Are these Dino's??

[taricha]

I do smartphone laid on top of 'scope eyepeice. Using the smartphone zoom I can get even more detail than I can with my eye looking through the scope.

brightwell spongexcel is a Silica / silicate product for aquarium use, with dosing instructions etc.

Seachem Flourish Phosphorus is phosphate source that adds basically only PO4.

 

[Rogued_Reefer]

So first of all.. You Rock!! Seriously. Not even kidding. Second this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I am reluctant to dose anything and prefer a natural solution. I can't even imagine where this may have come from since I haven't added anything new in a while. The last time I added anything was when I picked up a couple of frags from my LFS on Black Friday. I feel I may have already been dealing with it at this point however, just as small patches in the sandbed. No new rock. No new sand. Go figure. Some of your suggestions I am already doing. Which is good. I do have a couple of questions though. I know I will feel stupid when you answer because I am sure it is obvious but, you say to dose Si, is that Silicate? If yes what would I dose to acheive that ? Also my Nitrates stay right at about 5 creeping up to 10 on occasion but my Phosphates are at .05 Is there a recommended product to dose up to .1? Last of all, also I am curious if you can suggest a better solution to be able to photograph through the microscope. I shoot Nikon and also with my phone if necessary. I am very anxious to get started on this and I will keep you updated if you are interested.
TY, TY, TY

Listen to @taricha thats who helped me ID my dinos and helped me.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

The blackout won’t do a thing, I did a three day blackout and they just came back. As for silica dosing, I’ve never heard of that. I suppose it will help other microorganisms such as diatoms bloom. I’ve herd that more biodiversity the better when it comes to battling dinos... Pods etc feast on dinos. some pods and phyto would probably help out too...

 

[John Hernandez]

From everything I'm reading it seems their only weakness is that it's easy to starve them so the more biodiversity the better since they have to compete for food. As for Phyto and Pods it does seem that they like to eat those so I am thinking it may be bad to add those. Fortunately I do think I am keeping it at bay for now. But for how long?

 

[taricha]

The blackout won’t do a thing, I did a three day blackout and they just came back.

You are correct that the blackout doesn't harm the dinos. But dinos seek out good conditions, typically going into the water at night. And a couple of days of darkness increases the push for the cells to move into the water (and into the UV) in order to relocate to better light.

As for Phyto and Pods it does seem that they like to eat those so I am thinking it may be bad to add those.

yep! toxic mucous-y dinos are a bad thing to add pods and phyto to.
here's a few pics from myself and @Entz

Who is eating who?

and here's a video of another pod getting trapped by toxic dinos.

 

[John Hernandez]

You are correct that the blackout doesn't harm the dinos. But dinos seek out good conditions, typically going into the water at night. And a couple of days of darkness increases the push for the cells to move into the water (and into the UV) in order to relocate to better light.

yep! toxic mucous-y dinos are a bad thing to add pods and phyto to.
here's a few pics from myself and @Entz

Who is eating who?

and here's a video of another pod getting trapped by toxic dinos.

Thats just creepy. Nasty little buggers.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

I’ve watched pods eating dinos. It all depends on what kind of pods, how many pods you have and what strain of dinos. Like @taricha said, most dinos we see ARE toxic and will kill invertebrates/crustaceans. Have you noticed any snails dying off?

 

[John Hernandez]

I’ve watched pods eating dinos. It all depends on what kind of pods, how many pods you have and what strain of dinos. Like @taricha said, most dinos we see ARE toxic and will kill invertebrates/crustaceans. Have you noticed any snails dying off?

Interesting that I have not seen any dying off. Also It seems to stay around the same amount. It doesn't get any better but doesn't really get any worse either. A lot of my corals are unhappy though and I suspect there is much more going on at a level much smaller than I am able to see. And actually the video I posted proves that I guess.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Interesting that I have not seen any dying off. Also It seems to stay around the same amount. It doesn't get any better but doesn't really get any worse either. A lot of my corals are unhappy though and I suspect there is much more going on at a level much smaller than I am able to see. And actually the video I posted proves that I guess.

That don’t seem to be spreading because of the uv. You probably just don’t have a very toxic strain

 

[taricha]

That don’t seem to be spreading because of the uv. You probably just don’t have a very toxic strain

There's not a ton of info anywhere on this kind so may not be able to rely on it, but it's not known to be very toxic.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

+1 if it were a bad strain, he would’ve instantly noticed. All my snails died off before I even noticed the dinos

There's not a ton of info anywhere on this kind so may not be able to rely on it, but it's not known to be very toxic.

 

[John Hernandez]

+1 if it were a bad strain, he would’ve instantly noticed. All my snails died off before I even noticed the dinos

I will say I do think it may have killed my diamond goby. But I imagine he ingested a ton of it. Filtering the sand all day long. Maybe just coincidence but who knows for sure.

 

[John Hernandez]

Just an update if anyone following is interested. No improvement yet. Probably, mostly because I had a major setback with my UV Sterilizer. I purchased an in tank sterilizer as suggested and about 3 days in, it decided to float to the top and sprayed about a 3rd of my tank water out onto the floor in the middle of the night as we were sleeping. We were woken up to the sound of a dry return pump. Thank God, this happend while we were home. so... I returned that one and ordered a different model which I will be plumbing into the system in the next day or so.

 

[John Hernandez]

New update. So, I am still not seeing a whole lot of progress. I am dosing Phosphorus as suggested and also Silicate. I have the new UV Sterilizer up and running. I am actually running two of them. One in the main display (temporary) and one plumbed into the return (this will be permanent). I have Phophates up to .09 Nitrate is right around 2 but usually stay at 5. I have lost pretty much all my Acros at this point or they are in bad shape. Similar to what this guy is going through.

What to do during a Dino related slow crash?

My tank has been in declide due to a Dino outbreak for a couple months and this last week everything has began slow crashing. The Moniporas are all bleaching hard, the montipora digi is having poly baiout, the acros are getting tissue recession at the tips and bases, and the softies are happy as...

www.reef2reef.com

Lost my Coral Banded Shrimp last night (could be coincidence). I don't know. I think I am going to give the UV till Friday since I had the setback with the first one, and if things are not improving by then. Then I will go for the 48hr black out.

 

[John Hernandez]

@taricha I followed your instructions with no success. My last effort was the 48 hour blackout with zero impact. I have heard that Microbacter7 could push me in the right direction but I am afraid to dose anything. I have pretty much lost all my acros at this point and am feeling very defeated. I am considering a reboot but really do not want to do that. Any next step help is much appreciated. I was really hoping when I opened the tank back up to light that I would have won this battle, but yet again within an hour of turning on the lights they had taken over the sandbed.

 

[taricha]

I don't know. I think I am going to give the UV till Friday since I had the setback with the first one, and if things are not improving by then. Then I will go for the 48hr black out.

@taricha I followed your instructions with no success. My last effort was the 48 hour blackout with zero impact. I have heard that Microbacter7 could push me in the right direction but I am afraid to dose anything. I have pretty much lost all my acros at this point and am feeling very defeated. I am considering a reboot but really do not want to do that. Any next step help is much appreciated. I was really hoping when I opened the tank back up to light that I would have won this battle, but yet again within an hour of turning on the lights they had taken over the sandbed.

Looking at your videos in the last post, we can see why the UV has "done nothing". What you are now posting is Large Cell Amphidinium, the kind that does not go into the water no matter how much encouragement you give it. They go into the sand instead.
In reality your UV/blackout did do something - it knocked out your earlier species, and left only the population that is not susceptible. I would continue running UV since you almost certainly still have cells of other kinds in your tank, but your main issue is now large cell amphidinium.
MB7 is not a terrible idea. Some have had success with it, and it doesn't seem harmful. This kind is not typically toxic. Hopefully The UV knocking out the water-going types will keep the dinos off the surviving corals.
Here's a thread on Amphidinium specifically.

 

[John Hernandez]

@taricha man that makes me feel so much better. I am feeling totally defeated right now and needed to know I was at least making headway. Thanks so much. I at least know what steps I can take for the next round.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

As for large cell, that’s the same kind I had. Try out competing it with a cheato reactor or an algae scrubber. It helped control mine. Dino x is what got completely rid of it for me.

@taricha man that makes me feel so much better. I am feeling totally defeated right now and needed to know I was at least making headway. Thanks so much. I at least know what steps I can take for the next round.

 

[John Hernandez]

As for large cell, that’s the same kind I had. Try out competing it with a cheato reactor or an algae scrubber. It helped control mine. Dino x is what got completely rid of it for me.

already have an algae scrubber running. But I'm glad you mentioned it because I was not sure if it was good for the process of eliminating them or bad.

 

[taricha]

Dino x is what got completely rid of it for me.

Did dino-X affect algae or other organisms? curious what you saw with this product.