my algae/dino battle

whosinpower · 07/10/2008, 10:51 AM

A couple of months ago, my tank took a strong downturn with an algae/dinoflagellate outbreak.

I am pretty sure it was dino's - as I lost most of my snails, and rock/sand was covered with brown slimy goo that had air bubbles extending when the lights were on.

I tested my water and found that my alk was quite low, Calcium - not so bad, unknown magnesium(no test kit yet), nitrates 0, phosphate - not showing up. Salinity 1.026 - temp 78degrees.

I added a phosban and carbon reactor. I also have an area in the sump where I can add filter floss - which I did - and have faithfully changed it out every day. I began to dose alk, cal and some mag to get them back to the appropriate levels, and once that was accomplished - I began to dose Kalk via watertopoff.

Something else I began to do every day was to take a turkey baster and blow off all the rockwork. I used the turkey baster in the overflow - where detritis had collected on the bottom - and in the bottom of the sump - everywhere I could think of, so that the filter floss would at least trap the big stuff and the skimmer would work on the rest.

Ever so slowly, the tank improves. Under the brown slime - is macroalgae and hair algae as well - but the brown slime is definately receding - and the hair algae is beginning to die off. I recently purchased an urchin and a few more snails - and they seem to be doing well.

Interestingly - since adding kalk - my skimmer has improved significantly the amount of skimmate it pulls out. My tank is a 90 gallon - and I am using a tunze 9010 in the sump. I am emptying the cup every other day - just under 300 ml.

But I am finding that even with the kalk - I have to continue to dose alk to keep it up. Calcium is right around 400 - 425 ppm - and does not drop nearly as fast as the alk. Is this normal? Can I use baking soda to dose alk? I thought I had to dose both - but so far - alk seems to be taken up much faster. Advice?

sassafrass · 07/10/2008, 10:57 AM

This should helphttp://web.archive.org/web/20021127040526/http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm
Lee

sassafrass · 07/10/2008, 11:00 AM

The answer is in the reef chemistry forum I don't know how to give you a link
Lee

Photo_John · 07/10/2008, 11:08 AM

i had a dino outbreak and i tried getting rid of it...nothing helped so i turned the lights off. a week and a half later it was gone.

07/10/2008, 10:51 AM	#1
whosinpower Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 144	my algae/dino battle A couple of months ago, my tank took a strong downturn with an algae/dinoflagellate outbreak. I am pretty sure it was dino's - as I lost most of my snails, and rock/sand was covered with brown slimy goo that had air bubbles extending when the lights were on. I tested my water and found that my alk was quite low, Calcium - not so bad, unknown magnesium(no test kit yet), nitrates 0, phosphate - not showing up. Salinity 1.026 - temp 78degrees. I added a phosban and carbon reactor. I also have an area in the sump where I can add filter floss - which I did - and have faithfully changed it out every day. I began to dose alk, cal and some mag to get them back to the appropriate levels, and once that was accomplished - I began to dose Kalk via watertopoff. Something else I began to do every day was to take a turkey baster and blow off all the rockwork. I used the turkey baster in the overflow - where detritis had collected on the bottom - and in the bottom of the sump - everywhere I could think of, so that the filter floss would at least trap the big stuff and the skimmer would work on the rest. Ever so slowly, the tank improves. Under the brown slime - is macroalgae and hair algae as well - but the brown slime is definately receding - and the hair algae is beginning to die off. I recently purchased an urchin and a few more snails - and they seem to be doing well. Interestingly - since adding kalk - my skimmer has improved significantly the amount of skimmate it pulls out. My tank is a 90 gallon - and I am using a tunze 9010 in the sump. I am emptying the cup every other day - just under 300 ml. But I am finding that even with the kalk - I have to continue to dose alk to keep it up. Calcium is right around 400 - 425 ppm - and does not drop nearly as fast as the alk. Is this normal? Can I use baking soda to dose alk? I thought I had to dose both - but so far - alk seems to be taken up much faster. Advice?

07/10/2008, 10:57 AM	#2
sassafrass Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: capitola ca Posts: 1,729	This should helphttp://web.archive.org/web/20021127040526/http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm Lee

07/10/2008, 11:00 AM	#3
sassafrass Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: capitola ca Posts: 1,729	The answer is in the reef chemistry forum I don't know how to give you a link Lee

07/10/2008, 11:08 AM	#4
Photo_John Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Lakeland FL Posts: 133	i had a dino outbreak and i tried getting rid of it...nothing helped so i turned the lights off. a week and a half later it was gone.