Is this brown hair algae?

[Trailermann]

This stringy stuff is most prevalent right below the Hydra 52. It brushes and blows off easily, then the tank is relatively clear for a couple of days. It does not match the on line images I searched for. (Fully cycled 20 gallon coral quarantine tank two months old.) My nitrates are 10 and phosphate is 0.01.

What ever it is, should I be worried and do anything other than brushing it off and letting time take its course?

And here is a R2R question. I see several posts with clear photos of the aquarist's algae problem asking for identification. But the responses are mostly speculation. Why is it hard to say what the problem is? Is there a scientific way to ID a problem?

 

[Billldg]

Lets see if we can get you some help.

#reefsquad

 

[dwest]

Hard to tell. I think is cyano or dinos. Can you check it with a microscope?

 

[Trailermann]

At the NW Frag Fest, I spoke at length with the owner of AquaBiomics. Now I can see how it is so difficult to tell cynos and dinos apart, even with a microscope. And in either case, there is no single solution. The heart of the problem stems from the overall health and maturity of the tank.
Bummer, no magic bullet.

 

[dwest]

At the NW Frag Fest, I spoke at length with the owner of AquaBiomics. Now I can see how it is so difficult to tell cynos and dinos apart, even with a microscope. And in either case, there is no single solution. The heart of the problem stems from the overall health and maturity of the tank.
Bummer, no magic bullet.

You can see the differences under a microscope. I even could with my $12 microscope from amazon.

Amazon product

 

[Trailermann]

I'll bet you are right. What I was told is that there are many different strains of each and the treatment of each could be different, and the proper treatment could be affected by the biometrics of the tank. Does that make sense?

 

[dwest]

I'll bet you are right. What I was told is that there are many different strains of each and the treatment of each could be different, and the proper treatment could be affected by the biometrics of the tank. Does that make sense?

There are. However, I’d want to know at a minimum if I’m dealing with cyano or dinos.

 

[Trailermann]

There are. However, I’d want to know at a minimum if I’m dealing with cyano or dinos.

I see a microscope in my future.

 

[rmurken]

Shot in the dark from the world of infectious disease. You could possibly try isolating samples of the stuff in different containers and dosing the samples with different things known to kill one but not the other.

I haven’t (yet) had to do any significant intervention for cyano, and knock on wood, haven’t had a dino outbreak—so forgive my naïveté if everything kills both.

Microscope sounds like a good idea.