Control dinos, gha and bubble algae at the same time

[BlueCollarJoe]

How do you control all these at once? Had a dino outbreak so I upped phosphates and nitrates. Got the dinos under control and now have gha and bubble algae. It says to lower phosphates and/or do a gfo treatment. But will lowering the phosphates make the dinos return? Ugh

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Depending on the size of the tank. You need appropriate herbivores.

Manual removal also

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I had dino's once and my nitrates were well over 100. I'm not a believer that low nutrients causes dino's. My advise is keep a clean tank, and keep nutrients very low. Organics also play a huge role in algae so if you don't have a skimmer then IMO you should be doing frequent water changes to remove doc's. Keep a high amount of flow in the tank, algae loves low flow. Additional manual removal plus additional algae grazers. This has always been my formula.

 

[sim]

a lot of patience, over the years I have learned that sometimes the tank needs to be left to itself and... often it improves

 

[BryanM]

I don't think I'd try to do all at the same time.

The hardest of these will almost certainly be dinos. I would focus on that. Some dinos are more toxic than others so it would be good to get them gone first, then you can focus on the rest.

 

[sim]

Vacuum them and turn up the temperature

 

[EnterName]

The bubble algae you are seeing is probably the gametophyte of Derbesia (formerly classified as Halicsytis). This explains hair algae and bubble algae and why it's spreading so much: It's reproducing sexually in your tank (or at least trying to).

The issue: Hair algae usually spreads through fragmentation, meaning every little hair that settles somewhere can grow into a new algae. You won't be able to catch every single hair, so you might need to find the right herbivores for the job. I have not found scientific evidence that popping the bubble algae is actually spreading it but it's still a possibility, so I advice to remove it carefully by hand if you can.

Regarding dinos:
From what I have experienced myself and seen on R2R dinos can, but don't have to appear in low nutrient environments. If they are a symptom or rather the cause of low nutrient levels is highly disputed. That's why I always suggest trying both sides: First try to bring down nutrients, even if they already appear to be at 0. Manual removal of dinoflagellates, substrate cleaning, rinsing rocks you can take out in the bucket with old water during water changes to remove detritus, etc. If that doesn't work you can still try adding nutrients with DIY phosphate and ammonia solutions. Why chemicals instead of more food?
- Better to control
- Direct effect without delay until food is decayed
- Skimmer and other filters won't be affected as much
- No organics are introduced which might be able to cause more problems along the way.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-phosphate-dosing-recipe.1109919/

If all that doesn't help you can look into silicate dosing to encourage diatom growth. They might be able to smother the dinos if you manage to get their numbers high enough. Many people add bacteria solutions as well, which I'm personally skeptical about, but if nothing works you might as well try it. A UV sterilizer can help in some cases as well. It might be able to kill some algae spores, as well as dinos.

Stay patient and try the low nutrient approach with very frequent tank cleaning for a month or two. Only then switch to increasing nutrients.

I hope this helps...