teo8040
New Member
Hello, I have a 135 gallon tank with 2 power heads, 1 gyre, Hydra 64’s, and a Bubble Magus skimmer.
The system is now exactly one year old from being set up. Have several soft corals, LPS, and SPS which are all doing fine except a Captain America zoanthid frag that got suffocated to death by the dinos. Went through the diatom phase in the beginning and until August, there were no problems with nuisance organisms. There has been a small patch of Cyanobacteria that never really grew so I didn’t really worry about it. August to mid September my tank maintenance slipped as school started and I stopped doing weekly water changes with testing. Late September, Cyanobacteria took over the tank. Spent some time trying to lower nutrients but eventually the cyano was knocked out with GFO and small water changes but larger 35-40 percent weekly water changes got rid of the Cyano. All of the large water changes and GFO in a reactor eventually led to under 0.02 to undetectable phosphate and undetectable nitrate on the Hannah checkers. This led to dinoflagellates taking hold of the tank. I got a microscope and ID them as prorocentrum. What really set them back was the Dr. Tim’s Dino guide which I started in mid December. Now, the dinos are not really as wide spread nor do they grow very quickly. What dominates the tank seems to be a green haired algae but there are still small leftover patches of dino. I want to lower nutrients to get rid of GHA but don’t want the dinos to spread. If i keep nutrients up, the GHA keeps growing. Tried to continue dosing Dr. Tim’s Refresh and Waste away with the lights on but with no help. What can I do from here as I keep getting angry at looking at an ugly tank for the last 4 months?
As of 12/31/2022,
Red Sea Coral Pro salt
Alk-9.8 Hannah
Cal-450 Red Sea
Mag-1350 Salifert
Ammonia-0.00 API
Nitrite-0.00 API
Nitrate-10 Hannah
Phosphate-0.08 Hannah
Several Photos below.
Second to last photo, Dinos evident
Last photo, prorocentrum under microscope
The system is now exactly one year old from being set up. Have several soft corals, LPS, and SPS which are all doing fine except a Captain America zoanthid frag that got suffocated to death by the dinos. Went through the diatom phase in the beginning and until August, there were no problems with nuisance organisms. There has been a small patch of Cyanobacteria that never really grew so I didn’t really worry about it. August to mid September my tank maintenance slipped as school started and I stopped doing weekly water changes with testing. Late September, Cyanobacteria took over the tank. Spent some time trying to lower nutrients but eventually the cyano was knocked out with GFO and small water changes but larger 35-40 percent weekly water changes got rid of the Cyano. All of the large water changes and GFO in a reactor eventually led to under 0.02 to undetectable phosphate and undetectable nitrate on the Hannah checkers. This led to dinoflagellates taking hold of the tank. I got a microscope and ID them as prorocentrum. What really set them back was the Dr. Tim’s Dino guide which I started in mid December. Now, the dinos are not really as wide spread nor do they grow very quickly. What dominates the tank seems to be a green haired algae but there are still small leftover patches of dino. I want to lower nutrients to get rid of GHA but don’t want the dinos to spread. If i keep nutrients up, the GHA keeps growing. Tried to continue dosing Dr. Tim’s Refresh and Waste away with the lights on but with no help. What can I do from here as I keep getting angry at looking at an ugly tank for the last 4 months?
As of 12/31/2022,
Red Sea Coral Pro salt
Alk-9.8 Hannah
Cal-450 Red Sea
Mag-1350 Salifert
Ammonia-0.00 API
Nitrite-0.00 API
Nitrate-10 Hannah
Phosphate-0.08 Hannah
Several Photos below.
Second to last photo, Dinos evident
Last photo, prorocentrum under microscope
