0.06 phosphate = Dinos? Algae? It's everywhere and it's my fault. Lots of pics.

[Willbiker]

I've looked at UVs very briefly and just can't justify buying one at the moment. Long story short, I've downsized my 75 + 45 gallon frag system to a 25 lagoon + 45 frag system still, but will eventually shut the tank down completely in the next two years when we move homes. So if and when I do buy a UV it needs to be suited for a much larger system- (dream tank) in the new home. For now I'd like to keep everything healthy until I have to shut it down. I'll try additive approach and if I can't I just may have to buy that large UV and set it up here.

I picked up a second hand one but thats fair enough. Its not the only way to beat dino, it just helps a lot. Go for the nutrients increase approach, turn whites off, blast off rocks with turkey baster and don't change your water. And if you want to, dose a bacteria product like vibrant or microbacter7. Most important thing is nutrient increase.

 

[Michigan Reefer]

Dose vibrant.

I just chatted with BRS and they recommended micro or vibrant. I've used micro before when setting this system up so I think i'll stick with that. I also have other brightwell additives so might keep it in the family.

 

[ScottB]

I have a UV sterilizer on my tank and still ended up getting some dinos dosed vibrant on top of the UV sterilizer and was able to get rid of them

If you run a UV with your return pump, the contact time is insufficient for killing dinos. Unlike bacteria and fish pests, these things are armored up.

 

[Pistol Peet]

If you run a UV with your return pump, the contact time is insufficient for killing dinos. Unlike bacteria and fish pests, these things are armored up.

My uv is a Pentair 50 watt high output on a 160 gallon xxl-750 with its own vectra M2 pump.. separate from the return pump.

 

[vetteguy53081]

very early stage of dino. Do the following and you can do 3 days instead of 5 as what you have is minimal:

Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15%) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependant coral- turn all lights off.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/another-tank-born-artfully-acrylic-drof-off-tank.463423/

 

[brandon429]

removed

 

[ScottB]

My uv is a Pentair 50 watt high output on a 160 gallon xxl-750 with its own vectra M2 pump.. separate from the return pump.

Good, if they come back, just slow the pump way down. Just fast enough to cool the bulb. Depending on the species, these things can tolerate a lot of UV.

Nobody likes this suggestion, but pumping TO/FROM the display increases effectiveness. But it is not a good looking setup.

 

[Pistol Peet]

Good, if they come back, just slow the pump way down. Just fast enough to cool the bulb. Depending on the species, these things can tolerate a lot of UV.

Nobody likes this suggestion, but pumping TO/FROM the display increases effectiveness. But it is not a good looking setup.

Yea I'm set up from sump to display at the moment

 

[Michigan Reefer]

If this is a 25 gallon tank nothing will beat our method of simple one pass deep cleaning i bet

The dosers mentioned by brs go into a clean condition tank, not an invaded one to deal with killing all the mass then rotting it internally

You should select your care plan based on the gallonage of the system and then other factors. For nanos nothing beats the method of a certain way of deep cleaning.

Uv dosers param tweaks, none of that has to be done in the invaded condition. Apply them as growback preventers.

It’s a 25 gallon lagoon “display”, but also a 45 gallon frag tank with a large 30-40 gallon trigger system 44c sump. Again this sump used to run a 75 gallon plus 45 frag.

 

[Michigan Reefer]

How about MicroBacter Start XLM instead of Microbacter7? 15X the strength.

 

[LegendaryCG]

Definitely those are dinos. Up tank maintenance, dos a good bacteria, and start peroxide/UV. Reduce light and try to suck as much of them out of the tank too.

 

[LegendaryCG]

How about MicroBacter Start XLM instead of Microbacter7? 15X the strength.

Not gonna matter. Bacteria will rapidly reproduce given sufficent environment.

 

[Jilly92]

I have been dealing with this as well after getting a new filter. It really socks and everything is ugly. I've cut the lights all day today and I can already see the sandbed clearing up a bit. I used a small cleaning brush to scrub off the rocks, but it just comes back. Its sounds strange but have you had any ill effects after handling the stuff? If you have handled it, that is. After cleaning I got a really bad headache for 2 days and I can taste like a coral or phytoplankton taste in my mouth. I also had deep muscle shooting sensations that went around my neck. I wonder if it had something to do with Dino neurotoxin poisoning??

 

[Michigan Reefer]

I have been dealing with this as well after getting a new filter. It really socks and everything is ugly. I've cut the lights all day today and I can already see the sandbed clearing up a bit. I used a small cleaning brush to scrub off the rocks, but it just comes back. Its sounds strange but have you had any ill effects after handling the stuff? If you have handled it, that is. After cleaning I got a really bad headache for 2 days and I can taste like a coral or phytoplankton taste in my mouth. I also had deep muscle shooting sensations that went around my neck. I wonder if it had something to do with Dino neurotoxin poisoning??

Wow I'm sorry to hear that. I decided to go with microbacter7 after reading a bit more about the XLM stuff. It should arrive tomorrow and I'll start dosing the bacteria. I've also turned off my white lights and lowered the blues down to 40%. I've been using my turkey baster to blast this stuff off the rocks and try to net as much of it out as I can. I also fed the tank quite a bit of frozen foods last night to up the nutrients. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Willbiker]

Wow I'm sorry to hear that. I decided to go with microbacter7 after reading a bit more about the XLM stuff. It should arrive tomorrow and I'll start dosing the bacteria. I've also turned off my white lights and lowered the blues down to 40%. I've been using my turkey baster to blast this stuff off the rocks and try to net as much of it out as I can. I also fed the tank quite a bit of frozen foods last night to up the nutrients. We'll see how it goes.

It took a while for my nutrients to rise but what helped me was removing my skimmer cup until the nutrients hit no3 10ppm and po4 0.1. Get some test kits and keep these levels elevated and this along with the microbacter7 will do the trick. It does take weeks and weeks though but the natural way is the best.

 

[Michigan Reefer]

It took a while for my nutrients to rise but what helped me was removing my skimmer cup until the nutrients hit no3 10ppm and po4 0.1. Get some test kits and keep these levels elevated and this along with the microbacter7 will do the trick. It does take weeks and weeks though but the natural way is the best.

Remove the skimmer cup and keep it running?

I was running my protein skimmer for 15 hours a day, mostly during the night, but I can see you want to keep the bubbles aerating the water, but just not collecting?

Also a question on feeding and feeding heavy to raise nutrients. How much is heavy feeding?

Two clowns and a damsel in the 25 lagoon tank
2 clowns, bengaii cardinal, royal gramma, aiptasia eating file fish, and two blue chromis in the 45frag.
Both are also packed in with coral, mostly SPS.

I buy the large sheets of reef and fish frenzy frozen foods, and PE mysis cubes. I feed equivalent of 1-2 cubes a day to both tanks. On top of that a couple small scoops of either reef chili, polyplab, reef frenzy, or a brightwells blizzard coral powder food like the others. Maybe a sprinkle of heavier pellets for the crabs and snails. I clean my glass every 3 days and anytime I add more than this amount of food, I feel I have to clean everyday. I have no other means of nutrient export other than skimming and I was doing 5-10% water changes a week, but have not in 2 weeks now. I can't imagine what 10 ppm nitrate looks like.

 

[Willbiker]

Yes correct, leave the skimmer running in order to keep aeration up but remove the cup so no waste is collected.

I would stop feeding any form of coral food as this also feeds the dino. Just stick to around 3 feeds per day and as much as they eat in 5 mins. The idea is you don't want food rotting, just lost of fish waste .

You also don't want to do a water change until the dino has gone....and then wait further to be sure. I havent done a water change in 2 months now. I just test all parameters every few days and dose accordingly. You can balance the nutrients with feeding. If you go over 10ppm nitrate and 0.16 phosphate, ease off the feeding and get the skimmer back on.

You will get algae, lots of it. But this, along with the added bacteria is what outcompetes the dino for space. Once the dino is gone, you bring your nutrients down but always keep above 0. Algae will then go. I chucked a mexicam turbo snail in and it polished off the whole algae bloom.

 

[Aqua Man]

50$ at chewys. Saw improvement in Dino after 48 hrs.

 

[Willbiker]

50$ at chewys. Saw improvement in Dino after 48 hrs.

Without a uv. 2-3 months to clear up. With a uv you could be looking at a week or 2. I would still consider getting a cheap one like above if you can.

 

[Michigan Reefer]

50$ at chewys. Saw improvement in Dino after 48 hrs.

Nice! Didn't realize they made them this small and cheap. I'll definitely try to find one like this. Can I put it in the sump or should it go in the display with the dinos.