Avoiding Dinoflagellates

[GarrettT]

I was told by some that dry rock actually leeches PO4 in a new tank as opposed to absorbing it. Not sure what to believe although I have been dosing NeoPhos and testing PO4 and dosing isn't raising the PO4 level. It's staying at 0.00-0.01 every test.

If I can offer one piece of advice, it's don't add corals until your rocks have reached equilibrium and the po4 has stabilized. This will make your life so MUCH easier. Dump a good amount of po4 in your system, keep lights low, add a CUC when you see algae, and wait, otherwise you will be having to test everyday in order to keep it at an optimal level for your corals.

 

[Dinkins Aquatic Gardens]

After reading countless horror stories of people fighting dino's for months and years I want to give myself the best chance to avoid them completely. I've spent the last 9 months building my basement sump room and getting everything ready. This weekend I will start to cycle the tank. I'm starting with dry rock and dry sand. This is my plan of attack. Let me know if you see any potential issues with this plan.

• Start with lights, UV sterilizer, and skimmer off, and no filter socks.
• Dose 1 mL of Nitrocycle per gallon of tank water to achieve an ammonia level of 3ppm.
• Dose 1 oz. (29 ml) TurboStart 900 per 25 gallons.
• Soak a Genesis Rock in PNS Substrate Sauce and add to sump.
• Test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate daily.
• Once aquarium has cycled do a water change if needed and add two clownfish.
• Test nitrate and phosphate every 2 to 4 days.
• One week after clownfish are introduced begin dosing AF Life Source mud (20mL of aquarium water and 10ml per of AF Life Source for every 27 gallons) and add AF Life Bio Fil Medium to sump (1000mL of Life Bio Fil for every 105 gallons). Replace 10-20% of the media every 6 weeks.
• Two weeks after clownfish are introduced add some snails, 4 jars of 5280 Pods and dose Oceanmagik live phyto.
• Two weeks after clownfish are introduced turn on UV sterilizer, skimmer, and add filter socks.
• Continue testing nitrate and phosphate every 2 to 4 days. If nitrate and/or phosphate gets too low add more bio load (fish), feed heavier, run skimmer for fewer hours per day and/or dose NeoNitro and/or NeoPhos. If nitrate and phosphate get too high dose MicroBacter7 (5 ml per 50 gallons) and/or do water change.
• Six to eight weeks after clownfish are introduced turn on lights.

If you want to see how this plan works out for me consider following my build thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/codys-153-gallon-ctc-custom-build-with-basement-sump-room.915426/

That is one of the coolest setups I've ever seen! I definitely agree 100% with the importance of adding live phyto and pods!

 

[GarrettT]

I have been dosing NeoPhos and testing PO4 and dosing isn't raising the PO4 level. It's staying at 0.00-0.01 every test.

My tank absorbs po4 very very quickly, especially in the beginning. At one point I was dosing .05ppm every 3 hours, as the po4 would bottom out, if not. Without corals present, I could have just dumped .3ppm in my tank and just waited until the next day to test.

 

[Lavey29]

My tank is 19 months old now. I waited almost 4 months to add coral and lights giving the tank time to develop biodiversity and microfauna. This made my ugly stages very manageable. I never got dinos just typical diatoms and GHA. I run a fuge and do not put harsh chemicals in my tank for bandaid fixes. During the first year parameters fluctuate. I had to double dose neophos and neonitro to see measurable numbers even with 10 fish. After a year tank seem to make a noticeable transition and become much more stable. I agree with the input you have received here from others. I highly recommend PNS probio as a natural bacteria supplement. I dose phytoplankton and keep a good pod population. It think you have a logical approach laid out but keep it simple the first year. Water changes weekly. Avoid harsh chemicals. Elevated numbers are safer then bottomed out numbers. ICP maybe at the 6 month mark.