Algae ID - Dinos?

jimmypencil · Oct 3, 2025

Hey everyone,

I believe I have Dinos but not 100% sure. a month ago I did a 4 day black out, I slowed return pump rate to uv from 800 gph to 400 gph. I’ve also dosed an insane amount of pods (12+ jars) and I’m dosing 50ml + of phyto a day. there was ZERO sign of Dino’s for about 2-3 weeks after the blackout, and of course they are starting to show up again. Very little though.

Anyone know which type of Dino I have? Struggling with the ID guide and this is my first time using a microscope.

BryanM · Oct 3, 2025

You can compare with pics in the guide in this thread:

Dinoflagellate Identification Guide

I've had this laying around for a while. Had some recent interest, so I tweaked it a bit and am posting it. Not really about cures just ID pictures, videos, and a few short facts. Hope it can be helpful.

www.reef2reef.com

chip shop · Oct 3, 2025

Don’t know the type,but first time I sow them under microscope I couldn’t believe how quick they were

jimmypencil · Oct 10, 2025

I’m having a hard time telling what type from the ID guide. Can anyone help me?

vetteguy53081 · Oct 10, 2025

jimmypencil said:
Hey everyone,

I believe I have Dinos but not 100% sure. a month ago I did a 4 day black out, I slowed return pump rate to uv from 800 gph to 400 gph. I’ve also dosed an insane amount of pods (12+ jars) and I’m dosing 50ml + of phyto a day. there was ZERO sign of Dino’s for about 2-3 weeks after the blackout, and of course they are starting to show up again. Very little though.

Anyone know which type of Dino I have? Struggling with the ID guide and this is my first time using a microscope.

These are dinos and looks like procentrum but hard to confirm on my phone.
When we see zero readings, automatically we assume this is the cause but by the time you see zero numbers, its because the dino has consumed the po4 and no3 and are multiplying and in turn many dose no3 and po4 to bring numbers up not realizing they are feeding these flagellates even more.
Its biological deficiencies that are causing the dino structure and Its important though to identify the type of dino for most effective battle.
No light is first key followed by the addition of bacteria to overcome the bad bacteria allowing them to thrive
Prepare by starting by blowing this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles. Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10% IF you have light dependant corals such as SPS) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights which works as an oxidizer. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off. During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as micro bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons. Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED AMINO OR ADD NOPOX which is food for dinos, however you can feed coral, food which will help no3 and po4 to increase. If increasing nutrients, try to keep no3 to about 5 until you are done battling these cells.
Doing a daily siphoning will help greatly But . . . . . Siphoning will reduce nutrients , so siphon the water into/through a filter sock and save the water and return it back to tank. Obviously clean the filter sock each time.
You can feed fish as normal and if doing blackout, ambient light in room will work for them

jimmypencil · Oct 10, 2025

vetteguy53081 said:
These are dinos and looks like procentrum but hard to confirm on my phone.
When we see zero readings, automatically we assume this is the cause but by the time you see zero numbers, its because the dino has consumed the po4 and no3 and are multiplying and in turn many dose no3 and po4 to bring numbers up not realizing they are feeding these flagellates even more.
Its biological deficiencies that are causing the dino structure and Its important though to identify the type of dino for most effective battle.
No light is first key followed by the addition of bacteria to overcome the bad bacteria allowing them to thrive
Prepare by starting by blowing this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles. Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10% IF you have light dependant corals such as SPS) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights which works as an oxidizer. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off. During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as micro bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons. Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED AMINO OR ADD NOPOX which is food for dinos, however you can feed coral, food which will help no3 and po4 to increase. If increasing nutrients, try to keep no3 to about 5 until you are done battling these cells.
Doing a daily siphoning will help greatly But . . . . . Siphoning will reduce nutrients , so siphon the water into/through a filter sock and save the water and return it back to tank. Obviously clean the filter sock each time.
You can feed fish as normal and if doing blackout, ambient light in room will work for them

Thanks for the help! For more context: nutrients never bottomed out. No3 stable at 10-20. Po4 stable at .15-.25.

Dino’s started when I added a bag of special grade sand on top of my existing fiji pink sand bed. After one black out and the other things I mentioned in the post - the Dinos have decreased significantly but they did end up coming back after a couple weeks (even though it was a small amount). I just did another 4 day blackout and the Dino’s have not returned after 3 days but it’s too early to tell.

jimmypencil · Oct 10, 2025

vetteguy53081 said:
These are dinos and looks like procentrum but hard to confirm on my phone.
When we see zero readings, automatically we assume this is the cause but by the time you see zero numbers, its because the dino has consumed the po4 and no3 and are multiplying and in turn many dose no3 and po4 to bring numbers up not realizing they are feeding these flagellates even more.
Its biological deficiencies that are causing the dino structure and Its important though to identify the type of dino for most effective battle.
No light is first key followed by the addition of bacteria to overcome the bad bacteria allowing them to thrive
Prepare by starting by blowing this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles. Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10% IF you have light dependant corals such as SPS) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights which works as an oxidizer. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off. During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as micro bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons. Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED AMINO OR ADD NOPOX which is food for dinos, however you can feed coral, food which will help no3 and po4 to increase. If increasing nutrients, try to keep no3 to about 5 until you are done battling these cells.
Doing a daily siphoning will help greatly But . . . . . Siphoning will reduce nutrients , so siphon the water into/through a filter sock and save the water and return it back to tank. Obviously clean the filter sock each time.
You can feed fish as normal and if doing blackout, ambient light in room will work for them

I will try the peroxide! I have just been dosing 2 vials of bio digest a day hoping that will help. I was going to do that for a week and take it from there.