1000 gallon tank for a beginner!

[twentyleagues]

fts= Full tank shot.
Sorry to hear about the dinos. Sounds like you've got a handle on it though.

 

[lubeck]

All good. We all go through the uglies (most at least) and tanks don’t always look perfect, and normally never will, especially when they are young. Keep at it

My tank is going thru its issues too at 8 months young but we keep up with good husbandry and hope things turn a corner

Before

After a water change. It will go back to the above but a little less

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Here it is in all its ugliness. They say not to clean the glass while encouraging a diatom bloom but it's driving me crazy.

 

[lubeck]

Sorry if I missed it but do you know what type of Dino’s you have?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Sorry if I missed it but do you know what type of Dino’s you have?

Yep, small cell amphidinium.

 

[lubeck]

Are you running a UV inside the display tank? That should help. Do you see it over all structures or mainly the sand?

Did you look into the UV wand?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Are you running a UV inside the display tank? That should help. Do you see it over all structures or mainly the sand?

Did you look into the UV wand?

My UV is off. SCA does not go into the water column. I actually had the UV on 24/7 when they started, ptobably ended up selecting out these because of that. Instead the UV can kill it's competitors. They are on the rocks and sand both. I looked at the UV wand but you can't use in acrylic tanks.

 

[lubeck]

Yeah sorry, got my Dino’s mixed up. Sorry you are going through it. I had large cell for about a month.

Edit…I’m a mess tonight, I had small cell ( begins with a O) which are the swimmers and beat it with UV.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Yeah sorry, got my Dino’s mixed up. Sorry you are going through it. I had large cell for about a month

Yea it's frustrating but the dinos seem to be much less under the microscope. Despite that I don't know how to get rid of these mats of mucus/grass they have made.

 

[lubeck]

Yea it's frustrating but the dinos seem to be much less under the microscope. Despite that I don't know how to get rid of these mats of mucus/grass they have made.

I wouldn’t be able to leave it , they say you can’t remove it? Any other treatments besides silicates ?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

I wouldn’t be able to leave it , they say you can’t remove it? Any other treatments besides silicates ?

Silicates, dosing nitrate and phos to keep from bottoming out, daily dosage of microbacter7.

 

[buruskeee]

Yep, small cell amphidinium.

Are you sure they’re aren’t large cell? Can you post a short video clip? If they move slower it’s large cell and if it looks like it’s in fast forward then it’s small cell.

If it’s large cell, just let it be. They go away on their own and you’ll just spin tires. I’ve done the whole high nutrient thing and silicates to help outcompete but only cyano blanketing the bottom outcompeted and helped remove them.

As the tank matures it goes away. It just looks rusty brown but doesn’t hurt.

Edit: I just zoomed in and the mouth does look like SCA. They actually go into the water column at night unlike LCA. Run a UV in the DT from one corner out the other.

 

[Crabs+Shrimps-69]

Silicates, dosing nitrate and phos to keep from bottoming out, daily dosage of microbacter7.

I had great success with dosing phytoplankton.
I'm not sure what type of dinoflagellates I had though.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

I dose copepods and a large volume of phyto once per week as well, forgot to mention that. Have been growing both of those out for several months now. Both tisbe and tiger pods and nano and tetra phyto.

 

[lubeck]

Assuming the Dino’s don’t (even some) reduce at night and come back full bore during the day?

 

[loganjude]

Just wanted to say how awesome this build transformation is. From first few pictures to it now is amazing. You did a great job and went all in.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Are you sure they’re aren’t large cell? Can you post a short video clip? If they move slower it’s large cell and if it looks like it’s in fast forward then it’s small cell.

I pulled a fresh sample during lunch and they move fast. Feel pretty comfortable saying it's SCA.

Just wanted to say how awesome this build transformation is. From first few pictures to it now is amazing. You did a great job and went all in.

Thank you. I'm ready to add corals but need to clear these uglies from the rocks so they don't get choked!

 

[loganjude]

I pulled a fresh sample during lunch and they move fast. Feel pretty comfortable saying it's SCA.

Thank you. I'm ready to add corals but need to clear these uglies from the rocks so they don't get choked!

You got this. After all the changes you've made to the system this will be mostly a patience thing. Looking forward to the corals.

 

[buruskeee]

I pulled a fresh sample during lunch and they move fast. Feel pretty comfortable saying it's SCA.

Yeah saw the curved beaks when I zoomed in. They actually hit the water column at night. A UV will help.

 

[CountDigi]

Well done! what an amazing build and ingenuity. Makes me want to build a new tank

I had prorocentrum dino's around the same time as yours started. Long story short, started because i had a nutrient imbalance, nitrate bottomed out and cyano took over. I dosed chemiclean and dinos replaced the cyano. Beat it in one month with the use of UV sweeper, aquaforest lifesource mud, and dosing nitrate up to balance out the nutrients again (10ppm).
Unfortunatly, when you reset the battle field something new takes over. The cyano has returned......but would rather cyano>dino.

Looking forward to following this marvelous build and I am sure by this time next year you will have wall to wall coral.