Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

fluidimagery

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I have a frag tank and DT plumbed into the same sump. The frag tank is new and includes only frag racks and the Orphek V4; it broke out with Dinos immediately after launch. On the other hand, my DT is established with over 100 lbs of Florida Gulf Live Rock, Live Sand, and running Ocean Revive LED; it never had Dinos in all its history.

However, after dosing DinoX (for 8 rounds) and doing a water change to reverse, my DT now has Dinos for the first time, so the lights might not be the culprit. I am wondering if my DT (with the live rock) had a greater pods, biodiversity, and microbes population - and the DinoX wiped some of them out. As much as this sucks now, this could be a clue.

Would sufficient Live Rock be a good defense against Dinos?
I do think the live rock in the DT was your defense against it. I made the mistake of starting my tank out with all base rock, the tank is closing in on it's 2yr mark which is what I've read takes for base rock to fully enrich.

Possibly the DinoX is to blame in killing off a lot of good stuff in the DT and limiting it's defense against the Dinos.

Can't explain why the frag tank on the same system got the Dinos in the first place. I know they are present in just about every fish tank but are naturally controlled if there is enough biodiversity on the live rocks. Possibly light intensity of the Orphek and new setup of the frag racks?
 

ACF930

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I do think the live rock in the DT was your defense against it. I made the mistake of starting my tank out with all base rock, the tank is closing in on it's 2yr mark which is what I've read takes for base rock to fully enrich.

Possibly the DinoX is to blame in killing off a lot of good stuff in the DT and limiting it's defense against the Dinos.

Can't explain why the frag tank on the same system got the Dinos in the first place. I know they are present in just about every fish tank but are naturally controlled if there is enough biodiversity on the live rocks. Possibly light intensity of the Orphek and new setup of the frag racks?
When I had my Orphek V4 at about 90% on all channels, the Dino outbreak was a lot more serious, so I do think light intensity/quality contributes; this makes sense since Ostreopsis is photosynthetic.

Frag tank = low biodiversity + high light quality
vs.
Display tank = high biodiversity + low light quality

Since the Display tank now has Dinos (with the original lighting), I'm going to assume that biodiversity plays a stronger factor than lighting.

It would have been interesting to see if adding Live Rock in the frag tank environment would have caused the Dinos to subside.
 

Cstar_BC

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Would dinos in a brand new system not slowly die out as more diversity was added .

my tank is brand new and started with dry rock - I am ghost feeding and my cycle is complete - would adding fish and CUC not slowly remove the “clean water” causing the outbreak ?
 

Galaxis

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Hi! I started my tank 3 month ago and have now a Dino problem.
They are in the sand and on the rocks. I am not sure about the type.
The sand looks in the morning cleaner, so maybe ostreopsis. But under the microscope the move more like amphidinium, i think.
Can please someone help me with more knowledge than me?
Thank you in advance!



IMG_3446.JPG IMG_3449.JPG
 

Shaun_in_Cali

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I have had success treating dynos through the combined acts of adding a UV steriliser, dosing phosphate (and removing some bio media to increase nitrate). I also turned down the white light on my Kessils from 60% at peak intensity (follwing a ramp up and a ramp down) to 50%. This thread is primarily responsible for my success; so to all who have contributed - Thankyou!!

I have had Cyano come back in its place however I feel that I can get on top here by getting my nitrates down. I have been playing with nutrients slowly and feel that I have already slowed its growth. I'm currently aiming for a band between 0.05-0.1 Phosphate and 1-2 Nitrate but am prepared to trial and error these numbers over the next several months to see what works for my tank. For me the nutrient control will be done largely through balanced dosing (phosphate) and addition or removal of ceramic media (nitrate).

I have also noted a significant improvement in the colour of some of my corals from when I was at 0 for both Nitrate and Phosphate - for example the stylophora, pavona and forest green and green slime acros have far better colouration and or growth. Although my orange montipora digitata which was going gangbusters before my tank nutrients disappeared is still struggling - limited PE - and my neon green of the same type is flourishing.. go figure..
 

drawman

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Tank has taken a real downturn with all acro frags dying on me. A small stylophora frag is barely hanging on as well and may be toast. UV sterilizer took a lot longer to ship out but should have it up and running this week! I’ve never really liked dosing NO3/PO4 for acros but that’s just my experience so I’m not sure if it is the dinos that took them out, dosing, or more likely a mix of things.
 

ScottB

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Good evening,
I have some doubts about the filter floss! Idon't knowing perfectly the language and I would not like to have misunderstood, how to do. Can you put a picture?

Wanting to add pods, which are the best species to be inserted against the dino? (we do not find products like 5280 pods, but the individual species are found)

last question, what do you mean by "turkey baster"?

Sorry not a great picture of my filter floss placement. It is the blue and white color filter media. Place it on the glass in a high flow and high light area of the tank. Several dino species prefer these areas and will attach to the media and not your corals. Each night, remove and rinse the media (floss).

Also an image of a "turkey baster" the idea is to blow the dinos off of your corals so they are removed or killed in a filter sock or the UV sterilizer.

This helps remove dinos from your tank unless you have a dino species that prefers to live in the sand and cannot be killed by UV and are more difficult to remove. I hope this helps you. You are NOT alone in your struggle either way.

IMG-4177.jpg IMG-4178.jpg
 

ScottB

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Tank has taken a real downturn with all acro frags dying on me. A small stylophora frag is barely hanging on as well and may be toast. UV sterilizer took a lot longer to ship out but should have it up and running this week! I’ve never really liked dosing NO3/PO4 for acros but that’s just my experience so I’m not sure if it is the dinos that took them out, dosing, or more likely a mix of things.

Sorry to hear the acros are getting hit. You are likely right -- it is the combo of conditions that can take them down.

Get that UV running, keep some nutrient and build it back. There are some mistakes we make that we will NOT repeat! For me, it is undetectable nutrient. Never again. Soooo much easier to manage the opposite. Hang in.
 

Brandon McHenry

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Hi all,

Dinos appear to be popping up in my tank and I was hoping to get help with a positive ID and a direction for the treatment.

Here is the pic I took this afternoon.

56B1C693-E630-46A1-BE5C-76A1EA63C4EE.jpeg


Thanks for any info! Looking to get ahead of this plague.
 

dwest

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Tank has taken a real downturn with all acro frags dying on me. A small stylophora frag is barely hanging on as well and may be toast. UV sterilizer took a lot longer to ship out but should have it up and running this week! I’ve never really liked dosing NO3/PO4 for acros but that’s just my experience so I’m not sure if it is the dinos that took them out, dosing, or more likely a mix of things.
They wiped out my sps a couple years back. Sorry. i Think all you can do is make sure you change GAC weekly for now and crank that UV when you get it. I dont think dosing normal amounts of nitrates and phosphates would kill them. But who knows...
 

dwest

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Hi all,

Dinos appear to be popping up in my tank and I was hoping to get help with a positive ID and a direction for the treatment.

Here is the pic I took this afternoon.

56B1C693-E630-46A1-BE5C-76A1EA63C4EE.jpeg


Thanks for any info! Looking to get ahead of this plague.
Ostreopsis.

Long term, make sure to have measurable nitrates and phosphates. UV typically help a lot with these also. You’ll want at least 1 watt UV per every 3 gallons of tank water, run in and out of DT. flow about 1-3 tank volumes per hour through it.
 

Brandon McHenry

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Ostreopsis.

Long term, make sure to have measurable nitrates and phosphates. UV typically help a lot with these also. You’ll want at least 1 watt UV per every 3 gallons of tank water, run in and out of DT. flow about 1-3 tank volumes per hour through it.
Thank you for the quick reply! That’s what I was leaning towards too. Can the nutrients be maintained through feeding? I have 4 fish in a 40 gallon AIO that are fed 4xday with pellets and once a day with a mix of about 12 different frozen and liquid foods. Or is it better to go the inorganic route and dose? I will also start doing research on getting a UV sterilizer.
 

dwest

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Thank you for the quick reply! That’s what I was leaning towards too. Can the nutrients be maintained through feeding? I have 4 fish in a 40 gallon AIO that are fed 4xday with pellets and once a day with a mix of about 12 different frozen and liquid foods. Or is it better to go the inorganic route and dose? I will also start doing research on getting a UV sterilizer.
I would use inorganic methods to get above zero, then use feeding to maintain and add more inorganics if you need to. Do you know nitrates and phosphates now? Do you do anything like gfo, carbon dose, etc. to remove them?
 

Brandon McHenry

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I would use inorganic methods to get above zero, then use feeding to maintain and add more inorganics if you need to. Do you know nitrates and phosphates now? Do you do anything like gfo, carbon dose, etc. to remove them?
Ok I have some Neonitro and Neophos I can use. My salifert nitrate tear just ran out last week and need to get a new one. NO3 was 0.5ppm last week and phosphate was 0.01ppm on Hanna ULR Phoshorus tested today. I don’t have GFO or carbon dose but I do have a few Brightwell Bio bricks (all 3 types for ammonia, nitrate and phosphate). Other than that it’s live rock, sand and skimmer.
 

dwest

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Ok I have some Neonitro and Neophos I can use. My salifert nitrate tear just ran out last week and need to get a new one. NO3 was 0.5ppm last week and phosphate was 0.01ppm on Hanna ULR Phoshorus tested today. I don’t have GFO or carbon dose but I do have a few Brightwell Bio bricks (all 3 types for ammonia, nitrate and phosphate). Other than that it’s live rock, sand and skimmer.
I had to remove my media (siporax in my case). I would consider removing bricks, but unsure really.
 

Brandon McHenry

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I had to remove my media (siporax in my case). I would consider removing bricks, but unsure really.
I guess I can start with dosing first and see the response before pulling the bricks. What levels do you recommend for beating the Dinos?
 

dwest

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I guess I can start with dosing first and see the response before pulling the bricks. What levels do you recommend for beating the Dinos?
I like your plan.

The big dino thread recommend 10 ppm nitrates and 0.1 ppm phosphate. Many use those numbers as the target when fighting dinos. . I believe those values stemmed from the error associated with common test kits. I had dinos a year or so ago and I just make sure my nitrates have some pink, even just a little. I like my phosphates at 0.02 or above, just to be sure I’m not at zero. I use the same test kits as you.
 

Brandon McHenry

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I like your plan.

The big dino thread recommend 10 ppm nitrates and 0.1 ppm phosphate. Many use those numbers as the target when fighting dinos. . I believe those values stemmed from the error associated with common test kits. I had dinos a year or so ago and I just make sure my nitrates have some pink, even just a little. I like my phosphates at 0.02 or above, just to be sure I’m not at zero. I use the same test kits as you.
Thanks for all of the help! I’ll start slow with the dosing and see what kind of response I get with the dinos.
 

nick9one1

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I've just discovered a mistake I made after moving my ro filter a month or two ago - I installed the restrictor on the waste water line in reverse.

Does anyone know what kind of impact this has on the ro water quality?

This seem to coincide with the dino outbreak I've been experiencing.
 

mattzang

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well.. not a thread i was hoping to have to visit, but i think i have acquired me some dinos..

i do run GFO and did recently add a new bag, but:

IMG_0880.JPG


IMG_0881.JPG


looks like my phosphates are absurdly high if anything, not lacking there. perhaps out of balance with nitrates, though.

beyond that i've noticed my LPS especially seem to be having some issues. my alkalinity consumption has completely ceased. and what's even more bizarre, my mom has a tank at her house and i make the water for her tank. her tank is having issues too, although not with dinos. seems to be bothering LPS and softies more than anything, is that consistent with dinos?

the dino looking stuff i'm seeing is kind of a reddish slime kind of looking deal, i turkey bastered it and did a water change, but did miss some so here's a couple pics of the stuff on my gyre cord

IMG_0882.JPG


IMG_0883.JPG


sorry for super blues, i'll get some better pics tomorrow if needed. but it has the slime with bubbles in it, so from what i can gather that's dinos of some sort?

i did add a poly filter as i'm worried about metals or something in the water, and i'm going to remove the bag of GFO. i also used to carbon dose (homemade DIY nopox), but have stopped that. anything else i should try to start off?

oh and for some reason my skimmer is basically unable to create foam now? what the heck? i'm at a loss on this one. it's like my tank is too clean, but that's never been my issue before. i've always had pretty high phosphates

trying to think of anything else new. i did buy and dose vibrant for the first time recently, there was a bit of hair algae going on so i thought i'd try to clear that up. does that stuff cause dinos?
 
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