep..even stopping for a week or so but just seems like too much of a dose and also increasing flow should help some too if you can..
How what are your nitrates now anyways?
And do you have SPS corals,etc..?

[MiataRacer]

Yep..even stopping for a week or so but just seems like too much of a dose and also increasing flow should help some too if you can..
How what are your nitrates now anyways?
And do you have SPS corals,etc..?
Last I checked my nitrates a couple days ago, they were only at 5 ppm. I have one candy cane, a mushroom and three zoas, so none of them need an ULNS. I actually noticed my candy cane is happier with nitrates at 5 ppm than at 0! I already have 1100 GPH turnover from a Koralia 1350 Third Gen model, I thought this was enough flow? I just hate to stop dosing NoPox completely since it kills off all the bacteria it builds up. To take care of your problem did you stop completely temporarily, or just cut the dose back?

[mcgyvr]

Last I checked my nitrates a couple days ago, they were only at 5 ppm. I have one candy cane, a mushroom and three zoas, so none of them need an ULNS. I actually noticed my candy cane is happier with nitrates at 5 ppm than at 0! I already have 1100 GPH turnover from a Koralia 1350 Third Gen model, I thought this was enough flow? I just hate to stop dosing NoPox completely since it kills off all the bacteria it builds up. To take care of your problem did you stop completely temporarily, or just cut the dose back?

pfft.. you have simple corals.. ;) and yes they will more than likely be happier with some nitrate in the water..

And you won't kill off all the bacteria when you stop dosing nopox.. You will just have less but you won't do any harm stopping or cutting back or whatever.. You potentially have "too much" now..

and "in general" yes you are around the minimum for flow..

Its bacterial slime due to carbon dosing.. Either live with it or reduce the amount of carbon you are dosing..

Heck.. I doubt you even need to dose any carbon source..
Have you even tried going without it and just seeing if nitrates are even a problem with just regular water changes alone?

[MiataRacer]

pfft.. you have simple corals.. ;) and yes they will more than likely be happier with some nitrate in the water..

And you won't kill off all the bacteria when you stop dosing nopox.. You will just have less but you won't do any harm stopping or cutting back or whatever.. You potentially have "too much" now..

and "in general" yes you are around the minimum for flow..

Its bacterial slime due to carbon dosing.. Either live with it or reduce the amount of carbon you are dosing..

Heck.. I doubt you even need to dose any carbon source..
Have you even tried going without it and just seeing if nitrates are even a problem with just regular water changes alone?
Yeah, the reason I started using NoPox was because I was doing 25% water changes per week and still couldn't get my nitrates down. They generally hovered between 20 - 40 ppm. Part of the problem may have been they started out high in the first place months ago because my old skimmer was awful and not doing its job. Now I have one that works better, and I started using it around the same time I started dosing NoPox. I started dosing NoPox and guess I overdid it, I already dosed it for today but cut back to slightly less than half the recommended dosage.

[MiataRacer]

Just thought I'd post an update: The problem is on its way to being solved, it was DEFINITELY bacteria. I cut back my NoPox dose to slightly less than half, and within a day the longest strands of bacteria were already gone. The shorter strands are starting to go away already too. Hope this helps anyone else dealing with this problem!

[mcgyvr]

yep.. yep... glad you got it solved.. :thumbsup: