Evil has a new name.......DINOFLAGELLATES

[Archie]

Drip kalkwasser every night and upgrade to a better skimmer.
The kalk will help by phosphate precipitation and export through skimming. It should also help with your low calcium levels and will boost your coralline algae growth which will in turn outcompete the nuisance algae. Keep maintaining your alk with the Kent product. Sometimes you have to give it a major dosage boost before you can keep the levels maintained for any lasting duration.

I've seen a few used Turboflotors kicking about on various Canadian boards for as low as $150. They're actually a pretty decent skimmer once you add a small air pump to push more air into its venturi. They're a good choice before the jump up into the next tax bracket. If you want one that will last you a lifetime and help you grow into a bigger tank, look at some of the Canadian made becket head units like the Canreef or Saltwater Connection models. Well worth the extra $$$

IMHO, dinoflagelletes are often over look by most clean up crew critters and herbivorous fish.

HTH, Archie

[Jack]

Hey christy, it's Jack.

I can keep your sps longer, it's not a problem. You had hair algae and now this! Ah man, but don't give up. I'm starting to wonder if it's mabye your water source. Last time I saw your tank it looked great and now trouble again..

Private message me and we can meet up sometime. Talk to you later and good luck.

-Jack

[SuperFudge]

Hi Christy,

Youll get it beat,im sure.

I think a large part of the diatoms may be the large water changes you have done,Almost like putting your tank thru mini cycles....
Remember the ones we get when we fire up a tank for the first time?...sort of like that.

Did you notice an increase of diatoms after the first water change?

Kalkwasser would be a good idea,but after your alk has been brought up with buffers,kalkwasser will help to maintain the alk...so if it is low now,it will help only to keep it low.
Instead i would use buffers only and religiously until its back to normal.

Recent lighting changes also make a huge difference.

The Berlin XL should be more than enouph for your present coral and fish load,so if it is working properly with a decent pump i doubt wether that is your problem.

Your soft corals look shrunken,are they always like this ?

[ldzielak]

Christy,

I will be passing through on Thursday, heading up from Vic. If you need anything, I can pick it up for you. I could also maybe take some of your corals in for ya, of pass them along to Jack on the way.

Let me know.

Lee

[StirCrazy]

Ok now so fare I have heard some people call this dinoflagelletes and some call it diatoms, to me it looks like gold/brown algae. I get blooms like that (well maby not quite as bad) if I am late cleaning my skimmer by more than a week. I have also put togeather some observations that when I stop dripping kalk for a week and oneof thease blooms apears it is much worse than if I am dripping kalk.

My tang eats it, my lawnmower eats it, my flame angel eats it.. and my two fighting conches eat it.. when they arn't hiding

I have atributed it to high nutrents because I have a tendencey to over feed and when my skimmer isn't up to snuff and clean they get out of control.. this latest bloom I am having is a result of 1: not dripping kalk, 2: adding 2 sheets of nori for the Pigs each day, and 3: forgetting to clean my skimmer last weekend (got it today). also it doesent help that my two conch are taking a holladay and burried themselves to grow a bit...

Steve

[christyf5]

Well quite frankly I think it was because I fed my tang some nori and I don't think he ate it. I think he yanked it off the elastic and it went and died somewhere in a rock. At least thats all I can think of. And the algae bloom didn't happen after a major water change. Come to think of it I never do major water changes. If I do do a water change its only about 5 gallons (don't laugh ). Besides, everyone has been saying to do these huge water changes. Somebody make up your minds

Anyway, I think I'll maybe hold off on the water changes and see what I can do about this crappy skimmer. I bought the "turbo" kit for it but quite frankly I have no respect for it. maybe i need that venturi kit or something. Beats me, I guess I don't know enough about skimmers other than the fact that I don't want to pay $500 for one. I'm gonna try leaving the lights off too for a day or so and see what happens. This is getting extremely frustrating. I was thinking, oh cool, its not green but I think I would rather have the hair algae, at least it didn't foul the water

Jack, thanks for holding onto my SPS, I don't think they would be too happy with the living conditions I have to offer at the moment.

Thanks for the help and the encouraging words!

Christy

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by christyf5

I fed my tang some nori and I don't think he ate it.

And the algae bloom didn't happen after a major water change.

I bought the "turbo" kit for it but quite frankly I have no respect for it. maybe i need that venturi kit or something. Beats me, I guess I don't know enough about skimmers other than the fact that I don't want to pay $500 for one. Christy

looks like we have 3 commen factors here, lots of nori, not from water changes, and degraded or insufficent skimming. Do you drip kalk Christy?

Steve

[christyf5]

Nope I don't drip kalk, I do however add that Kent Superbuffer stuff. Not that it seems to do much for my tank but I do it anyway.

And as for the nori its amazing that such a small piece could cause such a horrible problem. The piece was only about 2cmx4cm or so. Just my luck!

Christy

[StirCrazy]

but if your skimmer wasn't preforming then it woulden't take much to push the nutrents levels over the top.. I asked about kalk as it is suposed to bind phosphates and remove them from the water colum. weather that is comming into play here I don't know but it seams to make a difference for me.

Steve

[reefburnaby]

Chiristy,

If you visit reefcentral and search for Red Sea Skimmer. You'll get a huge number of threads regarding frustrated users with this skimmer. Most people thought the skimmer was a nice...paper weight. The common cure...bigger pump and better venturi. Even the turbo venturi thingy didn't turn many heads.

Oh...some dinos are toxic to snails and other critters. So, you'll need to remove the algae by hand + brush or siphon.

Good luck.

- Victor.