Brown Stringy Slime

[Chortanator]

My tank has been established for 7 years so I don't know why it would be diatoms, but that seems to be the closest I can find to what's in my tank. Is it diatoms, or something else? This happened after I used chemiclean for my cyano. Running lots of GFO right now, nems have also been retracted more than usual. It's all over my rocks and glass and I have to clean everything multiple times a day, very annoying!

 

[Dan_P]

My tank has been established for 7 years so I don't know why it would be diatoms, but that seems to be the closest I can find to what's in my tank. Is it diatoms, or something else? This happened after I used chemiclean for my cyano. Running lots of GFO right now, nems have also been retracted more than usual. It's all over my rocks and glass and I have to clean everything multiple times a day, very annoying!
View attachment 3021401

Sorry, your video would not play on my iPad. Brown slime could be either diatoms or dinoflagellates

 

[muzikalmatt]

From watching the video and your descriptions, my guess would be dinoflagellates, especially since you said you've been running heavy GFO. You may have stripped the phosphates from the water allowing dinos to take hold. What are your nutrient levels? If you have bottomed out nitrates and phosphates then I would lean towards dinos.

 

[bushdoc]

Same opinion as muzikalmatt.

 

[Chortanator]

From watching the video and your descriptions, my guess would be dinoflagellates, especially since you said you've been running heavy GFO. You may have stripped the phosphates from the water allowing dinos to take hold. What are your nutrient levels? If you have bottomed out nitrates and phosphates then I would lean towards dinos.

sorry i couldnt get better lighting. looks like phosphates are bottomed out and nitrates are about 15. i have dino-x but i dont want to keep dumping chemicals in my tank, should i just remove the gfo and hope that feeding brings the phosphate back up?

 

[Spare time]

Take out the gfo and let it ride out. Alternatively, you could also get a microscope and see if a cheap UV would help.

 

[bushdoc]

I would remove GFO, your phosphates will go up, but it will most probably not fight Dinos.
There are lots of threads here how to fight Dinos, I would browse through them.
I would run Activated Carbon in case they are producing toxins, siphoning stuff, UV might be of help, but there are much more into Dino eradication.

 

[Spare time]

I would remove GFO, your phosphates will go up, but it will most probably not fight Dinos.
There are lots of threads here how to fight Dinos, I would browse through them.
I would run Activated Carbon in case they are producing toxins, siphoning stuff, UV might be of help, but there are much more into Dino eradication.

The problem is that no one knows the cause of dinos or how exactly to get rid of them. Its sorta a throw a bunch of stuff at it solution. Those threads are mostly people just trying random things and may or may not randomly end with dinos dissapearing.

 

[Chortanator]

I would remove GFO, your phosphates will go up, but it will most probably not fight Dinos.
There are lots of threads here how to fight Dinos, I would browse through them.
I would run Activated Carbon in case they are producing toxins, siphoning stuff, UV might be of help, but there are much more into Dino eradication.

i do run carbon 24/7 and change it every 1-2 months, i read the pinned dino thread and i noticed it says they like chaeto... my sump is pretty much just a refugium full of chaeto this point, and while the dinos are just in the display, i don't know how long it will stay like that

 

[vetteguy53081]

My tank has been established for 7 years so I don't know why it would be diatoms, but that seems to be the closest I can find to what's in my tank. Is it diatoms, or something else? This happened after I used chemiclean for my cyano. Running lots of GFO right now, nems have also been retracted more than usual. It's all over my rocks and glass and I have to clean everything multiple times a day, very annoying!
View attachment 3021401

When we see zero readings, automatically we assume this is the cause but by the time you see zero numbers, its because the dino has consumed the po4 and no3 and are multiplying and in turn many dose no3 and po4 to bring numbers up not realizing they are feeding these flagellates even more.
Its biological deficiencies that are causing the dino structure and tank is already doomed.
No light is first key followed by the addition of bacteria to overcome the bad bacteria allowing them to thrive
Prepare by starting by blowing this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles. Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15% IF you have light dependant corals) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off. During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as micro bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons. Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX
You can fish fish as normal and if blackout, ambient light in room will work for them

 

[bushdoc]

i do run carbon 24/7 and change it every 1-2 months, i read the pinned dino thread and i noticed it says they like chaeto... my sump is pretty much just a refugium full of chaeto this point, and while the dinos are just in the display, i don't know how long it will stay like that

If Chaeto strips your nutrients, then Dinos will come, same with GFO. I would put new carbon and follow guy's from above with recommendations.

 

[Biff0rz]

Looks like dino to me (having had them). The only real way to know is to collect some and put them under a microscope, you can get a decent one fairly cheap on Amazon. Most of the techniques to remove dino don't work. What worked for me was a big strong uv and a whollllllle lot of patience... Mine lasted over a year.

 

[Spare time]

Asteroid strikes are great for getting rid of dinos

 

[Chortanator]

If Chaeto strips your nutrients, then Dinos will come, same with GFO. I would put new carbon and follow guy's from above with recommendations.

i've always had a problem with high nitrates so i don't know if i'll be able to remove the chaeto, it's still pretty high now but i'll keep an eye on it

 

[EricR]

Dinoflagellates and best plan would be to first determine which type under a microscope and implement a method for dealing with that kind (as stated in post# 12).

Personally, I went through dinos after bottoming out phosphates and recovered by a lot of manual removal and dosing up phosphates (without dino ID) but that's just one experience.

 

[Chortanator]

I have a red sea reefer 250, how would i go about installing a uv steriliser? i'm not super savvy when it comes to that kind of thing and i don't have a whole lot of empty space in my sump. i'll place an order for a microscope as well

 

[EricR]

No experience with UV but if that's just a gut reaction, you might want to ID the type of dinos you have first.

As others have stated, there are a bunch of threads on here about dealing with dinos.
Here's just one example:

Dealing with Dinoflagellates

 

[Chortanator]

No experience with UV but if that's just a gut reaction, you might want to ID the type of dinos you have first.

As others have stated, there are a bunch of threads on here about dealing with dinos.
Here's just one example:

Dealing with Dinoflagellates

Thank you for the link, I feel a little stupid but I didn't really understand it at all. Will IDing the type of dinos dictate what method I should use to try and get rid of them?

 

[EricR]

Will IDing the type of dinos dictate what method I should use to try and get rid of them?

Ideally, yes. (I didn't do that and recovered but, personally, I'd recommend spending the time/effort to ID first so you can implement the best plan)

 

[Chortanator]

Ideally, yes. (I didn't do that and recovered but, personally, I'd recommend spending the time/effort to ID first so you can implement the best plan)

What did you do to get rid of yours?