Dinoflagellates?

[ddamerell]

Hi,

I've been dealing with an outbreak of something which has started to smoother corals and is forming a brown matt and has resisted Chemi Clean and Dr Time refresh and waste away. Guessing Dinos.

Any ideas? I've also had a green hair algae outbreak in my refugium. Which has pulled my nitrate down from about 10 to 3ppm

Thanks

 

[attiland]

Hi,

I've been dealing with an outbreak of something which has started to smoother corals and is forming a brown matt and has resisted Chemi Clean and Dr Time refresh and waste away. Guessing Dinos.

Any ideas? I've also had a green hair algae outbreak in my refugium. Which has pulled my nitrate down from about 10 to 3ppm

Thanks

Have look at this doc attached

 

[taricha]

Any ideas?

1) are they motionless under the scope?
2) can we get a pic of what the brown slimy part looks like in the tank?

 

[ddamerell]

Have look at this doc attached

Thanks for the document I'll take look

 

[ddamerell]

1) are they motionless under the scope?
2) can we get a pic of what the brown slimy part looks like in the tank?

Thanks for the quick response.

No motion and here's a video (to my eye this is brown although not to my phone).

 

[attiland]

Thanks for the quick response.

No motion and here's a video (to my eye this is brown although not to my phone).

They do look Dinos however not the type I have experience firs hand so I pass the ID part.
Let’s see if others can help with it? @ScottB @taricha

 

[taricha]

Thanks for the quick response.

No motion and here's a video (to my eye this is brown although not to my phone).

I'm going to say this is not one of our problem dinos. It seems to be much more like chrysophytes.

 

[ScottB]

I'm going to say this is not one of our problem dinos. It seems to be much more like chrysophytes.

Have to agree. Do you know what level of magnification this is? Like 1200X? When removed from the water, is it a gelatinous goop texture?

If yes, congratulations. You might be qualified to join the super-cool-kids-club. Join me and a very select group of others over here if you like. The initiation rites are odious but survivable. We think.

Symbiodinium. Got any treatment ideas?

While it looks kinda similar to ostreopsis in the tank, it is very different under the scope. They are VERY small and completely motionless. They are easily basted or siphoned away but return the next day. They don't stick to coral flesh, but do stick to everything else. I FEEL like they are...

www.reef2reef.com

Some of the pics may be familiar. At the very least you will know what DID NOT work. At best, maybe you will figure it out and share your solution with the other cool kids.

 

[ddamerell]

Have to agree. Do you know what level of magnification this is? Like 1200X? When removed from the water, is it a gelatinous goop texture?

If yes, congratulations. You might be qualified to join the super-cool-kids-club. Join me and a very select group of others over here if you like. The initiation rites are odious but survivable. We think.

Symbiodinium. Got any treatment ideas?

While it looks kinda similar to ostreopsis in the tank, it is very different under the scope. They are VERY small and completely motionless. They are easily basted or siphoned away but return the next day. They don't stick to coral flesh, but do stick to everything else. I FEEL like they are...

www.reef2reef.com

Some of the pics may be familiar. At the very least you will know what DID NOT work. At best, maybe you will figure it out and share your solution with the other cool kids.

Microscope was at 640x but with some zoom from my camera. The material holds together reasonable well out of water but can be broken up quite easily.

Thanks for the link I'll try to post in there as I go but for now I'm trying DINO X and a 6 hour light cycle.

Any recommendations on a better microscope mine tops out at 640x which seems to low to reveal much in the way of cell structure for easy identification or any stains that are helpful

 

[ScottB]

Microscope was at 640x but with some zoom from my camera. The material holds together reasonable well out of water but can be broken up quite easily.

Thanks for the link I'll try to post in there as I go but for now I'm trying DINO X and a 6 hour light cycle.

Any recommendations on a better microscope mine tops out at 640x which seems to low to reveal much in the way of cell structure for easy identification or any stains that are helpful

I will be curious how the DINO-X works out for you.
As to microscopes, this brand is fairly popular around here and is the one I use. A smartphone cradle is a helpful addition as well but check the reviews thoroughly. Mine is kinda junk.

 

[ddamerell]

So far I've done the following with good initial results on my 250 litre system

Day 0 12.5ml DINO-X dosed before lights out.
UV turned off, Carbon off,
Algae in refrugium isolated from system,
Lights set to a 6 hour cycle
Day 1 -
Day 2 - 12.5ml DINO-X dosed before lights out
Day 3 -
Day 4 - 12ml Coral AB at start of day
12.5ml DINO-X dosed before lights out
Day 5 - Lights back to normal 12 hr Cycle
Coral feeding back to normal
Carbon back on
Algae back to refrugium
Dosing small amounts of Kalkwasser

By day 3 all signs of this golden type algae had vanished with no loses of cleanup crew. Though all areas of SPS which had this algae on their surface have bleached where it was. At least I think it's bleaching rather than tissue lose.

Fully expecting it to come back but wanted to give the corals a rest from the treatment and meanwhile I'm trying to keep my nitrate a little higher as I think driving that down too quickly might have been the cause