Dinos from hell!

[Mikuchar]

I've had dinos before and beat them. I've moved my reef tank 300 miles my suggestion to anyone is don't and if you do start all over and sell everything with that said I lost almost everything about 12k in coral. Luckily my fish survived. Everything was going well so I thought. New sand etc. All my coral line algae was lost as well but the few pieces that survived were starting to thrive. Had the usual algae but when I started to treat the mini cyno outbreak dinos overnight have taken over the tank. I've tried everything imaginable even what worked in the past and to no avail! I've included some pics. Even raising my nutrients which worked in the past seemed to make it worse. Lost one piece already and my one hammer colony seems to be on its way out as well. I'm lost at what to do now before giving up and breaking it totally down. Any thoughts out there that maybe I've overlooked would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dwest]

My advice is to get it under a microscope for ID purposes and go from there. There’s lots of threads on how to attack different dinos. I would also have some GAC in the system in the mean time to help reduce toxins. Also no negatives with running UV if you already have one.

 

[EricR]

Yikes...
There's multiple, HUGE, dinoflagellate threads on here covering how to identify and deal with different types.
*first recommended step is usually to identify which type of dinos you have since different methods work better for different types

I think I got lucky with my battle since all I had to do was start dosing phosphates up to reasonable levels (...still dosing daily) and aggressive manual removal a couple/few times a week for awhile. (All clear now for the last couple of months,,, knock on wood)

You've probably already seen these but here's a couple of detailed threads:

Dinoflagellates - dealing with

Dino treatment

 

[Mikuchar]

My advice is to get it under a microscope for ID purposes and go from there. There’s lots of threads on how to attack different dinos. I would also have some GAC in the system in the mean time to help reduce toxins. Also no negatives with running UV if you already have one.

I'm dosing organic carbon and I've had a uv running the whole time. No change whatsoever

 

[HomebroodExotics]

I'm dosing organic carbon and I've had a uv running the whole time. No change whatsoever

How much are you dosing? What else are you dosing and feeding?

 

[Mikuchar]

Is sponge power by korallen-zucht.de a silicate?

 

[Miami Reef]

Is sponge power by korallen-zucht.de a silicate?

Nobody can say since Thomas Pohl refuses to state what’s inside the bottles.

Most likely, it doesn’t contain silicate based on the reading I did here.

I would purchase cheap water glass from Amazon (sodium silica) and use that.

What type of organic carbon are you using?

 

[Mikuchar]

How much are you dosing? What else are you dosing and feeding?

5 mil. For the first week than 10 this second week. I have a waterbox 130.4. 98 gallons display 128 total water volume. Also dosing b-ionic nitrate and hex po4

 

[Troylee]

Carbon dosing is feeding the Dino’s! I just played this game again myself ugh lol… I threw some gac online put filter floss in my sump baffles and started blowing them all off! Once you get the tank clean use sunny x do it yourself coral snow or buy real coral snow which ever you prefer.. mix it with mb7 “a cap per 25 gallons of water” and turn your return pump off and let it clean the tank and the bacteria coat surfaces for 30 min and then turn your pump back on and let the skimmer do the work.. once your lights have been off for a hour or so at night dose h202 1ml per 10 gallons of water! I just followed this routine after fighting Dino’s for a month and my tank cleared up in 4 days and looks beautiful today!

 

[Mikuchar]

Nobody can say since Thomas Pohl refuses to state what’s inside the bottles.

Most likely, it doesn’t contain silicate based on the reading I did here.

I would purchase cheap water glass from Amazon (sodium silica) and use that.

What type of organic carbon are you using?

Red sea no3.po4-x....I wanted xepta np...but couldn't find it anywhere online to purchase it

 

[Mikuchar]

Carbon dosing is feeding the Dino’s! I just played this game again myself ugh lol… I threw some gac online put filter floss in my sump baffles and started blowing them all off! Once you get the tank clean use sunny x do it yourself coral snow or buy real coral snow which ever you prefer.. mix it with mb7 “a cap per 25 gallons of water” and turn your return pump off and let it clean the tank and the bacteria coat surfaces for 30 min and then turn your pump back on and let the skimmer do the work.. once your lights have been off for a hour or so at night dose h202 1ml per 10 gallons of water! I just followed this routine after fighting Dino’s for a month and my tank cleared up in 4 days and looks beautiful today!

Isn't coral snow a type of coral food? Everyone has been saying stay clear away from dosing or using any amino acid or coral food because the dinos mucus just gobbles it up and feeds on it, also afraid of using h2o2?

 

[dwest]

For this purpose, GAC = Dino toxin remover
Carbon dosing = phosphate and nitrates reducer

 

[Troylee]

Isn't coral snow a type of coral food? Everyone has been saying stay clear away from dosing or using any amino acid or coral food because the dinos mucus just gobbles it up and feeds on it, also afraid of using h2o2?

Negative! It’s a in tank cleaner.. as for h202 dosed correctly you won’t have any issues..

Extreme Water Clarity and Cyano Eradication, Made Easy!

Edit 10/092023: Note that I have tweaked the formula a bit. You can find an updated video here: Coral Snow Link: Coral Snow Hello all! I have been reefing now for about 25 years, and over those many years I have picked up many tips, tricks, and best habits/practices. From a hobbyist and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Troylee]

My tank was bad! It was killing my Sps everywhere it touched them… that formula above knocked them out in 4 days! Dosing h202 had zero effects on my torches or any of my Sps which it’s currently full of..

 

[Mikuchar]

My tank was bad! It was killing my Sps everywhere it touched them… that formula above knocked them out in 4 days! Dosing h202 had zero effects on my torches or any of my Sps which it’s currently full of..

Coral snow from korallen-zucht?

 

[Troylee]

Coral snow from korallen-zucht?

Yes.. or pick up some calcium carbonate powder off of Amazon “much cheaper” and follow those instructions on that thread I linked you.. it’s simple to do.. just make sure you run carbon as they die off.

 

[Miami Reef]

Red sea no3.po4-x....I wanted xepta np...but couldn't find it anywhere online to purchase it

I’m assuming you read the dino carbon dosing article from here.

Hi Dr. Jim, the DIY organic carbon additive is made of:

225 ml of vodka (40%)
25 ml of white vinegar
1 tea spoon of brown sugar

Dose is 0,5 ml/100 liters of aquarium water per day

Hope it helps

Click on Beuchat’s name in the quote to get taken to the article.

He recommended up to 4mL/100L of this solution.

Disclaimer: I am not promoting any method. I am just giving you an alternative to the Xepta NP.

 

[Uncle99]

That stuff thrives in unstable water chemistry resulting from the move.

Take that stuff out manually and test all parameters to see if there’s anything out of wack. If so, correct that first.

The system will “recover” faster this way.

Just see diatoms, moves are tough.

Sorry you lost stuff, but, it will recover.

 

[Mikuchar]

That stuff thrives in unstable water chemistry resulting from the move.

Take that stuff out manually and test all parameters to see if there’s anything out of wack. If so, correct that first.

The system will “recover” faster this way.

Just see diatoms, moves are tough.

Sorry you lost stuff, but, it will recover.

All parameters are stable and good

 

[HomebroodExotics]

my advice is to dose way less carbon, like 2 to 3ml and don’t dose nitrates and phosphates. But what do I know. Good luck.