A few algea issues, i need help! IM getting frustrated

Ok i need some help with algea.

I did a water change 3-4 days ago with RO water/RC salt. About 20 - 25 gallons.

Ever since i am having major algea issues. I have Dinoflagellates forming on some rocks and alot on the glass.... I read that im supposed to boil the rocks? Sorry but the idea of that really scares me... what are my other options?

I have cyano that was pretty much gone from my CuC 2 weeks ago but now its coming back stronger than before on the sand and rocks.... Not sure what my next step is there...

I have a little diatom bloom again i think from redoing half of the plumbing in my sump - that should go away on its own but it just adds to the terrible look

Lastly, there is a little bit of green fuzzy looking algea on one or two rocks that is just starting to form. I put a few snails up there last night because its a rock that i never see them on. They actually look like they got most of it.... but im still thinking about it.

Everything registers zero that should (including po4) but im assuming that the algea is consuming it faster than i can measure it - cause it must be there right?

mY Ca is around 500, ALk is about 10, mg is about 1450

I run carbon in the sump, have chaeto and some new red mangroves that probably arent doing much yet, roots are just forming.

I have cut down on my feeding from a little per day to every other day this week. And i think im going to take my light period down to like 6 hours from the current 12 (5 or 6 of it is actnic only)

I increased my flow ALOT on Friday but that didn't seem to make a difference...

Help? Thanks....

 

wow u have like a full ocean of algea lol

i have dino all over my tank it took over i hate it i have had it for like 2 months

good luck

 

Here are a few pics...

When i put that green slimer in yesterday that sand was white.

The good news is i think those white spots are coralline...what do you think? They are growing all over the place....

 

the tank and especially the sump smell real bad too... the carbon doesnt seem to be helping...

Now my wife is mad about it too

 

Dino can be very tough. It's probably the second most common algae that ends systems next to bryopsis. If you're still at the fairly early stages of your tank I would probably say nuke everything and start over before you get too far along, it would probably be the easiest thing you can do. These are the exact reasons I always recommend base rock over live.
There really isn't anything clean-up crew wise that will eat it.
Whatever you do, don't try to manually remove it in the tank, that will only make it worse. You can try the boil and dry technique a few rocks at a time if you don't/can't tear down the whole tank. What are you doing to control phosphates and nitrates? are you running a GFO reactor? Fuge?
In extreme cases you can also try testing and controlling Iron, as that feeds dino as well.

 

No phos reactor yet. I have a fuge with chaeto, LR and mangroves

...The more research i do - im not entirely sure that its dino. I read that cyano can look just like dino... and i still have the red slime pretty bad

 

Honestly i am seriously considering the a tear down -dry base rock and restart.

I have two different rocks that have an absolute infestation with aptasia.

And i dont know but might now have this dino issue.

Can anyone else chime in and let me know what they think i should do, and specifically if you have ever seen cyano that looked like dino?

When i bought the tank it was set up. I looked it over really well and there was no dino. or any other algea including coraline for that matter... where could it have come from?

 

I hate to say it, but welcome to the club! LOL!. I have been battling red slime for about two weeks now. Just started treating with Maracyn today. I am going to do my second tear down and rebuild this week.

 

don't tear down for cyano...that is an easy fix.

dinos are hard for sure, it has been reported in the literature that (Sprung? Calfo? I forget which one), that iron deprivations (iron is in your salt mix, probably why you got a boost of it shortly after the water change), work, as does raising your alk. - i dont think you have dinos. maybe a bad case of diatoms, or some calothrix, or a different species of brown cyano, but it doesn't really look like dinos..

 

Whats your CuC like? Honestly i wouldnt be tearing my tank down for just red slime/cyano. My Cuc is working pretty feverishly on that, its just unsighly right now.

My understanding of cyano though is can be good...i think it means your tank is going in the right direction as far as your cycle. This is assuming you arent creating the issue. i.e. over feeding, bad bulbs, water quality...

The ONLY reason i would tear it down and restart is if i get a Dino infestation. Im not interested in boiling all my rocks....