Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board - HELP! Need to identify this algae bloom before it kills all my corals.

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- - HELP! Need to identify this algae bloom before it kills all my corals. (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=123813)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReefMadness (Post 1016223)

i'm at the point where i just want a positive ID on what exactly this is and why aquaforest salt/dosing components seem to have fueled it . it shares qualities of diatoms, dinoflagelletes and cyano which doesn't help either.
currently i'm just doing a weekly 15% water change, i've stopped dosing any carbon products and have opted out of using probiotic salt in favor of just normal reef salt. i turkey baste corals that are looking stressed from the algae but i try not to disturb it so as not to spread it any further.
hoping to create a slide this week to establish exactly what it is.

IMO... I would suggest biweekly water changes for a while. I found that this has really kicked back the bloom in addition the RedSea NOPO-X has seemed to help. I have noticed that the algae has receded and doesn't appear to be showing bubbles as much in the photo-period. I will keep you posted as things progress.

This is definitely a PITA!!! For the record I am still using AF Reef Salt, so if it continues to bloom I will be changing back to the IO or RC.

yea probably not the worst idea. i wish i could say it's relieving to hear others are struggling with this as well but this stuff is hideous and i wouldn't wish it on anyone.

If your like me... it's worth trying because that nasty stuff takes over fast. It got to the point where I was like nothing to lose attitude.

Can we agree that we all were/are using AF salt of some sort? And we all have this outbreak of dinos? This community is very small and if we are all experiencing this then something is definitely up with the salt. I have been using AF Reef for almost a year now. I do biweekly 25% wc. I also dosed Comp123 and Strontium and Potassium and Flourine... My NO3 are high at 25-50ppm on Salifert but PO4 remains low at 0.02-0.04 on my Hanna. I thought it was the imbalance of nutrients that caused the dinos but now I'm not so sure.
I hope you can keep them at bay without having to use chemicals. Dinox will work but it's hard on SPS especially ones that are affected by the dinos. I read that Vibrant works on dinos as well but didn't see any results when I dosed it.
Any one successfully beat the dinos and have their corals make it through unfazed?

I am convinced I'm dealing with dino or diatoms and they appeared when I started doing weekly WC wth AF Reef Salt.

i'm following another thread where a couple of guys are having luck with using a uv sterilizers to assist with nuking whats suspended in the water. i'm almost considering trying it myself.

Keep me posted. My nitrates are now 2-5ppm and 0.00 on phosphate using the Hanna. If this comes back strong I am starting to think it may be indestructible.