Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[Beardo]

@taricha

Here's some updated video and a photo of what I'm dealing with. Well, at least one of the things. Sorry about the **** quality. I should have invested in a better microscope.

The vast majority are Ostreopsis.

 

[taricha]

Understood.

Steps to take:

• New video/photo of microscope for further ID.
• Decrease organic N/P dosing (nori cut back to every couple of days, only one sheet, etc)
• Inorganic N and P dosing to continue.
• UV to be added tomorrow (36 watt, 120 gallons, 520 gph pump, should i restrict flow?).
• Diatom filter to be added tomorrow.
• Fuge lighting to increase back to 18 hours reverse photoperiod w/ dosing to increase as needed.

In my other thread there are some suggestions of stopping all dosing altogether and see what happens. Thoughts?

Like beardo said, those are definitely ostreopsis now. UV susceptible, watch for toxins. Plan looks good.

 

[scardall]

Here's the tank in all it's sad, sad glory.

I have this same issue. Been 5 months now. NO3 O ppm and PO4 .06ppm . The only water chemistry that is odd is Alk. it drops .8-1dkh over a 24hr. period. I dose 35-40ml twice a day and I can barley keep 6.5-7dkh. Dino's seem to come right out of thin air. I have not changed how I take care of my reef till I discovered that my Alk. was way to low, thus I now dose little more than twice what I did before. (Once a day 50ml---then) Now 35-40ml twice a day. Some coral growth improvement only in my monti's and duncan's for the most part. Reading post's and am still lost . Need clarity? HELP

 

[K. Steven]

Here's a video I took of my Ostreopsis sp. to compare. I saw a huge difference when I stopped overfeeding and started dosing PO4.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Hey guys! I'm back! So are the dinos wooo. Planning on a reset this winter YAY! ;Rage

 

[XNavyDiver]

Just an update on my situation- after my blackout and the addition of the GARF grunge, the tank looks better. The mats and stingy slime have gone. I still have the brown dusty diatoms, but they don't bother anything, and the CUC seems to keep those under control. I took the advise from this thread, and I have upped my nutrients as my NO3 is 10-12 (RS Pro), and my PO4 is about .1-.12 (Hanna ULR). So far after almost a week, it looks like I've beat back the bulk of the stuff that was covering the rockwork and corals. I also cut back on the photoperiod and intensity of my LEDs. I'm going to try and maintain where my h20 and light is now and just see how the tank reacts over time.

 

[zachxlutz]

Hey guys! I'm back! So are the dinos wooo. Planning on a reset this winter YAY! ;Rage

What strain are you battling?

 

[reeferfoxx]

What strain are you battling?

I'm not quite sure. Like many people here I followed the increase nutrients and they went away. However, cyano and hair algae took over. So I tried getting rid of the hair algae which kept absorbing available po4. Fast forward a month and a half and now my tank is covered in hair algae and dinos. Its just an endless cycle of hair algae, cyano, and dinos with this tank.

 

[Cscultho]

I thought i was on the path to beating ostreopsis but nope....still the dino hangs on. the dino's are considerably better than my initial outbreak but i still have the bubbles creaping up here and there.

My opinion is the only real way of possibly beating ostreopsis without a complete tear down is to eliminate ALL the sand and/or substrate. I believe the dino hide deep in the sand and come out and play when something in the system goes astray. A bare bottom tank may be the only option to get rid of the bubbly slime balls.

Osteropsis has figured out how to evolve or mutate so it is untouchable....IMO. dang mother nature...she's out smarted us again.

 

[Beardo]

Hey guys! I'm back! So are the dinos wooo. Planning on a reset this winter YAY! ;Rage

Sorry to hear that.
I think the most frustrating thing is believing you have defeated them only to have them show back up later.

 

[Beardo]

I thought i was on the path to beating ostreopsis but nope....still the dino hangs on. the dino's are considerably better than my initial outbreak but i still have the bubbles creaping up here and there.

My opinion is the only real way of possibly beating ostreopsis without a complete tear down is to eliminate ALL the sand and/or substrate. I believe the dino hide deep in the sand and come out and play when something in the system goes astray. A bare bottom tank may be the only option to get rid of the bubbly slime balls.

Osteropsis has figured out how to evolve or mutate so it is untouchable....IMO. dang mother nature...she's out smarted us again.

I think one of the biggest challenges to defeating dinos species such as Ostreopsis is their ability to form both pellicle and resting cysts. Cyst formation is a survival strategy they employ when conditions are not favorable. Cysts can hang out in the sediment layers for long periods of time only to bloom again after a required dormancy period and/or when conditions are favorable. This contributes to the seasonal blooms in the Mediterranean and other places.
I believe removal of the sandbed is a tool to help defeat cyst forming dinos such as Ostreopsis but isn't a silver bullet. I removed mine back in the spring but continue to fight them. After getting my scope, I observed cysts on algae and other surfaces.

 

[Eddie Rogers]

Hey all,

i have been fighting dino's with elevated NO3 and PO4 plus a large UV sterilizer. It seems to only be keeping them at bay. I also plan to reboot my tank this winter. Does anyone know if corals dipped in Bayer or Coral RX will kill dinos?

 

[Beardo]

Hey all,

i have been fighting dino's with elevated NO3 and PO4 plus a large UV sterilizer. It seems to only be keeping them at bay. I also plan to reboot my tank this winter. Does anyone know if corals dipped in Bayer or Coral RX will kill dinos?

Coral RX does not, I believe the same is true for Bayer but I have not personally tried it.

 

[Cscultho]

Hey all,

i have been fighting dino's with elevated NO3 and PO4 plus a large UV sterilizer. It seems to only be keeping them at bay. I also plan to reboot my tank this winter. Does anyone know if corals dipped in Bayer or Coral RX will kill dinos?

I applaud your motivation to reboot me on the other hand would be very nervous about rebooting and dropping a ton of money and somehow reintroducing Dino's. I need to find a way to get my tank to a point where Dino's and me can agree on a happy median. I'm gonna try by once again removing 99% of my sand bed and wait much longer before I even consider adding sand again. And if I add sand again it will be dirty live sand.

 

[reeferfoxx]

and somehow reintroducing Dino's.

The majority of folks that started a tank with critter heavy live rock, properly cycled sand, and with little to no chemical filtration rarely if ever see dinos. Biodiversity plays a big roll here. On the other hand, folks participating in this thread have either started tank with dry rock or cured rock from LFS which isn't much more mature than say a tank cycled with dry rock a year ago. I think if anyone started with inadequate rock and struggle with nutrients, algae and other forms of issues, a reboot should happen. Reefing is supposed to be enjoyable not frustrating.

 

[tsav87]

The majority of folks that started a tank with critter heavy live rock, properly cycled sand, and with little to no chemical filtration rarely if ever see dinos. Biodiversity plays a big roll here. On the other hand, folks participating in this thread have either started tank with dry rock or cured rock from LFS which isn't much more mature than say a tank cycled with dry rock a year ago. I think if anyone started with inadequate rock and struggle with nutrients, algae and other forms of issues, a reboot should happen. Reefing is supposed to be enjoyable not frustrating.

I started my tank with dry rock. With the help of the good folks of this thread I have beat my dinos. 3ish weeks going strong without a trace!! No reboot required!!!

 

[Cscultho]

The majority of folks that started a tank with critter heavy live rock, properly cycled sand, and with little to no chemical filtration rarely if ever see dinos. Biodiversity plays a big roll here. On the other hand, folks participating in this thread have either started tank with dry rock or cured rock from LFS which isn't much more mature than say a tank cycled with dry rock a year ago. I think if anyone started with inadequate rock and struggle with nutrients, algae and other forms of issues, a reboot should happen. Reefing is supposed to be enjoyable not frustrating.

Don't disagree. I had a reef tank for many years without issues but the big difference from then and now is everything that went into my tank was live. Live rock and live sand straight off the boats from the ocean. Also another mistake I've made this last time is I used the same antibiotic as other to fight of bryopsis. Maybe this is what did me in? I hope somebody smarter than me will be able to find a cure for Dino's soon.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I started my tank with dry rock. With the help of the good folks of this thread I have beat my dinos. 3ish weeks going strong without a trace!! No reboot required!!!

I went 6 weeks dino free

 

[reeferfoxx]

Don't disagree. I had a reef tank for many years without issues but the big difference from then and now is everything that went into my tank was live. Live rock and live sand straight off the boats from the ocean. Also another mistake I've made this last time is I used the same antibiotic as other to fight of bryopsis. Maybe this is what did me in? I hope somebody smarter than me will be able to find a cure for Dino's soon.

You tried fluconozole for dinos?

 

[tsav87]

I went 6 weeks dino free

Did you dose phyto out of curiosity?