Ugly stage or Dinos

[TheDon]

Hi guys,

Tank is a month old, I used dry rock and a load of wet rock in sump. I did a fishless cycle using dr Tim’s ammonia and tank has been ammonia free and nitrite free last week. I’ve started to get brown golden algae on my rocks and sand! Some on Fb say dinos but some say it’s normal and to get CUC and ride it out!

Any advice welcome, I’ve never had an ugly stage doing freshwater and this is my first reef tank!

I’ve scrubbed some of it off the larger rock on top and it’s easily removed. As stated tank is only a month old and no fish or CUC as yet. 90L Aqua One MiniReef.

 

[Duane family]

Guaranteed you will get 10 out of 20 apposing opinions on this. The only way to know is to extract a sample and view it under a microscope. Likely that you got that reply on FB also. If you don't have one and not keen on buying one, perhaps there is someone close by who has one and can assist. You will need to take pics and video for reference so bare that in mind.

But if I look briefly at your pics I would suggest this is diatoms flairing up and nothing to worry about.

 

[TheDon]

Guaranteed you will get 10 out of 20 apposing opinions on this. The only way to know is to extract a sample and view it under a microscope. Likely that you got that reply on FB also. If you don't have one and not keen on buying one, perhaps there is someone close by who has one and can assist. You will need to take pics and video for reference so bare that in mind.

But if I look briefly at your pics I would suggest this is diatoms flairing up and nothing to worry about.

So just part of being a new tank and expected? Going to get some CUC today hopefully. Maybe a few hermits and snails

 

[AAAReefing]

99% chance it’s diatoms, they’re normal for everyone and the first type of life you get when cycling. They happen as a result of silicates in the system and will go away once all the silicates in your system deplete in a week or two.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

You could have left the lights off for the past month since nothing is in the tank.

Personally I would hold off on cuc until you get green algae.... diatoms feeds off silicates in new sand, they die off on their own after a couple of weeks once the silicates supply is consumed. Astrea snails are the only snail I'm aware of that eats diatoms, most others eat green algae, so they will go hungry in your tank.

 

[Johnd651]

same process as you did. This was about 1.5 weeks after the peak of the diatom bloom. 2+ weeks after, they are all gone. I did add a snail only cuc and accidentally ODed on phytoplankton (30x) and no issues.

 

[TheDon]

You could have left the lights off for the past month since nothing is in the tank.

Personally I would hold off on cuc until you get green algae.... diatoms feeds off silicates in new sand, they die off on their own after a couple of weeks once the silicates supply is consumed. Astrea snails are the only snail I'm aware of that eats diatoms, most others eat green algae, so they will go hungry in your tank.

Lights have been off, only had them at 30% for last few days as someone kindly gave me a few frags. Would it do any harm cleaning up a bit?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Lights have been off, only had them at 30% for last few days as someone kindly gave me a few frags. Would it do any harm cleaning up a bit?

no harm at all. Very nice arches in your tank btw !

 

[PharmrJohn]

Cleaning it up is really not necessary. As stated, once the silicates are gone, so are the diatoms. Diatoms use silicates to build their cell wall. If ya got the cash, a microscope is really helpful. Look under my own threads for Microscope Recommendation (or some title name like that). There you'll find some great recommendations.

Edit: Here it is.....

Thread 'Microscope Recommendation' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/microscope-recommendation.1067333/

 

[TheDon]

Cleaning it up is really not necessary. As stated, once the silicates are gone, so are the diatoms. Diatoms use silicates to build their cell wall. If ya got the cash, a microscope is really helpful. Look under my own threads for Microscope Recommendation (or some title name like that). There you'll find some great recommendations.

Edit: Here it is.....

Thread 'Microscope Recommendation' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/microscope-recommendation.1067333/

Will try and ride it out! Might get a silicate testing kit in case my RO isn’t as clean as I’m made to believe (LFS Water) I’m changing where I get my water from anyway as there’s a spotless water dispenser near me and it’s cheaper.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Will try and ride it out! Might get a silicate testing kit in case my RO isn’t as clean as I’m made to believe (LFS Water) I’m changing where I get my water from anyway as there’s a spotless water dispenser near me and it’s cheaper.

If possible, you should invest in an RODI!