Brown Diatoms?

[Phil]

Hi,

I've had an ongoing, never ending battle with red slime in my 46gal
FOWLR. About one week after my last water change, I'm now seeing a very
orange/brown crop all over my crushed coral. I suspect brown diatoms as
I saw those early on when I started the tank.

So I'm concerned about my RO filter, although I replaced the presediment
and carbon block filters about 3 months ago, RO membrane is about 16
months old.

Anyway, I'm using the SAME SOURCE WATER for my 7 gal nanoreef, and this
has shown NO evidence of this orange dusting, but my nano has live sand,
not crushed coral. So can I assume it is NOT silicates in my source
water since my nano is unaffected? Also in the 46 FOWLR, the orange is
only on half the tank where the circulation near the bottom is weaker.
would diatoms be affected by circulation like that?

TIA
Phil

[Phil]

Forgot to mention, during that last water change, I did a thorough
cleaning of my protein skimmer, which was chock full of gunk from hell
and badly overdue. Thats the only thing different before seeing this
new colored dusting. Although, I was expecting BETTER water conditions
after that, not new problems! :-0



>

[Marc Levenson]

Phil,

It almost sounds like dinoflagellates to me.

Grab some thin flexible tubing, and siphone off whatever you can see & reach.

Please make it a practice to clean your skimmer's collection cup and riser tube
every three days.

Try not to overfeed if possible.

That being said, my tanks have been suffering from cyano bacteria for the past 6
weeks due to overdosing with Golden Pearls. I underestimated their potency! ;)

Marc


Phil wrote:

> Forgot to mention, during that last water change, I did a thorough
> cleaning of my protein skimmer, which was chock full of gunk from hell
> and badly overdue. Thats the only thing different before seeing this
> new colored dusting. Although, I was expecting BETTER water conditions
> after that, not new problems! :-0
>
> >

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Phil]

Thanks for the input. Yes, I am horrible at cleaning my skimmer, it goes
for months on end without. I'll try to do better, but every 3 days?!?!
Its an AquaC Remora, so to clean anything other than the cup, I must
dismount the whole unit, including surface box, major operation! ugh!

Anyway, come to think of it, just before the appearance of the
orange/brown, I DID increase feedings substantially. I feed Sally's
Sal****er Multipak. I used to chop a cube in half and feed that (once
daily), but just started feeding the whole cube to avoid the chopping
hassle. hmmm...could be related.

Well, back to the soap opera in my tank...



Marc Levenson > wrote in
:

> Phil,
>
> It almost sounds like dinoflagellates to me.
>
> Grab some thin flexible tubing, and siphone off whatever you can see &
> reach.
>
> Please make it a practice to clean your skimmer's collection cup and
> riser tube every three days.
>
> Try not to overfeed if possible.
>
> That being said, my tanks have been suffering from cyano bacteria for
> the past 6 weeks due to overdosing with Golden Pearls. I
> underestimated their potency! ;)
>
> Marc
>
>
> Phil wrote:
>
>> Forgot to mention, during that last water change, I did a thorough
>> cleaning of my protein skimmer, which was chock full of gunk from
>> hell and badly overdue. Thats the only thing different before seeing
>> this new colored dusting. Although, I was expecting BETTER water
>> conditions after that, not new problems! :-0
>>
>> >
>
> --
> Personal Page:
> http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html Business Page:
> http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com Marine Hobbyist:
> http://www.melevsreef.com
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

LOL...

Okay, clean the cup and the little riser tube in the base of the cup every three
days. Jason at Aqua C told me a few months ago that the crud the builds up
inside the tube reduces its efficiency rapidly.

I'd clean the injector every 2 months. Takes about 4 minutes, tops. Unplug
skimmer, remove cup. Unscrew the nylon screw, run the special brush through the
jet a few times, put the screw back in and replace the cup.

Plug it in, done. :)

Washing the cup almost takes longer. <g>

Quit feeding too much. Just cut up 7 cubes one day, and use 1/2 each day,
keeping the rest ready in a ziplock baggie.

I love to keep it easy myself.

Marc


Phil wrote:

> Thanks for the input. Yes, I am horrible at cleaning my skimmer, it goes
> for months on end without. I'll try to do better, but every 3 days?!?!
> Its an AquaC Remora, so to clean anything other than the cup, I must
> dismount the whole unit, including surface box, major operation! ugh!
>
> Anyway, come to think of it, just before the appearance of the
> orange/brown, I DID increase feedings substantially. I feed Sally's
> Sal****er Multipak. I used to chop a cube in half and feed that (once
> daily), but just started feeding the whole cube to avoid the chopping
> hassle. hmmm...could be related.
>
> Well, back to the soap opera in my tank...
>
> Marc Levenson > wrote in
> :
>
> > Phil,
> >
> > It almost sounds like dinoflagellates to me.
> >
> > Grab some thin flexible tubing, and siphone off whatever you can see &
> > reach.
> >
> > Please make it a practice to clean your skimmer's collection cup and
> > riser tube every three days.
> >
> > Try not to overfeed if possible.
> >
> > That being said, my tanks have been suffering from cyano bacteria for
> > the past 6 weeks due to overdosing with Golden Pearls. I
> > underestimated their potency! ;)
> >
> > Marc
> >
> >
> > Phil wrote:
> >
> >> Forgot to mention, during that last water change, I did a thorough
> >> cleaning of my protein skimmer, which was chock full of gunk from
> >> hell and badly overdue. Thats the only thing different before seeing
> >> this new colored dusting. Although, I was expecting BETTER water
> >> conditions after that, not new problems! :-0
> >>
> >> >
> >
> > --
> > Personal Page:
> > http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html Business Page:
> > http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com Marine Hobbyist:
> > http://www.melevsreef.com
> >
> >

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Phil]

Ohh Moy Gawd!!! I didnt know what you were talking about, this nylon
screw/injector thing. Looked for my skimmer papers, couldnt find them.
Went to their website and now I see it. I had no idea such a thing
existed!!! Its NEVER been cleaned in my 2 years with this product.
*blush*

Thanks for the pointer! :-)
Phil


Marc Levenson > wrote in
:

> LOL...
>
> Okay, clean the cup and the little riser tube in the base of the cup
> every three days. Jason at Aqua C told me a few months ago that the
> crud the builds up inside the tube reduces its efficiency rapidly.
>
> I'd clean the injector every 2 months. Takes about 4 minutes, tops.
> Unplug skimmer, remove cup. Unscrew the nylon screw, run the special
> brush through the jet a few times, put the screw back in and replace
> the cup.
>
> Plug it in, done. :)
>
> Washing the cup almost takes longer. <g>
>
> Quit feeding too much. Just cut up 7 cubes one day, and use 1/2 each
> day, keeping the rest ready in a ziplock baggie.
>
> I love to keep it easy myself.
>
> Marc
>
>
> Phil wrote:
>
>> Thanks for the input. Yes, I am horrible at cleaning my skimmer, it
>> goes for months on end without. I'll try to do better, but every 3
>> days?!?! Its an AquaC Remora, so to clean anything other than the
>> cup, I must dismount the whole unit, including surface box, major
>> operation! ugh!
>>
>> Anyway, come to think of it, just before the appearance of the
>> orange/brown, I DID increase feedings substantially. I feed Sally's
>> Sal****er Multipak. I used to chop a cube in half and feed that (once
>> daily), but just started feeding the whole cube to avoid the chopping
>> hassle. hmmm...could be related.
>>
>> Well, back to the soap opera in my tank...
>>
>> Marc Levenson > wrote in
>> :
>>
>> > Phil,
>> >
>> > It almost sounds like dinoflagellates to me.
>> >
>> > Grab some thin flexible tubing, and siphone off whatever you can
>> > see & reach.
>> >
>> > Please make it a practice to clean your skimmer's collection cup
>> > and riser tube every three days.
>> >
>> > Try not to overfeed if possible.
>> >
>> > That being said, my tanks have been suffering from cyano bacteria
>> > for the past 6 weeks due to overdosing with Golden Pearls. I
>> > underestimated their potency! ;)
>> >
>> > Marc
>> >
>> >
>> > Phil wrote:
>> >
>> >> Forgot to mention, during that last water change, I did a thorough
>> >> cleaning of my protein skimmer, which was chock full of gunk from
>> >> hell and badly overdue. Thats the only thing different before
>> >> seeing this new colored dusting. Although, I was expecting BETTER
>> >> water conditions after that, not new problems! :-0
>> >>
>> >> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Personal Page:
>> > http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html Business
>> > Page:
>> > http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com Marine Hobbyist:
>> > http://www.melevsreef.com
>> >
>> >
>
> --
> Personal Page:
> http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html Business Page:
> http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com Marine Hobbyist:
> http://www.melevsreef.com
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

Your skimmer will work much more efficiently when cleaning that injector.
Sometimes my skimmer seems to do nothing (little skimmate for days) and that is
when I'll clean it to get things going again.

Marc


Phil wrote:

> Ohh Moy Gawd!!! I didnt know what you were talking about, this nylon
> screw/injector thing. Looked for my skimmer papers, couldnt find them.
> Went to their website and now I see it. I had no idea such a thing
> existed!!! Its NEVER been cleaned in my 2 years with this product.
> *blush*
>
> Thanks for the pointer! :-)
> Phil
>
> Marc Levenson > wrote in
> :
>
> > LOL...
> >
> > Okay, clean the cup and the little riser tube in the base of the cup
> > every three days. Jason at Aqua C told me a few months ago that the
> > crud the builds up inside the tube reduces its efficiency rapidly.
> >
> > I'd clean the injector every 2 months. Takes about 4 minutes, tops.
> > Unplug skimmer, remove cup. Unscrew the nylon screw, run the special
> > brush through the jet a few times, put the screw back in and replace
> > the cup.
> >
> > Plug it in, done. :)
> >
> > Washing the cup almost takes longer. <g>
> >
> > Quit feeding too much. Just cut up 7 cubes one day, and use 1/2 each
> > day, keeping the rest ready in a ziplock baggie.
> >
> > I love to keep it easy myself.
> >
> > Marc
> >
> >
> > Phil wrote:
> >
> >> Thanks for the input. Yes, I am horrible at cleaning my skimmer, it
> >> goes for months on end without. I'll try to do better, but every 3
> >> days?!?! Its an AquaC Remora, so to clean anything other than the
> >> cup, I must dismount the whole unit, including surface box, major
> >> operation! ugh!
> >>
> >> Anyway, come to think of it, just before the appearance of the
> >> orange/brown, I DID increase feedings substantially. I feed Sally's
> >> Sal****er Multipak. I used to chop a cube in half and feed that (once
> >> daily), but just started feeding the whole cube to avoid the chopping
> >> hassle. hmmm...could be related.
> >>
> >> Well, back to the soap opera in my tank...
> >>
> >> Marc Levenson > wrote in
> >> :
> >>
> >> > Phil,
> >> >
> >> > It almost sounds like dinoflagellates to me.
> >> >
> >> > Grab some thin flexible tubing, and siphone off whatever you can
> >> > see & reach.
> >> >
> >> > Please make it a practice to clean your skimmer's collection cup
> >> > and riser tube every three days.
> >> >
> >> > Try not to overfeed if possible.
> >> >
> >> > That being said, my tanks have been suffering from cyano bacteria
> >> > for the past 6 weeks due to overdosing with Golden Pearls. I
> >> > underestimated their potency! ;)
> >> >
> >> > Marc
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Phil wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Forgot to mention, during that last water change, I did a thorough
> >> >> cleaning of my protein skimmer, which was chock full of gunk from
> >> >> hell and badly overdue. Thats the only thing different before
> >> >> seeing this new colored dusting. Although, I was expecting BETTER
> >> >> water conditions after that, not new problems! :-0
> >> >>
> >> >> >
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Personal Page:
> >> > http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html Business
> >> > Page:
> >> > http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com Marine Hobbyist:
> >> > http://www.melevsreef.com
> >> >
> >> >
> >
> > --
> > Personal Page:
> > http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html Business Page:
> > http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com Marine Hobbyist:
> > http://www.melevsreef.com
> >
> >

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[TW]

Sounds like dinoflagelates to me too. I had them for months and could
not get rid of them. What worked for me was 1. Get Julien Sprungs book
called Algea: A problem solvers guide.
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1883693020/qid=1067221230/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-0101631-9728062?v=glance&s=books>
He explains the problem very well.
2. Started dosing with Kalc
3. Run a filter with carbon
4. Make sure your alk and Ca levels are correct ( or as good as you can
make them)
5. Reduce or eliminate water changes until the problem subsides. (
According to Sprung they aggrevate the problem)
6. Reduce you light period for a while.
7. Check for excessive phosphates.
8. Siphon off the worst parts into a fine filter medium and then discard.

Good Luck. You will need patience

Todd

Phil wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I've had an ongoing, never ending battle with red slime in my 46gal
>FOWLR. About one week after my last water change, I'm now seeing a very
>orange/brown crop all over my crushed coral. I suspect brown diatoms as
>I saw those early on when I started the tank.
>
>So I'm concerned about my RO filter, although I replaced the presediment
>and carbon block filters about 3 months ago, RO membrane is about 16
>months old.
>
>Anyway, I'm using the SAME SOURCE WATER for my 7 gal nanoreef, and this
>has shown NO evidence of this orange dusting, but my nano has live sand,
>not crushed coral. So can I assume it is NOT silicates in my source
>water since my nano is unaffected? Also in the 46 FOWLR, the orange is
>only on half the tank where the circulation near the bottom is weaker.
>would diatoms be affected by circulation like that?
>
>TIA
>Phil
>
>
>