Dino ID possible at this magnification?

[madtom]

Hi all,

Here is a link to a video of some dinos I have currently in my 25 gallon reef tank. The tank is about 4 months old. These seem to stick almost entirely to the sand bed. There are a couple of isolated patches on the rock work that scrub off very easily. The magnification is pretty low (I think 400x). I was thinking either some type of amphidinium or coolia. You can see in the video that they swim very quickly and erratically. I also have some pics of the tank and sandbed attached. I’d appreciate it if anyone can ID these or let me know if I would need greater magnification to do so. My corals and other livestock are happy so I’m concerned about doing anything serious until I get an ID.

Thanks for the help!

 

[madtom]

Since the video is a short, the resolution looks much better on the actual YouTube site than by playing in the thread.

 

[madtom]

I'm also wondering if it's possible to differentiate small and large cell amphidinium based on the movement in the video and also on how it disappears after lights turn off. I've read that large cell retreats into the sand bed. Are they still visible when this happens or do they go beneath the surface? Whatever species I have mostly disappears at night so I'm hoping UV will help but not sure if they are just below the sand surface. Not wanting to wipe out beneficial bacteria unnecessarily but also want to utilize UV if they are free floating at night.

 

[madtom]

@taricha hey Jonathan after looking through your guide I’m thinking this is small cell amphidinium. Can you tell by the movement in my video?

 

[Reef.]

I hope you get an answer, as this is one reason why I suggest ID is not worth getting as the same people that suggest ID is needed and to buy a microscope never seem to be around to actually do the ID…sorry for the rant, treat it as a free bump !