Dino ID

[CoralClasher]

Microscope showed up today

 

[mx36]

Looks like Ostreopsis, I am battling the same thing right now.

 

[CoralClasher]

Anyone having luck with MetroPlex?
I've been trying the elevated No3 and phosphate not seeing much help yet but it's only been a month now.

 

[CoralClasher]

Is there two types of Dinos here? The small dots move kinda fast.

 

[CoralClasher]

What's the protocol for glass cleaning with this Dino? Haven't cleaned in a few days and the brown is turning white is it time to cleanup the tank?

 

[mx36]

The way I do it is attach a small tube to a scraper and syphon it out back to the sump through a filter sock as I scrape it. I have also been letting it pass through a UV sterilizer as well when syphoning it out. I ordered some 1 micron filter socks off amazon as they are supposed to be small enough to catch a lot of the ostreopsis cells, just waiting for them to arrive to test it out.

 

[CoralClasher]

How long have you had Dinos and what have you done that helps?

 

[CoralClasher]

I'm guessing I've had them for years thinking it was cyano so I've tried all the cyano things with very little help. Two months ago I started using NeoNitro and phos got No3 to stay at 3ppm and phosphate to level at 0.08. I'm seeing good progress not gone yet tho.

 

[CoralClasher]

I'm going to be adding a refugium with a deep sand bed. Wondering if I should wait till Dinos are completely gone before I start something like that?

 

[mx36]

I have been battling some weird crap for the last couple years. For a while it was just some clear/tan snot looking crap. Never really had time to get it figured out, then I got deployed so was gone for almost a year. When I got home in November the tank was covered in that white/tan snot. I had a lot of extra time to start reading up on it. End of December I started raising my NO4 and NO3 as they have been undetectable for a long time as I was always told to keep them at 0. Once I started dosing those 2 the white/tan snot when away. Looked good for a couple of weeks then this red rusty colored crap appeared. Finally broke down and bought a microscope and found the ostreopsis cells. I am continuing to dose NO4 and NO3 have a coralife 36w turbo twist UV hooked up currently. I just ordered a Aqua UV 114w yesterday as I was told the other one is to small. Mine is not as bad as some I have seen online. I try to syphon the rocks and anything I can every night to try and keep in from getting out of control on the coral I now have in it. When I syphon I always try to run it through the UV, not sure if it does anything as I have done some samples from the filter sock it drains into and can still see some living cells. The new UV I am going to set up to feed from and return directly from the display tank, and I will leave the 36W in the sump where it currently is. Hopefully it will work.

 

[mx36]

currently my NO4 fluctuates between .00 and .05 with Hanna ULR and NO3 has stayed around 10 the last week using a Salifert kit

 

[CoralClasher]

I didn't like the way my corals looked when I went above 5ppm No3 so I've been keeping them at 3ppm. Is it worth going that high if I'm seeing progress now?

 

[mx36]

I am no expert but I would think if they look good at that level and it seems to be working I would leave it.

 

[SDboatguy]

KILL THEM ALL !! Those things are horrible. N and P are important , a UV sterilizer helped my tank as well, I ran it in the display for like 6 weeks.

 

[CoralClasher]

What are the small dots?

 

[CoralClasher]

KILL THEM ALL !! Those things are horrible. N and P are important , a UV sterilizer helped my tank as well, I ran it in the display for like 6 weeks.

I bought the biggest UV from petco rated for 120 gallon tank and it says only run it for 8 hours. Do I need two of them so one is running all the time?

 

[SDboatguy]

Not sure, I ran mine 24/7 .... still had issues but everything seems to be going good now. Definitely takes time, and every tank is different. I have read SO many stories , sometimes it tanks days or weeks to get a handle on Dino’s , sometimes months to a year if at all.

 

[CoralClasher]

Well I might of had breakthrough with Dino fight. I started a 55 gallon refugium yesterday with 160 pounds of Oolite sand. Before I started it the Dinos were suppressed and going away. Soon as I plumbed the refugium to the DT I saw a huge Dino bloom within two hours the Dinos turned white. I took a sample to the microscope and saw the Dinos not moving at all unlike the last time I looked at them they were dancing all around. This morning most of the white Dinos are gone and I don't see any brownish red Dinos.

 

[AZG]

Well I might of had breakthrough with Dino fight. I started a 55 gallon refugium yesterday with 160 pounds of Oolite sand. Before I started it the Dinos were suppressed and going away. Soon as I plumbed the refugium to the DT I saw a huge Dino bloom within two hours the Dinos turned white. I took a sample to the microscope and saw the Dinos not moving at all unlike the last time I looked at them they were dancing all around. This morning most of the white Dinos are gone and I don't see any brownish red Dinos.

They probably show back up because of the clean water from the new sump. I kept my no3 at 4ppm and tried keeping po4 at .03. What really made the difference was the UV. I had the same stand of Dino’s as you. Once you seem to be clear of them keep an eye your nutrients levels. Make sure no3 is higher than po4. I got a wicked green cyano out break after dinos. That stuff was a pain.

 

[CoralClasher]

Yep I'll be watching No3 and phosphate. I only used 10 gallons of new water that I mixed. I went to petco and got 20 gallons of that ocean water in a box. Before the addition of refugium No3 was 3ppm phosphate was 0.04 alkalinity was 151ppm now No3 1.5 phosphate 0.07 alkalinity 160ppm so I added 40ml of NeoNitro.