Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[Reef and Dive]

I went back to 100% for all but white and added that back after a couple days. For what it's worth, my dinos were even worse ~4 weeks after my blackout so ymmv.

Dinos can surelly come back after a blackout, and very often do when it is the only action taken, reason why I think it helps when they are neraly gone, but there’s no reason (scientifically speaking and experimentally doing) to think they can worsen BECAUSE of the blackout.

 

[Mattyreefs]

Dinos can surelly come back after a blackout, and very often do when it is the only action taken, reason why I think it helps when they are neraly gone, but there’s no reason (scientifically speaking and experimentally doing) to think they can worsen BECAUSE of the blackout.

No, of course. I wasn't suggesting that. Just cautioning that it might seem like a quick fix when they're all gone when the lights come on but that's probably not the case.

 

[Biff0rz]

@Reef and Dive
I just checked the tank, I have 12hrs left, and there's still dino on the gha and the gha is dead (mostly). If I turn the lights on won't the dino bloom? What steps should I take next? I was going to blow off the rocks. Should I do another dose of fluconazole? I'll have the uv running (as I have) and it's clear of detritus.

 

[Reef and Dive]

@Reef and Dive
I just checked the tank, I have 12hrs left, and there's still dino on the gha and the gha is dead (mostly). If I turn the lights on won't the dino bloom? What steps should I take next? I was going to blow off the rocks. Should I do another dose of fluconazole? I'll have the uv running (as I have) and it's clear of detritus.

After the blackout keep blowing the rocks, keep nutrients low but always detectable and dose competitive bacteria often….

 

[ScottB]

@Reef and Dive
I just checked the tank, I have 12hrs left, and there's still dino on the gha and the gha is dead (mostly). If I turn the lights on won't the dino bloom? What steps should I take next? I was going to blow off the rocks. Should I do another dose of fluconazole? I'll have the uv running (as I have) and it's clear of detritus.

I am not doing a good job of keeping track of sequencing in your case, but just to clarify that Fluconazole only works under a full light cycle. So don't mix the two.

 

[Reef and Dive]

I am not doing a good job of keeping track of sequencing in your case, but just to clarify that Fluconazole only works under a full light cycle. So don't mix the two.

He’s at the end of many weeks. The blackout was a dino knockdown measure as they were reducing…

 

[Biff0rz]

I am not doing a good job of keeping track of sequencing in your case, but just to clarify that Fluconazole only works under a full light cycle. So don't mix the two.

He’s at the end of many weeks. The blackout was a dino knockdown measure as they were reducing…

Correct. I did 2 rounds of fluconazole. After that I did a 72hr blackout which is done right about now. I have no3 and po4 for sure lol. I guess I need to buy some bacteria asap.

 

[Biff0rz]

After the blackout keep blowing the rocks, keep nutrients low but always detectable and dose competitive bacteria often….

Is microbacter 7 a good option?

 

[Reef and Dive]

Is microbacter 7 a good option?

Yeah. Dr Tim’s Waste Away, Fauna Bacto Therapy, MB 7, Live Rock Enhance are good examples…

 

[Biff0rz]

Yeah. Dr Tim’s Waste Away, Fauna Bacto Therapy, MB 7, Live Rock Enhance are good examples…

Won't the UV destroy it? btw, any advice on how much of mb7 to dose?

 

[ScottB]

Won't the UV destroy it? btw, any advice on how much of mb7 to dose?

Whatever bacteria goes through the UV will in fact die. When you dose, you could shut it down for a short time and allow the bacteria to settle on the surfaces. The bacteria reside as a film more so than swimming around.

As to dosage, I'd just go by whatever the directions say.

 

[Biff0rz]

Whatever bacteria goes through the UV will in fact die. When you dose, you could shut it down for a short time and allow the bacteria to settle on the surfaces. The bacteria reside as a film more so than swimming around.

As to dosage, I'd just go by whatever the directions say.

Ok got it, how long does it need about?

 

[ScottB]

Ok got it, how long does it need about?

Not sure we know. An hour maybe? Some folks also remove their socks for a day. I am not sure how much it all matters as you are repeatedly dosing, so I wouldn't overthink it.

 

[Reef and Dive]

Won't the UV destroy it? btw, any advice on how much of mb7 to dose?

Yes it destroys a good part. One option is to keep UV off for some hours during daytime and dose in this period. Each bacteria has it’s own dosage, you can even overdose without issues…

 

[Aqua Man]

MicroBacter 7 Complete Bioculture for Marine & Freshwater (2L - 67 oz) - Brightwell

Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

Why do we want add a product like this? I have used it too, but started to question why? I don’t want to reduce my nutrients. That’s how I ended up with Dino in the first place!

We want more competition? How does bacteria out compete Dino? Why not add copepods of different species and phytoplankton for competition?

We know skimming removes nutrients. I removed my skimmer. Dino go swimming when the lights come on, so my UV comes on when lights come on. Will extend the life of the bulb.

THANK YOU very much to all who have contributed to this thread!!! I’ve beaten Dino in 2 of my tanks in a couple of weeks both times. All the info I needed is here in this thread.

 

[reeftivo]

MicroBacter 7 Complete Bioculture for Marine & Freshwater (2L - 67 oz) - Brightwell

Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

Why do we want add a product like this? I have used it too, but started to question why? I don’t want to reduce my nutrients. That’s how I ended up with Dino in the first place!

We want more competition? How does bacteria out compete Dino? Why not add copepods of different species and phytoplankton for competition?

We know skimming removes nutrients. I removed my skimmer. Dino go swimming when the lights come on, so my UV comes on when lights come on. Will extend the life of the bulb.

THANK YOU very much to all who have contributed to this thread!!! I’ve beaten Dino in 2 of my tanks in a couple of weeks both times. All the info I needed is here in this thread.

I knocked mine out too using a combination of no WC's, adding live pods and live phyto regularly and running UV. I kept a bottle of dinoX just in case but thankfully did not need it.

 

[Biff0rz]

Yes it destroys a good part. One option is to keep UV off for some hours during daytime and dose in this period. Each bacteria has it’s own dosage, you can even overdose without issues…

So some dino is starting to show up on the rocks / dead gha. Uv is going. Bacteria is being added. Not sure what else to do?

 

[Reef and Dive]

So some dino is starting to show up on the rocks / dead gha. Uv is going. Bacteria is being added. Not sure what else to do?

Now it is just time to keep good measures (detectable nutrients, good bacteria, manual cleaning / blowing affected areas often, good pH - higher better) for a really long time, but keep in mind every tank has dinos here and there, same goes for diatoms, cyano, green algae. It is just a matter of not letting it become a dominant pest. Remember the other reef inhabitants need your attention too.
It is a long term battle really…

Do you have a pic of the worst moment of the tank and a recent one to compare?

 

[Reef and Dive]

MicroBacter 7 Complete Bioculture for Marine & Freshwater (2L - 67 oz) - Brightwell

Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

Why do we want add a product like this? I have used it too, but started to question why? I don’t want to reduce my nutrients. That’s how I ended up with Dino in the first place!

We want more competition? How does bacteria out compete Dino? Why not add copepods of different species and phytoplankton for competition?

We know skimming removes nutrients. I removed my skimmer. Dino go swimming when the lights come on, so my UV comes on when lights come on. Will extend the life of the bulb.

THANK YOU very much to all who have contributed to this thread!!! I’ve beaten Dino in 2 of my tanks in a couple of weeks both times. All the info I needed is here in this thread.

It is a delicate balance:

Dinos actually do not thrive from zero nutrients, they do from scarce competition to the point when their toxins start to inhibit other microbial life. That occurs frequently, but not exclusively, in “zero” nutrient conditions in reef tanks…

So keeping up with a good competition is important. The best info we have unfortunately are the massive reports of what worked and what did not and what we tested ourselves over time (eg dosing phyto was a great promising idea, but did not help anyone and I even made an experiment of dosing large amounts for days without any change). Pods eat dinos, but not to the point of helping with the problem and they too often die from ingesting / toxins. Want another predator? Waminoa acoel just loves to eat dinos, but nobody that I know have been brave enough to introduce it on purpose to a system…

How do we know MB7 helps? Because long ago many people solved the problem continuously dosing it (exclusively at the time, not what we suggest today). So these days we just include it among “possible good measure”.

There’s some scientific info that we put together with anecdotal reports to help us understand it.

Those infos put us in a dark zone of knowledge? I believe not: as I’ve made some non-scientific experiments to show (sorry, in Portuguese) to people here in Brazil: 1 propagating dinos implementing most of the risk factors we know; 2 then removing it, knowing their genus, and taking multiple attitudes that were well known to help…

 

[Mattyreefs]

Not sure I'll ever feel like I'm done fighting dinos but I feel pretty confident in saying that I'm dino (and cyano) free for about two weeks. Continuing to dose mb7, waste away and spongexcel daily. My plan was to keep dosing until I finish what I have but I'll be away for 5 days next week and though I'll have someone watching the tank, I'm thinking about using it as a trial to see what happens when I stop.

Lots of diatoms in substrate but I can't find any dinos. All cuc is cleaning every surface but I'm dosing a lot of spongexcel to keep silicates between 1.8 and 2. Silicates drop all the way under .5 if I miss a day.

Haven't run UV in two weeks but I'm not sure how much it was helping anyway.

I know it's a huge no-no when fighting dinos but I've also been running phosguard for about 10 days. No WCs maybe caught up to me but I'm not sure why nitrates continue to stay so steady while phosphate climbs---maybe all the bacteria dosing? I test both every single day so I can quickly pull it if it drops but so far I'm seeing no negatives or setbacks.