White cottony algae - ID / Help

Scooter12ga · 04/03/2007, 06:51 PM

Hello,

I've recently started to get some white fuzzy, cotton candy like algae on my back glass and plumbing. I thought it was just a short hair algae and the snails were pretty much keeping up with it. Today I noticed that it's starting to pearl and form strings and I'm afraid it might be dinoflagellates.

Recent changes in my tank include upgrading from 2 to 4 VHOs and I started skimming only during the night cycle since my bio load is so low. In the last couple of days I started skimming full time again and dropped an hour off of my photoperiod figuring that the increased lighting was contributing to it. I did a 5 gallon water change last night, but I now realize that this may have been a bad idea if it is in fact dinos.

Current params:
NH3 / NH4: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
dKH: 8.3
Ca: 410
pH: 8.4

The Mexican Turbos tend to keep good control of it. But they can't quite reach this pipe, and as you can see, it's not looking too good.

For reference I run chaeto in the fuge with a reversed light cycle, about 15x flow overall, and I use 0 TDS RO/DI.

A positive ID is appreciated:

Blown 346 · 04/03/2007, 07:27 PM

The algae is from the lighitng change, I to had this algae pop up when I went from PC's to halides. The algae went away within a month and me cleaning it off. Not sure on the name of it though.

mcwl · 04/03/2007, 09:14 PM

try Antired. It worked for me whtn I changed lights, and got some bad algae

Scooter12ga · 04/05/2007, 10:56 PM

...and just like that (snaps) the algae was gone today...weird. Must've been triggered by the lights.

04/03/2007, 06:51 PM	#1
Scooter12ga Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 294	White cottony algae - ID / Help Hello, I've recently started to get some white fuzzy, cotton candy like algae on my back glass and plumbing. I thought it was just a short hair algae and the snails were pretty much keeping up with it. Today I noticed that it's starting to pearl and form strings and I'm afraid it might be dinoflagellates. Recent changes in my tank include upgrading from 2 to 4 VHOs and I started skimming only during the night cycle since my bio load is so low. In the last couple of days I started skimming full time again and dropped an hour off of my photoperiod figuring that the increased lighting was contributing to it. I did a 5 gallon water change last night, but I now realize that this may have been a bad idea if it is in fact dinos. Current params: NH3 / NH4: 0 NO2: 0 NO3: 0 dKH: 8.3 Ca: 410 pH: 8.4 The Mexican Turbos tend to keep good control of it. But they can't quite reach this pipe, and as you can see, it's not looking too good. For reference I run chaeto in the fuge with a reversed light cycle, about 15x flow overall, and I use 0 TDS RO/DI. A positive ID is appreciated: __________________ ~Mike & 'Z' Current Tank Info: 75g, 55g sump/fuge, 440w VHO

04/05/2007, 10:56 PM	#4
Scooter12ga Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 294	...and just like that (snaps) the algae was gone today...weird. Must've been triggered by the lights. __________________ ~Mike & 'Z' Current Tank Info: 75g, 55g sump/fuge, 440w VHO

04/03/2007, 07:27 PM	#2
Blown 346 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Rockford, Illinois Posts: 6,596	The algae is from the lighitng change, I to had this algae pop up when I went from PC's to halides. The algae went away within a month and me cleaning it off. Not sure on the name of it though.

04/03/2007, 09:14 PM	#3
mcwl Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 86	try Antired. It worked for me whtn I changed lights, and got some bad algae