Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[reeferfoxx]

You have to remember that RHF is just one person who used to run just one average tank back he had one. He doesn’t even keep a tank any more. I do recommend that everyone read up and do their homework. Ozone and UV are quietly used by some of the best in the hobby for a reason. Ozone is also used in commercial and home air conditioning systems quite safely. Commercial fisheries and commercial facilities such as Marine Land won’t run without them. Like anything else, it’s all about avoiding extremes and doing your homework. To act in a derogatory manner with a train comment about a credible method does no one any good. If you must, we can’t stop you.

Jumping on the Ozone train isn't a derogatory statement, at least not in comparison to the insult and disrespect you show towards RHF. Yes, let's completely disregard his accomplishments not just in this hobby but academically.

Ozone effects more than just Dino's. That's what needs to be talked about. This thread is all about rebuilding what Dino's takes away. Ozone can potentially suppress that progression. Also UV and Ozone operate differently and shouldn't be considered similar. UV in perspective is safer and often times more affordable.

I think if you are dead set on Ozone and believe it works to the results you want then by all means share your dino plagued tank with before and after pictures.

 

[Dogtown]

Jumping on the Ozone train isn't a derogatory statement, at least not in comparison to the insult and disrespect you show towards RHF. Yes, let's completely disregard his accomplishments not just in this hobby but academically.

Ozone effects more than just Dino's. That's what needs to be talked about. This thread is all about rebuilding what Dino's takes away. Ozone can potentially suppress that progression. Also UV and Ozone operate differently and shouldn't be considered similar. UV in perspective is safer and often times more affordable.

I think if you are dead set on Ozone and believe it works to the results you want then by all means share your dino plagued tank with before and after pictures.

I disagree but do not have time for this. The intent is to be objective, realistic, and to help those that may have struggled to date. For anyone who has any questions, please feel free to message me directly.

 

[subareef]

I’ll have to check that out. Ive seen the dosage calculator for the potassium nitrate and stuff and plan on using that a lot during this whole process too

Been raising my phosphate levels with seachem flourish. Dino’s seems to have diminished some for sure. Beginning to see more and more gha growing so ya doing its job. I’ve got to get a new phosphate test kit to really see what’s going on since my ati kit can’t really pick up the low level I’m going for. I forget what the scale starts at off the top of my head. The green growth leads me to feel like I’m headed in the right direction rather than the Dino’s taking over like they were. Gonna have to start working on raising my nitrates with KNO3 and work on getting towards that 5 ppm Mark, I’m still reading at 0 like I was before. Protein skimmer is still off at this point to help

 

[kecked]

Randy, what you think about sodium percarbonate instead of peroxide? Oxyclean....not going to try this but it looks like a winner but if I did try I’d use pure. I suspect surfactants in oxyclean. Only adds ions you want plus the peroxide. And it’s cheap. I also think it might break down slower and be more gentle. Just a thought. Thought of the calcium version but then you make seeds to precipitate your calcium. The calcium nitrate is working very well though.

2 Na2CO3·3 H2O2 → 2 Na2CO3 + 3 H2O2
Peroxide with buffer!

So far the uv sterilizer isn’t doing anything at all but it’s only been two days. Anyone know the actual correct flow rate for the jebco 55w unit? I have it like a medium speed faucet. I do notice my filter sock no longer plugs up.

N and P. Are now stable 5ppm/0.11ppm
Alk 9.2 solid
Calcium 435 solid
Mag 1340 solid.

See what happens in few weeks. Not seeing any green algae but corlline is growing montis have white edges again. All softies look really happy. Real dark skim.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Randy, what you think about sodium percarbonate instead of peroxide? Oxyclean....not going to try this but it looks like a winner but if I did try I’d use pure. I suspect surfactants in oxyclean. Only adds ions you want plus the peroxide. And it’s cheap. I also think it might break down slower and be more gentle. Just a thought. Thought of the calcium version but then you make seeds to precipitate your calcium. The calcium nitrate is working very well though.

2 Na2CO3·3 H2O2 → 2 Na2CO3 + 3 H2O2
Peroxide with buffer!

So far the uv sterilizer isn’t doing anything at all but it’s only been two days. Anyone know the actual correct flow rate for the jebco 55w unit? I have it like a medium speed faucet. I do notice my filter sock no longer plugs up.

N and P. Are now stable 5ppm/0.11ppm
Alk 9.2 solid
Calcium 435 solid
Mag 1340 solid.

See what happens in few weeks. Not seeing any green algae but corlline is growing montis have white edges again. All softies look really happy. Real dark skim.

@Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[kecked]

Web seems to say 1-3 changes of water per hour. Also going slower than this can kill all your plankton.
40000 or more uv units is too much for reef. Slower you go the higher the dose. So my idea of putting 55w on my 75gal isn’t to sharp an idea unless I massive increase flowrate. Looks like about 10-20w is about right. I am working counter to the entire idea of increasing bacteria levels to kill dinos. I’ll try it for a week but I think it’s a bad idea.

 

[brandon429]

To anyone using a UV sterilizer, remove as much mass strewn across rocks and sand that you can possibly remove before installation, they are to be positioned as a growback preventer moreso than a killer while the mass circulates in the tank... amplifier trick bigtime for all UV used in reaction to an unanchored invader.

if water changes to be able to siphon access those dinos are feared, then run things through a sock or high micron filter and put the old water back (I don't think this is a big deal but many will want to not induce any water changes, you can still remove the mass)

all we're doing is reducing the target mass and its ability to gain benefits from being a snot community. this doesn't affect anyones nitrogen or phosphate boosting levels, or pods they may want as competitors its just mass reducing of the target right at the critical moment/uv upgrade. me personally id never put the old water back, id use new but that's just my opinion.

The way to boost uv effectiveness on any system is to make the uv time concurrent with the most focused hand removal of mass time.

 

[Mike S]

Its been about two weeks since I have seen any significant dinos on my rock, sand bed or glass. It has however persisted and taken out a few sps frags and colonies. My nitrate has been hanging steady around 8 ppm. I need to dose phosphate every two or three days to keep it in the 0.05 to 0.10 ppm range. Already running UV. Any other suggestions or is it just a matter of staying the course?

 

[brandon429]

In my opinion focused siphon removal, hand guidance off those colonies is helpful not harmful, it seems any colonies that are being challenged can be topically siphoned free of the blanketing

The overall system is not self adding mass, that's excellence using this threads method well done.

Focused creative removal of persistent masses via siphon can still keep your tank on track for the nutrient goals that caused your lessening of growth

This export minor frees up the uv to solely focus on tiny bits of cells you're missing in the dedicated cleanup... It then becomes oversized for the challenger mass which tips scales in our favor

If there is any conflict with the greater method here in light hand guiding it'll be worthy science to know.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Its been about two weeks since I have seen any significant dinos on my rock, sand bed or glass. It has however persisted and taken out a few sps frags and colonies. My nitrate has been hanging steady around 8 ppm. I need to dose phosphate every two or three days to keep it in the 0.05 to 0.10 ppm range. Already running UV. Any other suggestions or is it just a matter of staying the course?

Which dino were you fighting?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Web seems to say 1-3 changes of water per hour. Also going slower than this can kill all your plankton.
40000 or more uv units is too much for reef. Slower you go the higher the dose. So my idea of putting 55w on my 75gal isn’t to sharp an idea unless I massive increase flowrate. Looks like about 10-20w is about right. I am working counter to the entire idea of increasing bacteria levels to kill dinos. I’ll try it for a week but I think it’s a bad idea.

@Velcro

Didn't you get a jebao UV?

 

[Mike S]

Which dino were you fighting?

Ostreopsis

 

[Velcro]

@Velcro

Didn't you get a jebao UV?

Sure did. Worked great.

 

[Deezill]

@Velcro

Didn't you get a jebao UV?

Bulk Reef Supply has Brain washed me. I did not think to look outside of BRS for a UV light nor did I think anyone sold them but BRS
I wanted a UV light and I was just thinking last night I would have to save 400 bucks for the one i wanted on BRS page which is the
Pentair Aquatics SMART UV 40 WATT for 389.00. So there is life outside of BRS woooooooow.

 

[Velcro]

Bulk Reef Supply has Brain washed me. I did not think to look outside of BRS for a UV light nor did I think anyone sold them but BRS
I wanted a UV light and I was just thinking last night I would have to save 400 bucks for the one i wanted on BRS page which is the
Pentair Aquatics SMART UV 40 WATT for 389.00. So there is life outside of BRS woooooooow.

I wouldn't trust the jebao long term. I used it for 2-3 months and pulled it with no return of Dino's. I don't trust the plastic that jebao uses and would expect it to eventually break down.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I wouldn't trust the jebao long term. I used it for 2-3 months and pulled it with no return of Dino's. I don't trust the plastic that jebao uses and would expect it to eventually break down.

Do you remember how much flow you had pushing through it?

Web seems to say 1-3 changes of water per hour. Also going slower than this can kill all your plankton.
40000 or more uv units is too much for reef. Slower you go the higher the dose. So my idea of putting 55w on my 75gal isn’t to sharp an idea unless I massive increase flowrate. Looks like about 10-20w is about right. I am working counter to the entire idea of increasing bacteria levels to kill dinos. I’ll try it for a week but I think it’s a bad idea.

It's important to have the UV coming from the display. You can have a pump directly in the DT, after the over flow in a AIO, or in the sump where the water hits the sock or filter floss. Most people report quick reduction within days. Like Brandon was saying, keeping Dino's suspended in the water column will help.

Its been about two weeks since I have seen any significant dinos on my rock, sand bed or glass. It has however persisted and taken out a few sps frags and colonies. My nitrate has been hanging steady around 8 ppm. I need to dose phosphate every two or three days to keep it in the 0.05 to 0.10 ppm range. Already running UV. Any other suggestions or is it just a matter of staying the course?

Does your UV have any indicator that the UV is on?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Bulk Reef Supply has Brain washed me. I did not think to look outside of BRS for a UV light nor did I think anyone sold them but BRS
I wanted a UV light and I was just thinking last night I would have to save 400 bucks for the one i wanted on BRS page which is the
Pentair Aquatics SMART UV 40 WATT for 389.00. So there is life outside of BRS woooooooow.

I wouldn't be entirely discouraged by that fact. The cheaper ones aren't always for the long term. I also think going long term with UV will reduce having another bloom from newly introduced livestock. Also, it acts like an insurance policy if you have a "knee-jerk" reaction with dosing nutrients reducers or over do it with phosphate media.

That said, running UV 6 months after eradication and ending continued use is okay too. Just keep in mind that our tanks are fragil and should be treated as such.

 

[Velcro]

Do you remember how much flow you had pushing through it?

Roughly 100-150GPH

This was on a 100 gallon system.

 

[Deezill]

So I do know for a fact That the GFO i got from BRS i really over did it. This is why my phosphates bottomed out. I don't have a big enough bioload for my skimmer because all my fish are small so I have 0 nitrates. This is why I have Dinos. I turned of my GFO reactor. This weekend I will remove the GFO so atleast my carbon can still run because I have dual reactor. But I I am thinking about the UV from BRS page. I am also going to slowly increase my bioload with more fish and more feeding.

 

[fragit]

Just got some photos of my problem algae here at work. I am a nurse in a Mohs surgery unit, we have a really nice microscope. I think I have a mixture of Diatoms and some sort of Dino going on here. Populations are currently fading but still show up by the end of the day. @taricha, @mcarroll, @reeferfoxx can you all help me with an ID of what is in these photos?