Can someone ID this guy? Just bought a 36w UV sterilizer for my 108g DT. Hoping it does the trick. Question.. people say to use it in the DT and not the sump.. so I literally drop the pump in the DT as well as the return line?
Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?
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not 100% can you get a video? and pics of area in tank where it comes from?
yes UV pulling water out and returning back into the display directly is most effective.
Currently doing a blackout period but will post some older pics. It grows on all surfaces it seems but seems the worst on the sand bed. Peaked into the tank today with lights off and see some light dusting on sand. For reference po4 has maintained fairly constant at around 0.08 and nitrates seems to be coming up a bit to around 2-4ppm. UV has been running for about 16 hours now. It is a 36w as mentioned set up next to tank going directly from DT to DT with an approx 250gph flow on a 108 gallon DT with 30 gallon sump.
I will try to get some better pics and a video tonight.
Thanks @taricha
I will try to get some better pics and a video tonight.
Thanks @taricha
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OpenOcean33
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Looking good on the biodiversity part, looks like you have a lot of diatoms to help compete with those Dinos.Currently doing a blackout period but will post some older pics. It grows on all surfaces it seems but seems the worst on the sand bed. Peaked into the tank today with lights off and see some light dusting on sand. For reference po4 has maintained fairly constant at around 0.08 and nitrates seems to be coming up a bit to around 2-4ppm. UV has been running for about 16 hours now. It is a 36w as mentioned set up next to tank going directly from DT to DT with an approx 250gph flow on a 108 gallon DT with 30 gallon sump.
I will try to get some better pics and a video tonight.
Thanks @taricha
Ernie C
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I got dinos under control, at least to the point where the corals are happy and growing again but I still get what looks like micro bubbles on my rocks and a swab revealed Dinos where still present. Have no strings or mats of them but I know they are there. What is the best way to create more biodiversity to outcompete them? I’m worried they will resurface at harmful levels. Was going to add bacteria however wouldn’t adding bacteria lower nutrients? My nutrients stay stable at .4 nitrates and .02 phosphates. Don’t want to upset them and create a bigger issue. Still running 55w Jebao 24/7 since my issue. If I remove it, they come back.
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They need more encouragement to go into the water. A short lights out of a couple days and blasting surfaces can get virtually all cells into the water.
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do whatever you would do to keep coral happy. Doesn't matter for dinos.
oh, one more thing. You have a lot of material - dinos, diatoms, cyano. Make sure that you are exporting lots. Otherwise when some cells die, they'll just be recycled into other cells.
You have the biodiversity, now enforce a little competition. BTW, diatoms are nutritious for many things and move easily up the food chain. dinos and cyano, not really.
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If good bacteria dislodge the dino film then go for it. Nutrients can always be worked around by dosing.
A short blackout < 48hrs can push any cells capable of swimming into the water and UV.
Okay. When you say export are you talking just try to manually remove as much as I can during WC? And is it better to actually do a WC or do the filter method and reintroduce the old water with the Dino’s hopefully filtered out? And by enforcing competition should I be doing anything else? Dosing nitrate or anything?
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There's a lot of algal material. Manually removing is the fastest way.
Plenty of diatoms to compete for new nutrients. Make sure NO3 and PO4 stay available.
I would return the old water if I could run it through a filter and UV first. But a small water change when exporting cells directly is not a big problem.
NYG140
Community Member
Hi Guys,
I've been through almost every page of this thread during my battle with Dinos, so I figured now that I have them beat, I should post the process that worked for me. Your mileage may vary.
In this order:
1.) Removed my sandbed completely cleaned every surface of Dinos manually.
2.) Shock and Awe doses of Chemiclean. 200mg day, 5 days straight. During this time, I am running 20 micron filter socks catching anything I can. Swapping them out daily.
3.) Day 6 I ran a lot of activated carbon as a chemical filter and enabled the UV sterilizer I purchased to run for 24 hours.
4.) I then got the tank filthy for two weeks, heavy overfeeding of everything. Frozen, pellet, coral food. My nitrates were in the 30-40ppms and phosphates hit .80ppm at a point. All this time I let the UV sterilizer do its thing. Still on the 20 micron socks, swap daily. It's worth noting that the dino had already killed all my corals aside from a few softies so I had no issues with water quality.
5.) After two weeks of this, suprise, insane algae bloom. Mostly hair algae that looked like my rock had a toupee. But no dino's in sight.
6.) About a month of slowly removing algae and bringing down nutrients. I added a chaeto reactor at this time, the ball of cheato exploded in a matter of days. Tripled in size.
7.) After about a month, my parameters are in range, and everything I put in the tank is thriving. No sign of dino anywhere.
Don't give up, it worked for me, it can work for you.
I've been through almost every page of this thread during my battle with Dinos, so I figured now that I have them beat, I should post the process that worked for me. Your mileage may vary.
In this order:
1.) Removed my sandbed completely cleaned every surface of Dinos manually.
2.) Shock and Awe doses of Chemiclean. 200mg day, 5 days straight. During this time, I am running 20 micron filter socks catching anything I can. Swapping them out daily.
3.) Day 6 I ran a lot of activated carbon as a chemical filter and enabled the UV sterilizer I purchased to run for 24 hours.
4.) I then got the tank filthy for two weeks, heavy overfeeding of everything. Frozen, pellet, coral food. My nitrates were in the 30-40ppms and phosphates hit .80ppm at a point. All this time I let the UV sterilizer do its thing. Still on the 20 micron socks, swap daily. It's worth noting that the dino had already killed all my corals aside from a few softies so I had no issues with water quality.
5.) After two weeks of this, suprise, insane algae bloom. Mostly hair algae that looked like my rock had a toupee. But no dino's in sight.
6.) About a month of slowly removing algae and bringing down nutrients. I added a chaeto reactor at this time, the ball of cheato exploded in a matter of days. Tripled in size.
7.) After about a month, my parameters are in range, and everything I put in the tank is thriving. No sign of dino anywhere.
Don't give up, it worked for me, it can work for you.
So as an update, been running the UV for about 3 straight days now following a 36 hour total blackout. Nitrates were definitely up at around 10ppm and po4 also up at approx 0.15. I’ve been running the lights for about 5 hours at reduced intensity and feeding normally maybe a bit heavier..
Tank looks 90-95% clear of Dino’s at the moment. I see some residual pockets of them but very light and much less than before. Hoping this sticks. I’ve done a very small 5 or so gallon water change just to siphon out some residual Dino’s and stir the sand a bit of the dusting. Any advice on how long I should keep the UV going? I’ve got it going directly into the display in a definite temporary setup. Want to eventually DC it and use it on an emergency basis as needed.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread as it seems to be working for me at least at the moment. Attached a quick pic from today. Water a little cloudy as I am also dosing coral snow.
Not what you want to hear, but I would run it for a long time. I moved mine to the sump after a few months, then ran into more problems. I ended up hooking up permanently in and out of my DT. I hung mine off the back. It’s not so bad...So as an update, been running the UV for about 3 straight days now following a 36 hour total blackout. Nitrates were definitely up at around 10ppm and po4 also up at approx 0.15. I’ve been running the lights for about 5 hours at reduced intensity and feeding normally maybe a bit heavier..
Tank looks 90-95% clear of Dino’s at the moment. I see some residual pockets of them but very light and much less than before. Hoping this sticks. I’ve done a very small 5 or so gallon water change just to siphon out some residual Dino’s and stir the sand a bit of the dusting. Any advice on how long I should keep the UV going? I’ve got it going directly into the display in a definite temporary setup. Want to eventually DC it and use it on an emergency basis as needed.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread as it seems to be working for me at least at the moment. Attached a quick pic from today. Water a little cloudy as I am also dosing coral snow.
OpenOcean33
Well-Known Member
I agree with this, I would run it for a while increase that biodiversity and when the tank is in check remove it. I wouldn't be in a huge rush because then you be setting your self back in the fight.
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