Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[Jrainey312]

Hmmm. Is this tank less than a year old by chance? That combo of measurable nutrient, algae and dinos makes me ask.

Yes on UV. 1 watt per 3 gallons. Super slow flow to maximize contact time. On nutrient, I generally recommend a bit higher but as you have algae going strong tells us that it is just getting bound into the algae.

If the biome is young -- and especially with a dead rock start -- I am going to suggest you just sit tight. Manage temps and salinity. Let the biome cook and do its ugly/beautiful thing.

Its just over the year mark. So i should keep my nutrients aroud where they are and add a uv? This has been going on for 3 + months now.

 

[ScottB]

Its just over the year mark. So i should keep my nutrients aroud where they are and add a uv? This has been going on for 3 + months now.

IMO yes. Just keep measurable nutrient. Manual and CUC removal of as much algae as you can.

Stay with it. Once your biome matures it does get easier and better looking without as much work. Just takes so much time.

 

[Fer21]

Hello, I’’m just starting my battle with Dinos. I have a 15G nano tank full with corals (SPS, LPS and Soft) wich are not fully open but look ok.

The Dino’s are on the sand bed and in parts of the rock work.
So far I have done the following:

1. Reduce light cycle to 10hrs ( which I think it’s not that short)
2. Dosing FaStar-M which it’s nitrates and phosphates in a fix ratio.
3. over feeding fish and corals.

My plan it’s to dose nitrates and phosphates separetly, I plan on using Seachem Flourish Phosphorus and Nitrogen. ( It’s this OK?, You dose this everyday until you get to were you want? )
Remove has much Dino’s as I can, and see how it goes.

I’ve heard that I should stop feeding my corals and dosing amínos, it’s this true? Does it not contribute to increasing nutrients in the system?



Best regards , Fernando.

 

[Alenya]

I have a very young tank (6 weeks) and had a little bit of dino appearing after diatoms, no algae. I don't have a microscope but did the H2O2 test to check it was dino and not cyano.

I reduced photoperiod to 5 hours with blues only @ 15%, turned off the skimmer and dosed H2O2 in the evening. I have an ATO and the temp is stable, and a filter roller is still on.

This morning it looks like most has gone from the rock.

I don't want to mess with the tank too much as it's still going through its uglies. Right now my goal is to get phospates up and then start growing a little green algae as I increase light duration and intensity.

Is there anything else to do now but monitor and wait?

 

[Reef and Dive]

Treatments have proven to be mostly ineffective. What do you think of the info in the first post? How are your tank's nutrient levels right now?

Are the dino's causing problems or just being ugly?

I won against amphi and ostreopsis many months ago... my personal impression on the methods is that you have to use many weapons together. After solving my issues I’ve been helping many aquarists in Brazil to solve this issue.

This is my particular classification on efficiency, I have checked my results on the microscope:

Essential:
- keeping nitrates and phosphates above 0
- keeping pH above 8 long term
- try to identify dino genus on a microscope (600x is ok for that)

Avoid as much as possible:
- WC
- adding CUC
- not a good time to chase good N : P ratios since the good ratios highly promote dino growth

Good for all dinos:
- micro bubble scrubbing
- adding specific bacteria: Dr Tim Waste Away, Live Rock Enhance, Vibrant, Microbacter 7
- using a turkey baster to clean dino-dirty areas
- syphoning dirty zones and sending water back to the sump on a filter sock
- Cruz Arias (Elegant Corals method)
- leaving only actinic lights on long term (completelly turn off whites)

Good (but not perfect) for Amphidinium and some other benthic dinos:
- Peroxide
- Dino X
- 72h blackout when it is near done or at the beginning of treatment

Good for Ostreopsis dinos:
- oversized UV with adequate flow

Extreme measures (but ones that helped, even being too dangerous to recommend as a routine):
- removing or replacing the entire substrate
- fast FWD on rocks and corals (and yes I did try it even on SPS, and also yes I lost some)

Not tested myself:
- silica dosing
- raising temperature

Tested bud did not help at all:
- dosing high amounts of live phyto
- adding copepods (they consume dinos but die)

 

[Michael Gray]

Started zeo bacteria dosing. And appears to have bubbles and brownish tint. Out the UV back in display. Pulled some off of GHA. And this is wierd. I had coolia I had ostreopsis. These are tiny. Tiny even with magnified and some look long??

Po4 is .05 minimum. And no3 3-5. Trying to up it to 10 slowly. I made sure it didn't bottom out. What the heck! And also removed all sand a month ago

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Update two weeks of dosing (actually stopped after a week as the levels stabilized at no3 15ppm and PO4 0.2ppm), 55w UV, and temp at 81F. Coral doesn't seem to mind the "Dirty" water, in fact, they look better than they did pre-dino.

Haven't seen any sign of dinos for the last 3-4 days. Going to run UV through the weekend then take it out of the DT. Give it a week or two of observation before I pack it away. I'll still be running UV in sump (until I figure out how to plumb into DT).

Thankful for all the resources available in this thread! Two thumbs up!


Now I need to get rid off all the GHA in the sand as my CUC doesnt go near it and goby can't keep up.

 

[Michael Gray]

Started zeo bacteria dosing. And appears to have bubbles and brownish tint. Out the UV back in display. Pulled some off of GHA. And this is wierd. I had coolia I had ostreopsis. These are tiny. Tiny even with magnified and some look long??

Po4 is .05 minimum. And no3 3-5. Trying to up it to 10 slowly. I made sure it didn't bottom out. What the heck! And also removed all sand a month ago

Hoping @taricha can assist with this

 

[Michael Gray]

having the girl use the microscope since i dont know how.. she used the most magnification she can with oil and got these pics.. thats how small they are..

the video was taken with the second mag....

i dont see the long things that where moving in her pics.. not sure if shes in wrong spot or not.. ill have to do it again tomorrow....

 

[Michael Gray]

more photos the other half took for me and video.. starting to lean towards chryso? also theo long bugs?

 

[Reef and Dive]

having the girl use the microscope since i dont know how.. she used the most magnification she can with oil and got these pics.. thats how small they are..

the video was taken with the second mag....

i dont see the long things that where moving in her pics.. not sure if shes in wrong spot or not.. ill have to do it again tomorrow....

Yeah green ones look like crysophytes to me.
Golden algae.
They like silica like diatoms.

 

[Michael Gray]

Yeah green ones look like crysophytes to me.
Golden algae.
They like silica like diatoms.

They don't create a reddish brown? So I must have Dino's.....

 

[Reef and Dive]

They don't create a reddish brown? So I must have Dino's.....

I mean microscopically. Macroscopically they are brownish-yellow...
And the brown ones on the microscope are dinos...

 

[Reef and Dive]

Hoping @taricha can assist with this

interesting... small elongated ones...
Prorocentrum triestinum maybe

 

[H3rm1tCr@b]

Okay so after so many months of trial and error I'm assuming I have a band aid at best to the dinoflagellates. What I have been doing is dosing nitrates and phosphates, and it is working great. Occasionally they will show their ugly head if I forget to dose and the nutrients hit zero, but that is much better than the constant invert die offs I would have.

 

[ScottB]

Hello, I’’m just starting my battle with Dinos. I have a 15G nano tank full with corals (SPS, LPS and Soft) wich are not fully open but look ok.

The Dino’s are on the sand bed and in parts of the rock work.
So far I have done the following:

1. Reduce light cycle to 10hrs ( which I think it’s not that short)
2. Dosing FaStar-M which it’s nitrates and phosphates in a fix ratio.
3. over feeding fish and corals.

My plan it’s to dose nitrates and phosphates separetly, I plan on using Seachem Flourish Phosphorus and Nitrogen. ( It’s this OK?, You dose this everyday until you get to were you want? )
Remove has much Dino’s as I can, and see how it goes.

I’ve heard that I should stop feeding my corals and dosing amínos, it’s this true? Does it not contribute to increasing nutrients in the system?



Best regards , Fernando.

My suggestions:
- Confirm the presence of dinos via the "coffee filter test"
- If yes, then stop aminos and coral food as dinos process them faster than anybody else
- Raise nutrients to 10 and .1 nitrates and phosphates.
- Get a student microscope and ID your type of dino
- If it is NOT LC Amphidinium, then buy a small HOB UV. Green Killing Machine is fine.
- If it is LC Amphidinium, head over to the thread specifically for amphidinium treatment. And good luck with those.

 

[ScottB]

Hoping @taricha can assist with this

Despite the good video, I am stumped. @taricha should be around shortly.

 

[taricha]

To share what I sent @Michael Gray in a message...
"The green amorphous blob things are euglena. The small dinos are a type of amphidinium that Is usually seen like you have here. Totally Motionless, growing as epiphytes on algae. The larger Dino looking things are I believe a resting cyst of another Dino. I don't know what kind. But I have seen them before in a system that had multiple kinds of dinos in it."

 

[evoreefer1320]

So i have been battling dino's for awhile and now seem to be wining the battle with uv. But I was wondering has anyone tried Miracle Mud to add bio diversity to fight them? I know a lot of older reefers swear by the stuff. Just and idea i was thinking of trying.

 

[taricha]

So i have been battling dino's for awhile and now seem to be wining the battle with uv. But I was wondering has anyone tried Miracle Mud to add bio diversity to fight them? I know a lot of older reefers swear by the stuff. Just and idea i was thinking of trying.

I like the idea, as it has the possibility to really contribute large numbers of bacterial actors. Would love your observations on how it works.