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

[Aqua Man]

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.

I don’t have a sump. Should of mentioned that the tank is a 20 long AIO. Installed the UV right in front of over flow.
Everyone recommends to put in display anyways. It’s not that big and not to much of an eyesore. Looks better than unhappy corals!! Hope it works as well for you.

 

[Willbiker]

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 does it have to be in the display where I'm seeing dinos?

I would go for a tank install then move to sump when dinos have gone

 

[Michigan Reefer]

I have a small bag of carbon in my sump currently close to 2 months old now. Should I swap out for new carbon during this microbacter, nutrient increase, and possible uv coming soon treatment? Will the dinos get toxic as I kill them off?

 

[Willbiker]

Yeah I think that would be a good idea. Some dino is toxic and some isn't. We won't know whether yours is toxic without a microscope diagnosis.

 

[Aqua Man]

I would, some species of Dino are quite toxic while alive. Especially Osteoporosis. Which from your description, sound like what you have.

 

[Jilly92]

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.

I had all the lights off for a day in both tanks and 95% of dinos are gone from the rock and sandbed. But I wonder if they just come back when the lights come back on since they can live in the water column. Either way I need to get the uv sterilizer for sure. Thank you for posting!

 

[ScottB]

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??

Yes, this is a real thing for some people. Ostreopsis are particularly toxic. LC Amphidinium have virtually no toxicity. I don't react to them but it is not uncommon at all. People with asthma often react poorly.

I am not saying that your symptoms are caused by the dinos, but of you want to be careful about it, here are a few suggestions:
a) gloving up and masking when working on the tank.
b) Give some thought to cracking a window
c) Shut off the skimmer as it can aerosolize the toxins.
d) I strongly encourage running GAC and replacing frequently to remove toxins

Very few people react to dino toxins, but some certainly do.

 

[SnipeEasyC]

What i did was pull my filter socks. Replaced with cups and used tumbling bio media. Tumbling helps keep waste from building up. Trick is to not over pack your media baskets or they will stop tumbling.

 

[Jilly92]

Yes, this is a real thing for some people. Ostreopsis are particularly toxic. LC Amphidinium have virtually no toxicity. I don't react to them but it is not uncommon at all. People with asthma often react poorly.

I am not saying that your symptoms are caused by the dinos, but of you want to be careful about it, here are a few suggestions:
a) gloving up and masking when working on the tank.
b) Give some thought to cracking a window
c) Shut off the skimmer as it can aerosolize the toxins.
d) I strongly encourage running GAC and replacing frequently to remove toxins

Very few people react to dino toxins, but some certainly do.

Whats GAC? I definitely had a reaction. I took colloidal silver and everything stopped the following day. Mine look just like the picture from the original post. I will be getting a microscope in a couple of days and I will test to see what it is. I changed filters and added a phosphate filter so that was probably the reasoning.

 

[Willbiker]

Stands for granular activated carbon it absorbs toxins from the water

 

[ScottB]

Whats GAC? I definitely had a reaction. I took colloidal silver and everything stopped the following day. Mine look just like the picture from the original post. I will be getting a microscope in a couple of days and I will test to see what it is. I changed filters and added a phosphate filter so that was probably the reasoning.

GAC is granular activated carbon. It is very good at removing toxins.

 

[Jilly92]

GAC is granular activated carbon. It is very good at removing toxins.

Oh ok ya that was in the new filter I just bought

 

[Michigan Reefer]

I think I did this wrong. I removed the skimmer cup and thought I lowered the waterline enough, but woke up to this skimate muffin top. I cleaned the skimmer and sump and cranked up the flow so it overflows continuously. Microbacter7 should arrive today.

 

[Willbiker]

Yeah just let it overflow. I raised the water level in my skimmer to let it continously overflow.

 

[Brett S]

I think I did this wrong. I removed the skimmer cup and thought I lowered the waterline enough, but woke up to this skimate muffin top. I cleaned the skimmer and sump and cranked up the flow so it overflows continuously. Microbacter7 should arrive today.

Yeah, don’t lower the water line in the skimmer, otherwise it just turns the top part of the skimmer into the collection cup neck. You want water and foam continually overflowing like in your second picture.

However, I will warn you that running your skimmer like that will spray little drops of saltwater *everywhere* as the bubbles burst. You might want to find a way to put a loose fitting cover over that area of your sump or you will have salt water and salt residue all over the pipes and the wall and the outlets and the floor in front of the sump within a few hours.

 

[Michigan Reefer]

Sadly my microbacter7 order from Amazon was stolen from my back porch. Amazon even sent me a picture of where they left it and when I arrived home, it was gone. They must have followed the Amazon truck because it was hidden from the road where no one could have known a package had been delivered.

Posting this as a warning to others, be careful and bring in your packages this time of year.

 

[Madonia]

I had a similar problem. Nitrates and phosphates were low (near 0 for a long few months. Then phosphate dropped to 0 for 1-2 days. Followed that were dinos). I’ve noticed a significant reduction in them by raising my nitrates to 5ppm, and my phosphate to 0.08ppm. My corals also look fantastic.

I started dosing microbacter 7 and microbacter clean at 5ml/25 gallons nightly. I shut off my skimmer and my UV for 6 hours after I dose these. At the same time, I also dose a heavy amount of phytoplankton (probably 30ml).

I change the filter socks every 2 days.

I check nitrate and phosphate daily and raise as needed with neophos and neonitro. Today phosphate was 0.1...highest it’s been. So I added a couple tablespoons of GFO to a bag and put it in the sump. Will retest it tomorrow and likely pull the bag assuming it drops back to 0.05-0.08.
After 2 weeks of doing this, I knocked back the dinos to over 70%. I had cyano as well which has also went away by 60%.

I also vacuumed the sand bed once (where the dinos are mostly). In addition, I lowered my lighting schedule by 2 hours and I am only running blue lights.

 

[Madonia]

I had a similar problem. Nitrates and phosphates were low (near 0 for a long few months. Then phosphate dropped to 0 for 1-2 days. Followed that were dinos). I’ve noticed a significant reduction in them by raising my nitrates to 5ppm, and my phosphate to 0.08ppm. My corals also look fantastic.

I started dosing microbacter 7 and microbacter clean at 5ml/25 gallons nightly. I shut off my skimmer and my UV for 6 hours after I dose these. At the same time, I also dose a heavy amount of phytoplankton (probably 30ml).

I change the filter socks every 2 days.

I check nitrate and phosphate daily and raise as needed with neophos and neonitro. Today phosphate was 0.1...highest it’s been. So I added a couple tablespoons of GFO to a bag and put it in the sump. Will retest it tomorrow and likely pull the bag assuming it drops back to 0.05-0.08.
After 2 weeks of doing this, I knocked back the dinos to over 70%. I had cyano as well which has also went away by 60%.

I also vacuumed the sand bed once (where the dinos are mostly). In addition, I lowered my lighting schedule by 2 hours and I am only running blue lights.

I think the bacteria/phyto method works. But the bacteria does indeed lower your nutrient level. So you need to be feeding heavy, NO water changes...testing nightly...and dosing neophos/neonitro as needed.

not the time to run your refugium either. Cut back skimming time if needed. Definitely stop skimming for 6hrs after the dosing of microbacter. Biggest thing is maintain nutrients pretty high and dosing the bacteria/phyto combo.

*UV is critical*. Keep the socks clean. NO water changes.

 

[Willbiker]

Sadly my microbacter7 order from Amazon was stolen from my back porch. Amazon even sent me a picture of where they left it and when I arrived home, it was gone. They must have followed the Amazon truck because it was hidden from the road where no one could have known a package had been delivered.

Posting this as a warning to others, be careful and bring in your packages this time of year.

Lets hope they drink it with tonic and lemon!

 

[reefviper101]

It's my fault. I switched out my entire sumps bacteria filled substrate and biofilter media and replaced it with calcium reactor media and crushed coral. It's been a month with no problems until the last couple of days. Just tested phosphate (0.06) to decide if I need a large water change to drop the phosphate or ride it out? It’s gotta be going through a new bacteria cycle. Balance out or change it?

We have to show the ugly side of reefing. I’m amazed at all changes of life in a reef tank good or bad.

I’ve been turkey blasting this stuff for 3 nights now. I’m not so sure if I should keep do doing it. It just comes back. I’ve added pumps and upped the flow a bit to keep it off the corals, but as you see, no such luck. Also I haven’t seen bubbles like this since my the first cycle

I fully agree with them i run phosphates and nitrates 6 to 8 ppm got alittle sludge but no biggy