Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[Chris Villalobos]

Has anyone who is having trouble with Dinos and Cyano done an N-DOC test from Triton. My organic nitrogen was off the charts while my NO3 was only testing 3-5PPM. Wonder if others are having the same problem of high organic nitrogen.

 

[KCSUMPS]

Has anyone who is having trouble with Dinos and Cyano done an N-DOC test from Triton. My organic nitrogen was off the charts while my NO3 was only testing 3-5PPM. Wonder if others are having the same problem of high organic nitrogen.

So by bringing those down did you end up tearing your Dino problem?

 

[Chris Villalobos]

So by bringing those down did you end up tearing your Dino problem?

I used "Waste Away" which is supposed to out compete the Dinos for the nutrients and that worked. I also bought a new skimmer to help remove the organics. I haven't done another N-DOC test yet, but I do still have some Cyano. While the N-DOC test isn't perfect it does show that even when we test low NO3 we can still have high Organic Nitrogen in our tanks.

I'm just wondering if other people suffering with Dinos have high organic nitrogen in their tanks.

 

[sikorskys]

TWIMC, this is my dino story: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/70g-diy-peninsula-40x20x20.390761/page-6#post-5599701

I've used Fauna Marin Dino X and bacteria additives with great success.

 

[Chris Villalobos]

Here is another look at my N : C : P ratio right when I started experiencing the Dino outbreak. Super high organic Nitrogen vs Carbon and Phosphorus.

 

[rishma]

Hi,

I ended up with Ostreopsis due to vinegar dosing, not monitoring nitrates (went to zero) and running GFO (went sub 0.02 ppm). I have confirmed Ostreopsis with a microscope.

I have been increasing nutrients. Nitrate is 5 PPM. Phosphate is 0.05-0.08 ppm. I am not running GFO. I cut the lighting on the cheato down to 4 hours. I may reduce further. Dino's where growing on the cheato pretty heavy.

I read post #905. I am not sure I understand what to do next. Keep increasing nutrients?

thinking of trying Dino-X

Guidance is appreciated

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

Hi,

I ended up with Ostreopsis due to vinegar dosing, not monitoring nitrates (went to zero) and running GFO (went sub 0.02 ppm). I have confirmed Ostreopsis with a microscope.

I have been increasing nutrients. Nitrate is 5 PPM. Phosphate is 0.05-0.08 ppm. I am not running GFO. I cut the lighting on the cheato down to 4 hours. I may reduce further. Dino's where growing on the cheato pretty heavy.

I read post #905. I am not sure I understand what to do next. Keep increasing nutrients?

Guidance is appreciated

A UV sterilizer can work wonders in the fight against Ostreopsis.

 

[rishma]

A UV sterilizer can work wonders in the fight against Ostreopsis.

Yes, thanks. That will be a last resort. I hope it doesn’t get to that.

This is a 34 gal reefer 170. I really don’t have any room for equipment.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

Yes, thanks. That will be a last resort. I hope it doesn’t get to that.

This is a 34 gal reefer 170. I really don’t have any room for equipment.

I thought the same but after 8 weeks of getting nowhere I admitted defeat and bought a UV. I just sit it on top of my Reefer 250 overflow. It looks terrible but it's only temporary and it making a big difference in my battle with prorocentrum.
I wish that I had done it earlier.

 

[rishma]

I thought the same but after 8 weeks of getting nowhere I admitted defeat and bought a UV. I just sit it on top of my Reefer 250 overflow. It looks terrible but it's only temporary and it making a big difference in my battle with prorocentrum.
I wish that I had done it earlier.

Temporary and expensive!

You thinking just Run UV until the Dinos are gone?

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

Temporary and expensive!

You thinking just Run UV until the Dinos are gone?

Yeah, that's the plan.
The jeboa UV doesn't break the bank. Obviously it's money I would rather spend on a nice coral but needs must.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

Just a little update.

I'm now up to day 12 of running the Jabao 55w UV. Things are still looking good. I would say that the display is now 90% clear of dinos, just some stubborn patches on the sand (barely anything) and some signs of bubbles in the algae that is growing on my overflow. I'm blowing everything off just before lights out and these patches are slowly getting smaller.
My calc, mag and alk levels are beginning to drop and I am now dosing the same amount as I was before the outbreak, rather than a small dose or two a week. I'm thinking that this is another good sign that I have got the dinos on the run. My hammer corals are beginning to open out again which I am very happy about as it looked like I was going to lose them at one point.
One thing that I have noticed is that there are something very similar to spiders webs appearing on my rock work. I've seen this mentioned before in this thread but I'm not sure of the significance?

 

[Jonreefer]

One thing that I have noticed is that there are something very similar to spiders webs appearing on my rock work. I've seen this mentioned before in this thread but I'm not sure of the significance?

Sounds like vermetid snails.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

Sounds like vermetid snails.

Thanks, it probably is that.
I just seem to remember someone mentioning 'spiders webs' with regards to dinos dying off.
I probably imagined it [emoji2]

 

[Rick Cavanaugh]

This from a friends tank. I pull a sample, but the tank was pretty clean at the time and there was no heavy goo anywhere. Of what I did see it was mostly this. Is this amphidinium? These did not move much. There were some much smaller cells moving pretty fast. Not enough that I could get a photo or video worth anything.

Nitrates 5ppm
Phosphates 0.03ppm
pH 7.9
Tank is fairly new. I don't know exact age but maybe 3-4 months.
Dinos are all on the sand. None on the rocks.

 

[Rick Cavanaugh]

Tank also had a very small amount of this . Is this coolia? or something else?

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

This from a friends tank. I pull a sample, but the tank was pretty clean at the time and there was no heavy goo anywhere. Of what I did see it was mostly this. Is this amphidinium? These did not move much. There were some much smaller cells moving pretty fast. Not enough that I could get a photo or video worth anything.

Nitrates 5ppm
Phosphates 0.03ppm
pH 7.9
Tank is fairly new. I don't know exact age but maybe 3-4 months.
Dinos are all on the sand. None on the rocks.

Looks very much like my prorocentrum

 

[Tjm23slo]

Are most of the Dino strands life cycles similar?

The basis of the higher nutrients is to build up biodiversity to out compete the and consume the cyst used for reproduction. My understanding is the the life cycle of a Dino is 1-3 months. Did I read this correctly?

I have not read what can help reduce the life span of an adult Dino. While less light seems to keep cysts in the water column longer, does more intense light accurate adult Dino’s life cycle or does make the Dino produce more Cysts?

 

[Idoc]

I'm in the beginning/middle of a terrible battle with the amphidinium dinos, but took a look today and saw a lot of the larger dinos in the video! Does anyone have an ID on these other dinos... possibly ostreopsis?

 

[Rick Cavanaugh]

pointed with white tips is ostreopsis