Bacteria dosing and Dino’s

[LostNemo]

Currently have an outbreak of Dino’s(specifically ostreopsis). I’ve tried UV but it doesn’t seem to be working. I’ve read about of dosing a variety of bacteria to help but am wondering what bacteria I should be dosing.

Nutrient:
Nitrate: 12
Phos: .07

Currently dosing phos and nitrate to keep levels elevated

So far my plan was:
1. 3day blackout keeping UV on
2. Change filter socks and carbon to reduce Dino toxins
3. Dose microbacter 7, fritz 9, seachem stability, PNS Pro Bio all on different days
4. Dose copepods and Live Phyto
5.pray haha

would love some feed back or better bacteria alternatives.

Contemplating dosing DinoX if all else fails

 

[Kmst80]

1. Dose nitrate to 10ppm and phosphate to 0.1ppm, test daily and redose
2. Add microbacter7 or equivalent
3. Add pods and phyto.
4. Dose silicate( for example waterglass)
5. Get a 5 micron filtersock and suck out as much of the dinos as you can as often as you can( I did hang it in the sump so the water stayed in the system)
6. Hope other algae takes over and defeat dinos
7. Deal with other algae

 

[Kmst80]

Good luck

 

[JoJosReef]

Did you get a positive ID on ostreopsis? UV is meant to be very effective. Tank size, UV wattage?

I think dosing some Fiji Mud or equivalent might help, but if you're afraid of bristleworms, maybe not.

 

[LostNemo]

Did you get a positive ID on ostreopsis? UV is meant to be very effective. Tank size, UV wattage?

I think dosing some Fiji Mud or equivalent might help, but if you're afraid of bristleworms, maybe not.

From what I could see from the microscope it looked like ostreopsis but I’ll post it here if anyone can also confirm.

I’m currently using the Green killing machine 9w UV and my tank is 40 gallons

Don’t mind bristleworms I have a wrasse that will love them lol

 

[JoJosReef]

From what I could see from the microscope it looked like ostreopsis but I’ll post it here if anyone can also confirm.

I’m currently using the Green killing machine 9w UV and my tank is 40 gallons

Don’t mind bristleworms I have a wrasse that will love them lol

Looks like it:

Ostreopsis or Amphidinium (w/pics)

I took a sample of dinos from one of my tanks that has had a persistent outbreak. I also looked through this thread: http://www.algaeid.com/identification/ Based on that, and looking at a few threads here on R2R, I feel like these are probably the ostreopsis variety, but it's really hard for me...

www.reef2reef.com

I would save the money on Fritz/Microbacter and go for a reef mud. You get a jolt of biodiversity that may be super beneficial... or maybe not. Dose sparingly so it doesn't blanket the sand bed.

Someone mentioned silicates as well to promote diatom competition.

 

[LostNemo]

Looks like it:

Ostreopsis or Amphidinium (w/pics)

I took a sample of dinos from one of my tanks that has had a persistent outbreak. I also looked through this thread: http://www.algaeid.com/identification/ Based on that, and looking at a few threads here on R2R, I feel like these are probably the ostreopsis variety, but it's really hard for me...

www.reef2reef.com

I would save the money on Fritz/Microbacter and go for a reef mud. You get a jolt of biodiversity that may be super beneficial... or maybe not. Dose sparingly so it doesn't blanket the sand bed.

Someone mentioned silicates as well to promote diatom competition.

I already have both fritz and microbacter they’re a couple months old so idk how effective they may be now but I’m definitely going to look more into the Fiji mud and silicate dosing.

Was also thinking about sourcing some living rock from an lfs

 

[saltyhog]

From what I could see from the microscope it looked like ostreopsis but I’ll post it here if anyone can also confirm.

I’m currently using the Green killing machine 9w UV and my tank is 40 gallons

Don’t mind bristleworms I have a wrasse that will love them lol

Unfortunately GKM have proved to be ineffective for dinos in the vast number of cases. With the ones that are self fed, it's probably the flow rate. The other issue is your UV is undersized for dinos. Don't go by manufacturer's recommendations on sizing as they don't even consider dinoflagellates at this time.

I would use at least a 15 watt UV on your tank and it needs to be plumbed from the display back to the display with a dedicated pump....flow rate 80-120 gph. If you would do that I would expect good results noticeable in a matter of days.

Don't do black outs. They may make a cosmetic difference but usually in a couple of days it's back and often worse. Blackouts can also stress already stressed corals and inverts unnecessarily increasing losses. Finally, blackouts could cause some types of dinos to encyst only to come back days or weeks down the road.

 

[JoJosReef]

I used the 9w GKM on a Fluval Evo and it worked fine, but for my current tank (40gal) I'm using the IM UV unit and it is doing ok.

 

[LostNemo]

I used the 9w GKM on a Fluval Evo and it worked fine, but for my current tank (40gal) I'm using the IM UV unit and it is doing ok.

Yea I was looking at that one to replace my Gkm. What else did you do to battle Dino’s?

 

[JoJosReef]

So far I've been through dinos 4 times with the big 3.

Ostreopsis: UV 24/7 for a week usually does it; maintain nutrients above zero

Prorocentrum: UV + bacterial supplement or biodiversity spike (live rock or ocean mud/sand.. could be clean sand from established system) + maintain nutrients above zero -- not yet used, but in the arsenal: silica dosing

Amphidinium: make little amphidinium voodoo dolls and poke them with pins; cry into pillow at night... in seriousness, I had amphidinium right before I got an order of Tampa Bay Saltwater live rocks and sand. Added rocks and sand to existing tank with dinos and never had an issue with them again in that tank.

Methods I've stopped using: peroxide, blackouts, Vibrant (which was the wrong tool to begin with)

Additional methods: add a conch(es), especially if using the silica dosing method to outcompete with diatoms--1. conches love diatoms and 2. conches are entertaining. Can also just beef up CUC in any case since increasing nutrients plus clearing space leaves room for other algae to take over, so they keep it in check.

 

[LostNemo]

So far I've been through dinos 4 times with the big 3.

Ostreopsis: UV 24/7 for a week usually does it; maintain nutrients above zero

Prorocentrum: UV + bacterial supplement or biodiversity spike (live rock or ocean mud/sand.. could be clean sand from established system) + maintain nutrients above zero -- not yet used, but in the arsenal: silica dosing

Amphidinium: make little amphidinium voodoo dolls and poke them with pins; cry into pillow at night... in seriousness, I had amphidinium right before I got an order of Tampa Bay Saltwater live rocks and sand. Added rocks and sand to existing tank with dinos and never had an issue with them again in that tank.

Methods I've stopped using: peroxide, blackouts, Vibrant (which was the wrong tool to begin with)

Additional methods: add a conch(es), especially if using the silica dosing method to outcompete with diatoms--1. conches love diatoms and 2. conches are entertaining. Can also just beef up CUC in any case since increasing nutrients plus clearing space leaves room for other algae to take over, so they keep it in check.

Oh my lol. I was looking at making an order of live rock, sand, or mud to hopefully completely stop Dino’s. Hopefully the bacteria dosing form multiple brands will help or have differing bacteria. Also have you ever considered using or have usedDinoX? I have a bottle sitting around and have debated many times to use it but am to scared lol

 

[JoJosReef]

Oh my lol. I was looking at making an order of live rock, sand, or mud to hopefully completely stop Dino’s. Hopefully the bacteria dosing form multiple brands will help or have differing bacteria. Also have you ever considered using or have usedDinoX? I have a bottle sitting around and have debated many times to use it but am to scared lol

Might have to check the huge Dinos threads, including the one by @taricha regarding DinoX. I've never tried it and don't know what's in it.

 

[BiggSean]

We successfully fought a battle against ostreopsis in two of my tanks at the same time by doing the following:

- Dosing MicroBacter7 (low nutrient doses)
- Dosing phytoplankton
- Adding copepods
- Running a UV sterilizer 24/8
- Dosing NeoNitro and NeoPhos to raise our nutrient levels (both tanks had bottomed out)
- Reducing photoperiod on algaescrubber and refugium
- Manuall removal of dinos with a turkey baster
- Manual removal of dinos by hanging pieces of filter floss in high flow areas (this worked incredibly well)
- Dosing hydrogen peroxide after the lights went out to raise O2 levels to help kill free swimming dinos

This course of treatment took 2-3 weeks approximately and my tanks are now completely clear of them.

I think the long term approach to being able to successfully keep dinos out of your tank is by watching your nutrient levels very closely to ensure that they don't bottom out, and to make sure that you are promoting bio-diversity in your tank so that you have the proper bacteria and micro-fauna to outcompete dinos. I still dose MicroBacter7 and phytoplankton in both of my tanks daily. I also now culture pods which I harvest weekly and distribute between both tanks.

Biodiversity is truly the key to keeping your tank dino-free.

 

[LostNemo]

We successfully fought a battle against ostreopsis in two of my tanks at the same time by doing the following:

- Dosing MicroBacter7 (low nutrient doses)
- Dosing phytoplankton
- Adding copepods
- Running a UV sterilizer 24/8
- Dosing NeoNitro and NeoPhos to raise our nutrient levels (both tanks had bottomed out)
- Reducing photoperiod on algaescrubber and refugium
- Manuall removal of dinos with a turkey baster
- Manual removal of dinos by hanging pieces of filter floss in high flow areas (this worked incredibly well)
- Dosing hydrogen peroxide after the lights went out to raise O2 levels to help kill free swimming dinos

This course of treatment took 2-3 weeks approximately and my tanks are now completely clear of them.

I think the long term approach to being able to successfully keep dinos out of your tank is by watching your nutrient levels very closely to ensure that they don't bottom out, and to make sure that you are promoting bio-diversity in your tank so that you have the proper bacteria and micro-fauna to outcompete dinos. I still dose MicroBacter7 and phytoplankton in both of my tanks daily. I also now culture pods which I harvest weekly and distribute between both tanks.

Biodiversity is truly the key to keeping your tank dino-free.

Im going to be doing basically what you are doing besides the h2o2 dosing I’m way to scared of killing my corals. How did you figure out the dosage for your tank?

Also I think something that confuses me is a lot of the bottled bacteria is used to also lower nutrients so are we dosing nitrate and phos to counter the drops from bacteria dosing? From my first post I listed some of the bacteria I plan on dosing to hopefully provide a bunch of variety. How long did you keep your uv off when dosing microbacter?

Also when did you add copepods? Did you add them while the Dino’s were still strong in the tank? Im asking because I’ve heard the Dino’s will kill copepods. And my refugium lighting is only on for 6hrs now and plan on adding 2 jars of Algaebarns Galaxy pods along with their phyto

 

[BiggSean]

Im going to be doing basically what you are doing besides the h2o2 dosing I’m way to scared of killing my corals. How did you figure out the dosage for your tank?

Also I think something that confuses me is a lot of the bottled bacteria is used to also lower nutrients so are we dosing nitrate and phos to counter the drops from bacteria dosing? From my first post I listed some of the bacteria I plan on dosing to hopefully provide a bunch of variety. How long did you keep your uv off when dosing microbacter?

Also when did you add copepods? Did you add them while the Dino’s were still strong in the tank? Im asking because I’ve heard the Dino’s will kill copepods. And my refugium lighting is only on for 6hrs now and plan on adding 2 jars of Algaebarns Galaxy pods along with their phyto

I used the 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons of water volume. From what I understand, hydrogen peroxide oxygenates almost instantly when you put it in the water. I saw zero adverse effects from dosing it.

I added copepods about 1 week into the treatment and have been readily adding them ever since from my home-grown cultures.


As for my UV I ran it 24/7 and still continue to do so.

Honestly I think one of the most helpful things we did which started to turn the tide for us was to hang healthy sized strips of filter floss into the system. The dinos seemed to gravitate more towards the floss than they did the rest of the tank, allowing us to export them out of the system very quickly, and multiple times per day.