Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[eraserhead187]

Im having a major brain fart.
Could you post a pic of your gravel vac to UV? Im having a hard time picturing what this looks like or how to hook it up correctly.

Also, will a maxjet 1200 be good enough?

Yeah, I have dismantled it because I have the UV hooked into the tank pump now. But I will explain it the best I can.

I bought just a cheap, crappy little tiny powerhead (pic attached), I think it only pumps like 6ogph or something like that. Just enough to pull a little out of the sand. The gravel vac is one of the little bitty ones, not sure the dimensions (Can't fine mine at the moment). I had to do some major fanangling of the tubing, but essentially, it is like this:

Vacuum tube--->water line--->powerhead--->water line--->UV input--->tank water With water flow moving left to right. Took some rigging up but it did work. I was trying to NOT do any water changes or replace any water that I didn't have to, so I had the output of the UV skimmer going into a fine filter bag before the water went back into the tank. The Ostreopsis goes into the water column at lights out, so this is not really necessary for them, but for the benthic dinos this helped a LOT. At least amphidinium. Not sure how I got rid of the coolia exactly. The slower flow pump the better, as long as it actually sifts the sand enough to suck them up. Hope this helps clarify it a bit, it worked pretty well for me.

Your pics and video definitely show some amphidinium. Better to have then ostreopsis, but they tend to multiply very quickly also. I killed off my ostreopsis with a combination of peroxide dosing, UV, manual removal, reduced photoperiod, and vibrant (Though I suspect the vibrant had a hand in the outbreak itself- I had bubble algae and the vibrant annihilated that, then this happened. Think my microbiota was out of whack from the getgo).

 

[eraserhead187]

Difficult to say and @taricha can confirm but looks like amphidinium.

Definitely some amphidinium in there. Its hard to tell but it looked like you may have another species as well. I had three types in succession. When I'd kill one off, another would take over. Just gotta keep the momentum going in your favor and you'll get through them all eventually. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully.

 

[Dj City]

I tried with my maxijet 1200 but it would not work. Head pressure defeated the little pump.

I'm running the uv in straight siphon mode.
No pump at all. Just gravity fed.
Water coming out the display draining into filter sock in sump.

I got the sand with the siphon so whatever went through went through sloooooowly.

Best I can do right now.

Any more help is appreciated.

 

[eraserhead187]

OMG!!!

Amazing!
What are these things?
Is this my problem?
How to best rid myself of this problem.

I tried with my maxijet 1200 but it would not work. Head pressure defeated the little pump.

I'm running the uv in straight siphon mode.
No pump at all. Just gravity fed.
Water coming out the display draining into filter sock in sump.

I got the sand with the siphon so whatever went through went through sloooooowly.

Best I can do right now.

Any more help is appreciated.

That may work, best thing is to just keep the flow as slow as you can while still tumbling the sand enough to dislodge the little jerks. Good luck! I think I paid like 7 bucks for that pump. It's junk, but I didn't want much. I thought it was fun to capture some of the effluent from the UV end of the system and put it under the microscope to see the dead and dying dinos.

 

[Andeyking]

What is the next step to take?
I've fought back the dinos so they no longer appear during the day. I can see see the occasional one under the microscope(Sampled different parts of the tank, sand, powerhead and rocks). Should I continue with UV and slowly lower my nutrients?

 

[dwest]

What is the next step to take?
I've fought back the dinos so they no longer appear during the day. I can see see the occasional one under the microscope(Sampled different parts of the tank, sand, powerhead and rocks). Should I continue with UV and slowly lower my nutrients?

What are your nutrient levels now? I would try to stay about 10 ppm nitrate and 0.1 ppm phosphate. I have been doing that since February. At some point, I might let them fall naturally, but as long as my cuc can maintain gha relatively well, I might just stay there.

 

[eraserhead187]

What are your nutrient levels now? I would try to stay about 10 ppm nitrate and 0.1 ppm phosphate. I have been doing that since February. At some point, I might let them fall naturally, but as long as my cuc can maintain gha relatively well, I might just stay there.

That's what I have been doing too. Who in your cleanup crew are you using to keep the gha down?

 

[Scottybgood]

What is the next step to take?
I've fought back the dinos so they no longer appear during the day. I can see see the occasional one under the microscope(Sampled different parts of the tank, sand, powerhead and rocks). Should I continue with UV and slowly lower my nutrients?

I agree with @dwest in that I would stay vigilant with the nutrients and the UV for a while. I am continuing my UV for the foreseeable future. I dosed to maintain the 10ppm nitrate and .1 phosphate for a while, then decided to stop dosing to see where it would naturally settle. I apparently still have phosphate uptake going on, because within 3 days, it went back to undetectable (Hanna URL). So continued to dose NeoPhos. Now about 2 months later, I am no longer dosing NO3 (and they are maintaining between 5 - 10) and dosing about 2mls NeoPhos every 3-4 days (I have a 75g DT with a 20g sump), and it has settled at .04 and now just test phosphates weekly. Have just small areas of GHA and some filamentous algea here and there, but my Lawnmower Blenny, Tomini Tang and snails are earning their keep. Stay vigilant and good luck, it is a winnable battle.

 

[Andeyking]

What are your nutrient levels now? I would try to stay about 10 ppm nitrate and 0.1 ppm phosphate. I have been doing that since February. At some point, I might let them fall naturally, but as long as my cuc can maintain gha relatively well, I might just stay there.

I agree with @dwest in that I would stay .... algea here and there, but my Lawnmower Blenny, Tomini Tang and snails are earning their keep. Stay vigilant and good luck, it is a winnable battle.

Thanks for the suggestions. Would now be a good time to remove UV that's plumbed into the display and place it into the sump?
I've not actually been doing any dosing of nutrients at all the whole way through, I've just not been actively trying removing it by means means

 

[eraserhead187]

Thanks for the suggestions. Would now be a good time to remove UV that's plumbed into the display and place it into the sump?
I've not actually been doing any dosing of nutrients at all the whole way through, I've just not been actively trying removing it by means means

You could also just feed heavy if you don't want to dose.

 

[Andeyking]

You could also just feed heavy if you don't want to dose.

Nutrients aren't an issue at the moment. I tested last on the 07.05 and it came back as 5 and o.25 so phosphate needs to come down some.

 

[dwest]

That's what I have been doing too. Who in your cleanup crew are you using to keep the gha down?

My YT and PT with lots of cerith snails mostly take care of rocks. I have 2 holanthuria cucumbers and 3 fighting conchs, as well ceriths, that are taking care of the sand that I have left. I have a few trochus snails and small hermits as well. Also, even with heavy uv my pods are increasing in number and am sure they make a significant dent in algae. Used to have chitons and limpets that I hope will make a comeback. I have a 180 gallon tank.

 

[dwest]

Thanks for the suggestions. Would now be a good time to remove UV that's plumbed into the display and place it into the sump?
I've not actually been doing any dosing of nutrients at all the whole way through, I've just not been actively trying removing it by means means

I am contemplating that myself. I will likely move my uv to the return line or sump in the next couple of months. I think you are ok moving now, but I’m going slow on that move...

 

[Andeyking]

I'm thinking of running it inline before the carbon reactor, kill two birds with one pump.

 

[Renan Isse]

Since I have Amphidinium dinos, will UV work if I turn off the lights to let the dinos in the water column, so as UV can hit them?

 

[dwest]

Since I have Amphidinium dinos, will UV work if I turn off the lights to let the dinos in the water column, so as UV can hit them?

Maybe. I had amphidinium. I tried to shorten the light cycle, but it didn’t seem to matter. I had the best luck keeping nutrients high, beefing up my cuc, and siphoning out most of my sand unfortunately. Also blowed off rocks daily...

 

[Renan Isse]

I can't have a cuc, because my melanurus feeds on them. I'm increasing nitrates and phosphates a little; 5 no3 and 0.04 po4.

How long did it take you to get rid of your dino with high nutrients?

Maybe. I had amphidinium. I tried to shorten the light cycle, but it didn’t seem to matter. I had the best luck keeping nutrients high, beefing up my cuc, and siphoning out most of my sand unfortunately. Also blowed off rocks daily...

 

[Andeyking]

I can't have a cuc, because my melanurus feeds on them. I'm increasing nitrates and phosphates a little; 5 no3 and 0.04 po4.

How long did it take you to get rid of your dino with high nutrients?

I had Amphidinium, I used a UV as well as elevated nutrients. Elevated nutrients and shortening photoperiod were not enough to even reduce the population. Placing a UV with the pump and outlet directly in the display I noted a difference within 24 hours. The dinos ceased to reproduce during the day and slowly the population diminished. From the UV going on to no longer seeing the visual signs, it was probably two weeks. Any dinos that were on sps was gone within a week and they where opened up fully around the two-week mark.

 

[Renan Isse]

So, when did you do the first water change after the UV was introduced?

 

[Andeyking]

So, when did you do the first water change after the UV was introduced?

I'm not able to answer that question, my system runs ATI essentials so I don't do water changes.
If I was going to carry one out. It would have been at the 2 week marker when they didn't show during the day any longer.