Reef Aquarium Fact #240 Dinoflagellates are almost impossible to get rid of! Have you beat it?

[revhtree]

We are going to continue discussing the reef aquarium facts submitted by our members. Do you agree or disagree? What are your thoughts?

Fact #240

Dinoflagellates are almost impossible to get rid of! (dinoflagellates + phosphates + LOW pH)/Time = Headaches x Stress If you have beat this please explain how!


Truth or False? What else might we need to learn on this subject? Please also share any pictures that may pertain to the subject.

 

[BobDale]

Let's start by explaining what they are.

 

[skinz78]

They are the work of the reef keeping devil... they suck. I just recently beat them.

 

[beaslbob]

Wrong

dinos can be beat using the same methods as other algaes and cyano bacteria.

Actually when an aquarium is first setup there is a whole bunch of stuff in the "soup". Silicates among other things. Which form the cell stucture in the dino hence the initial bloom. But unlike organics like ammonia/nitrate/phosphate and co2, the bioload does not add more silicates. So, after the initial bloom consumes the dinos, they die off. then you get the green algaes. And several months down the road when the tank becomes nitrate starved, the red cyano bacteria show up.

All of which can be avoided by killing the lights and to stop adding food. With the help of macro algaes, after the uglies die off you adjust your lighting and feeding so they don't come back.


my .o2

 

[flyfish4trout]

That sure is a good looking tank! Dino's are like the black plague for a reef, the picture Rev used was from my tank. I battled this for almost 6 months, cut lights on 3 separate occasions, and tried the H202 technique several times to no avail. Ultimately I had to remove the rock completely from the system and replace it. I think that it was leaching phosphate and/or silica into the water. I also replaced my DI resin at the same time but either way it is by far the most difficult and frustrating problem that I have ever had to deal with.

 

[mgdmirage]

I've had nano reefs setup for almost 4 years now and have yet to see those thank god.

 

[Aqua fire/medic]

I've had this on and off for the past three months. Cut the lights 72 hours and the tank looked amazing for a few weeks. But they came back. It is not nutrient driven because I am religious with my WC's every week, and bioload is small( 2 clowns and 1 wrasse in a 34 gallon) going to try fauna Marin ultra algae x this month. Has anyone ever tried this product?

 

[byronious]

So is there anyway to avoid this happening?

 

[skinz78]

I've had this on and off for the past three months. Cut the lights 72 hours and the tank looked amazing for a few weeks. But they came back. It is not nutrient driven because I am religious with my WC's every week, and bioload is small( 2 clowns and 1 wrasse in a 34 gallon) going to try fauna Marin ultra algae x this month. Has anyone ever tried this product?

You need to stop doing water changes as odd as it may seem.... What salt are you using? Dino's are a bacteria, Cyano is actually a type of Dino's as well. They feed off of silicates in your water and by doing water changes you are just fueling their fire... The Algae X won't do a thing. What I tried and it seemed to work is I started Vit C dosing.

 

[skinz78]

So is there anyway to avoid this happening?

Use good salt mix.

 

[Aqua fire/medic]

You need to stop doing water changes as odd as it may seem.... What salt are you using? Dino's are a bacteria, Cyano is actually a type of Dino's as well. They feed off of silicates in your water and by doing water changes you are just fueling their fire... The Algae X won't do a thing. What I tried and it seemed to work is I started Vit C dosing.

I'm using IO reef crystals. Vitamin c dosing works? Interesting..... Everything I've read for the most part is positive about the algae x

 

[skinz78]

I am not positive if it works or not. All I know is mine disappeared when I started dosing and my corals look a lot brighter. I'd be very interested in hearing if you do try the Vit C and it works for you.

 

[skinz78]

BTW I had Dino's for about 8 months before they went away.

 

[Willowdale]

How do you dose Vit C?

 

[skinz78]

Here is what I'm doing.

Sodium ascorbate, dosed 2x/day, into the sump. I made a dosing chart:

Dosing Vitamin C Chart

Use this product:
NutriBiotic, Sodium Ascorbate, Crystalline Powder, 16 oz (454 g) - iHerb.com
$5 0ff coupon code: LUL789 (always good for first purchase).
Keep refrigerated.

To figure out how much to use, decide if you want to simply improve coral growth, spread, and color. If so, then you should dose around 5 ppm twice daily. If you are having problems with coral or fish health, dose up to around 30 ppm twice daily.

Calculate the total net number of gallons in your tank (minus rocks, sand, etc). Enter that number here ______.

You will now need to do a little math. The amounts below are for 100 gallons of water so if you have 50 net gallons, cut the amounts shown below in half etc. No need to be exact--I usually round to the nearest 1/4 tsp.

Dosing amounts using Iherb product:
1/4 tsp=1112 mg.

For every 100 gallons:

5 ppm ----- 1892 mg VC
10 ppm ---- 3785 mg VC
15 ppm ---- 5677 mg VC
20 ppm ---- 7570 mg VC
25 ppm ---- 9462 mg VC
30 ppm ---- 11355 mg VC

After you have figured out how much you want to dose at each dosing, enter that number here _____. This is your dose to be used twice a day. Try for at least one dose being done during lights out, as VC absorbs better in the dark.

Notes:
*Be sure your pH and alk are within normal reef limits before starting. Adjust if needed. Monitor weekly.
*Shoot for a ppm of around 5 if only dosing for improved coral growth, coloration, and spread. Shoot for higher amounts up to 30 ppm if you are having melting zoas or closed zoas and look for the causes of your problems as you dose. Check for high nitrates, pests, zoa pox, predators, and unstable water conditions.
*Dose low amounts and increase the amount slowly over the course of a few days to a couple weeks.
*Do NOT dose at high levels (>10ppm), if you don’t have a skimmer! Especially on a nano tank.
* If you notice an algae bloom or increased skim on your glass then cut back by half until it disappears.
* Watch your skimmer, it will start to skim more.
* Dose the amount twice a day in a fast moving area of your sump or overflow. You may dilute the vitamin c in ro/di water for a minute then pour into my overflow. If adding to sump, try and add the vitamin c after filtration such as skimmers and reactors.
* If you have a question, ask here. I check VC threads daily.
* The instructions in this guide and throughout this thread are based on using pure Sodium Ascorbate, not vitamin c pills and other non-buffered forms of vitamin c.

Be sure to take some "before" pics!

If you do do it please report back in this thread and let me know if it worked for you as well.

 

[shred5]

First off diatoms use silicates not Dinoflagellates, thay are also not cyano even thought they appear to be similar. They actually can attack bacteria or even other algae. Zooxanthellae is a Dinoflagellate. They are motile and that is why they spread so rapidly. They are also poisonous to fish, snails and humans.
[h=1][/h]

 

[skinz78]

Ill have to find the info that I read on Dinos tonight. It stated that there are 1000's of types of Dinos and cyanobacteria was indeed part of the Dinos group.

 

[ladyreefer1983]

i had this long snotty gooey brown slimy things that took over my tank after a month of cycling and went on for another month,they were in my liverock,sand,frags and walls...i did a water change and manually siphoned it out...after that its just gone...i dont know if this snot like brown slime thing is a dino but what i notice is when my alk went up they lowly disappeared to none.,,i didnt cut my lighting period...it was unbelievable because when u siphon them they will come back right away.

 

[OurReef]

We just determined we have this in our tank! Have lost 2 small new sps frags we just squired Lights are now out, how long for no water changes? any other suggestions? Would purchasing a uv sterilizer or ozone reactor help? Will try the vit c dosing as well.

 

[twiddledog]

I have been fighting thesde for about 2 months on my tank that was setup in May. I moved rock and coral from my previous 72 gal where I never had algae problem for 7 years.
I am running Carbonand GFO, all paremeters are within normal ranges but I know I overfeed a little bit due to moorish idol and anthias, as well as 3 tangs.
I have tried dosing with Hydrogen Peroxide and Lights out for 3 days except to feed fish which cleared them up but they came back. I am now doing another round of dosing with Hydrogen Peroxide but no Lights out except for less time with MHs on.
My sand is getting covered with them so I am going to scoop top layer of sand out. So far I have not lost any livestock.
My next course of action is to raise alkalinity above 12 and see what happens.