Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[IKD]

My tank is 270g and I run a 114 watt unit on it. I had a 57 watt previously without success. Once I upgraded to the 114 watt Ostreopsis, Coolia and Prorocentrum were cleared out pretty quickly. I personally use an AquaUV brand. Pentair Aquatics is another decent brand as well but I have no personal experience with them. Be prepared though, they aren't cheap.

Thanks. I realized after I sent my last reply that it was your post I saw that in. I don't have the cash right now for that kind of sterilizer unfortunately. I guess for now I'm stuck with elevating Nitrate and Phosphate and increasing my biodiversity.

 

[Beardo]

Thanks. I realized after I sent my last reply that it was your post I saw that in. I don't have the cash right now for that kind of sterilizer unfortunately. I guess for now I'm stuck with elevating Nitrate and Phosphate and increasing my biodiversity.

Something that may be a more affordable option:
The AquaUV 114 watt is basically two 57 watt units connected together in series. You could try running two of the Jebao 55 watt units in series and get something close that might be effective at a significantly lower cost.
Just a thought.

 

[Jolanta]

Do you think its ok buying jebao 55 w uv for 30 gallon nano?

 

[mcarroll]

@IKD Assuming for the moment check out that link to post 905 above and see if that makes sense. Raising nutrient levels and then allowing them to fall naturally might be part of your solution.

@Jolanta I'm not sure that any specific level will be best, but I would still not let either N or P fall to zero, if that appears to be happening. Keep N and P at least somewhat balanced and present.

 

[Jolanta]

@IKD Assuming for the moment check out that link to post 905 above and see if that makes sense. Raising nutrient levels and then allowing them to fall naturally might be part of your solution.

@Jolanta I'm not sure that any specific level will be best, but I would still not let either N or P fall to zero, if that appears to be happening. Keep N and P at least somewhat balanced and present.

Thanks a lot I will add daily small doses, also thinking to try uv. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[Beardo]

Do you think its ok buying jebao 55 w uv for 30 gallon nano?

You could get by with one of their smaller units, the 36 watt or even the 18 watt.

How is your larger tank doing, the one you did a reset on?

 

[rockskimmerflow]

Other question there is someone on the treat that menaged to eliminate ostreopsis with only balancing the tank? Or there is always some extra like uv, ozone needed?

Yes beaten it many times with only husbandry- the key is sustained nitrate in the 2-10ppm range and phosphate between .05 and .15 - It's very tough to maintain high enough nutrients while the ostreopsis are blooming, but once you break them you'll see they start to clump in darker colored, less slimy mats that eventually fade away after a few week. You'll often see green turf and hair algaes grow up underneath the remaining dino mats once you really start to hit the proper amount of nutrients to allow for algaes and microfauna to begin outcompeting them. That said, a UV will help. A 55w would work wonders on your nano, but I fear the added heat from it might be tough to control. Just be careful not to cook your tank if you try it.

 

[Jolanta]

You could get by with one of their smaller units, the 36 watt or even the 18 watt.

How is your larger tank doing, the one you did a reset on?

For now I think its clean, I dont have any visible dinos but Im struggling with keeping nutrients up couse I have only few fish, Im super worry to pass ostreopsis to the big tank so I would prefer to buy a big UV unit if I need to use it in a big too. In a big one I have only small frags of sps and some look a little bit pale but I think is becouse it was 0.2 nitrate and 0.02 phosphate and when dinos in my nano tank showed up I decides to dose nitrate and phosphate to a big one too, now its 2.5-5 nitrate and 0.03 phosphate and colors of my sps are getting a little bit better.

 

[mcarroll]

but Im struggling with keeping nutrients up couse I have only few fish,

Are you doing anything for nutrient export? Even water changes or skimming? I'd stop everything and allow things to develop naturally....continue avoiding the need to dose nutrients if possible.

 

[Beardo]

For now I think its clean, I dont have any visible dinos but Im struggling with keeping nutrients up couse I have only few fish, Im super worry to pass ostreopsis to the big tank so I would prefer to buy a big UV unit if I need to use it in a big too. In a big one I have only small frags of sps and some look a little bit pale but I think is becouse it was 0.2 nitrate and 0.02 phosphate and when dinos in my nano tank showed up I decides to dose nitrate and phosphate to a big one too, now its 2.5-5 nitrate and 0.03 phosphate and colors of my sps are getting a little bit better.

Understand going oversized since you might use it on your big tank. I ran my 57 watt unit on a 20 gallon QT tank for awhile and now have it running on my 50g cube.

 

[Jolanta]

Yes beaten it many times with only husbandry- the key is sustained nitrate in the 2-10ppm range and phosphate between .05 and .15 - It's very tough to maintain high enough nutrients while the ostreopsis are blooming, but once you break them you'll see they start to clump in darker colored, less slimy mats that eventually fade away after a few week. You'll often see green turf and hair algaes grow up underneath the remaining dino mats once you really start to hit the proper amount of nutrients to allow for algaes and microfauna to begin outcompeting them. That said, a UV will help. A 55w would work wonders on your nano, but I fear the added heat from it might be tough to control. Just be careful not to cook your tank if you try it.

I didnt know it relese hit If I buy it I will be very carefull, maybe it would be a good idea to take down the heater during running uv, now is winter in mexico and I need to use 300w heater to keep temperature at the right level. Hope I will get rid of dinos soon and can enjoy my nano once again. I dont want to clean the glass to see the progress but soon I wont see whats inside so I think its time to do some cleaning Its good to run uv 24/7 or only durring light out when ostreopsis goes to water column?

 

[Jolanta]

Are you doing anything for nutrient export? Even water changes or skimming? I'd stop everything and allow things to develop naturally....continue avoiding the need to dose nutrients if possible.

I had a lot of chaeto but I pull it all out and I have nyos quantum skimmer only for filtration, I think I read in the treat its not a good idea to turn off the skimmer so I keeped it on. I think adding some more fish soon to help nutrients up. I give a lot of food to my fish but it seams the more I fead the more down phosphate goes, maybe its becouse I dose nitrates that are letting phosphate down. So will you recomend to turn off the skimmer for now?

 

[mcarroll]

Its good to run uv 24/7 or only durring light out when ostreopsis goes to water column?

If you're cost conscious, then running during lights-out ought to be suficient and will about double the bulb's useful life. (It's a florescent bulb, so has about the same useful hours as a T5HO bulb.)

If you don't mind replacing the bulb more frequently, then you might get some added benefit from running during lights-on as well.

 

[Beardo]

I didnt know it relese hit If I buy it I will be very carefull, maybe it would be a good idea to take down the heater during running uv, now is winter in mexico and I need to use 300w heater to keep temperature at the right level. Hope I will get rid of dinos soon and can enjoy my nano once again. I dont want to clean the glass to see the progress but soon I wont see whats inside so I think its time to do some cleaning Its good to run uv 24/7 or only durring light out when ostreopsis goes to water column?

I wouldn't take the heater offline, it should just run less.
I run my UV 24x7 though I'm not it does much during the day for dinos.

 

[Jolanta]

Thanks a lot I will buy the 55w unit and let you guys know how it worked.

 

[Alitoo.81]

UV with Ozone Update, second-day lights on. No Dinos. Even the normal algae are starting to die and for the first time, po4 is at 0,05 ppm. Corals are great with PE. More active snails and blennies. The normal algae that are dying are the ones that hade Dinos on them at the beginning. ORP max till now 395, did not go higher also I have it set to 400-420. It's going up little by little.

 

[smoothmove]

Jolanta- I have the Jebao 55 watt UV and it is excellent for the price.

 

[Paullawr]

I wouldn't take the heater offline, it should just run less.
I run my UV 24x7 though I'm not it does much during the day for dinos.

Yeah this is why I thought a few days back out during treatment might give it a boost.

 

[Paullawr]

If you're cost conscious, then running during lights-out ought to be suficient and will about double the bulb's useful life. (It's a florescent bulb, so has about the same useful hours as a T5HO bulb.)

If you don't mind replacing the bulb more frequently, then you might get some added benefit from running during lights-on as well.

Should be looking at a around 6 months usage if running 24/7, that's a fair estimate I would say.

 

[mwilk19]

Thanks a lot I will buy the 55w unit and let you guys know how it worked.

I have the Jebao 55w UV. I run it 24/7. I had a dino outbreak that decimated my tank. I seriously considered a full tear down. I bought the UV unit as a last resort. The dinos were gone within 3 days and have not returned. You do have to watch the temperature though. I have a 120 gallon tank that is controlled by an Apex. My heaters never come on because the UV unit generates that much heat. I live in Texas so out climates are similar. Once it starts to warm up in the spring, I'll probably only run it at night because the tank gets too warm in the daytime.