Dino ID?

jsnider5 · 2026-10-15T20:07:12-0400

I need some help with narrowing down what these guys are. Did a 3 day blackout and they came roaring back within 24 hours. Been running a uv sterilizer for weeks that did nothing.

Little to no bubbles in the display. They are confined mainly to the sand bed. No strings for the most part.

I don’t see any “beaks”.

Any ideas on what they are and how to treat them?

mcarroll · 2026-10-15T23:51:05-0400

Is the color green? Maybe a regular scale picture of the algae bloom would help?

Also, please post some background about your tank: how is was started, how it's cleaned and filtered, whether you have a cleanup crew and specifically what is in it, any water test results you have hopefully at least including NO3, PO4, s.g. and temperature.

jsnider5 · 2026-10-15T23:56:14-0400

mcarroll said:
Is the color green? Maybe a regular scale picture of the algae bloom would help?

Also, please post some background about your tank: how is was started, how it's cleaned and filtered, whether you have a cleanup crew and specifically what is in it, any water test results you have hopefully at least including NO3, PO4, s.g. and temperature.

No it’s dark brown.

It’s a 22 gallon tank. 8 months old.
Nitrate is 9
phosphate is 0.18
Temp is 77
Started from dry rock
35 ppt on the nose
Clean up crew is 4 trochus, 7 blue legs and 3 nassarius

mcarroll · 2026-10-16T00:14:38-0400

Interesing.....any idea why the one movie and photo look so green?

So far, it doesn't sound like a regular dino bloom...tho starting with dead rock seems like a sure way to have some nasty algae blooms.

Nutrient levels seem fine – not too low.

How does your CUC seem? Dying off or drunk/stunned most of the time?

Sounds like you have a lot more scavengers than algae eaters, so that may be your primary "problem"......otherwise I think this is just a case of the uglies.

I would at least double the number of algae-eating snails. More trochus or astrea would work....Turbos are also nice, but try to get the regulars vs zebras.....zebras can get very large.

I might consider swapping out some/all of those hermits and nassarius too....all scavengers; probably too many for such a small tank.

IMO siphon clean the tank of dino's and other "dirt" as often as it is convenient to.....either siphon into a low-micron (eg 5µ) filter sock and return the cleaned water to the tank, or add nutrients to your fresh saltwater so that in either case the siphon cleanings don't bottom out the nutrient levels in the tank.

Let us know if the sand appears to be dirty (brown/tan) or clean (all white) when you do the siphoning...the algae (dinos) will have color, but there should be a lot more sediment than algae –we're interested in the sediment.