Dinoflagellate ID and treatment

jseg0 · Aug 2, 2022

Hi everyone. I have had my 20g up and running for 6 months now and have recently encountered. Sorry for the poor photo quality but my microscope does not magnify much more while maintaining clarity.
Please help identify the type of dino and what you guys have experienced in the best way to treat it.
Thanks!

jrmailo · Aug 2, 2022

Hard to fully tell without better visual clarity. I suspect that you have more than one sp.

What are their behavior? Are they mostly on sand? Are they sticking to all surface? Are they more stringy, dusty or form patches/mat?

jseg0 · Aug 2, 2022

jrmailo said:
Hard to fully tell without better visual clarity. I suspect that you have more than one sp.

What are their behavior? Are they mostly on sand? Are they sticking to all surface? Are they more stringy, dusty or form patches/mat?

They are quite long and stringy, found mostly on the rocks and glass. Some on the sand but most is on the rocks.

jrmailo · Aug 2, 2022

jseg0 said:
They are quite long and stringy, found mostly on the rocks and glass. Some on the sand but most is on the rocks.

Those descriptions point to epiphytic sp. of dinoflagelates such as ostreopsis.

If it is ostreopsis that you are dealing with, UV is a very effective in controlling their population.