dinos/Algea problems that I can't solve

[reeferfoxx]

ok you guys ready for the A+++ video production? Hard to see but if you look in the bottom right of the shot you can see what looks like dino making circles. This was under 1200x zoom on my toy scope. Are they normally that small?

That little dino thing you see isn't anything to worry about. It's basically the common brown bio film we get on our tank glass. The blobish stuff and what's growing on your rocks is best compared to chrysophytes.

I battled chrysophytes for 6 months. At the end I figured out a quick way to get rid of them. I myself didn't use nutrients to remove them.

 

[mdd1986]

That little dino thing you see isn't anything to worry about. It's basically the common brown bio film we get on our tank glass. The blobish stuff and what's growing on your rocks is best compared to chrysophytes.

I battled chrysophytes for 6 months. At the end I figured out a quick way to get rid of them. I myself didn't use nutrients to remove them.

Thank you for the help! I'm ordering a UV and maintaining nutrients at this point. Should I stop adding the microbactor? I figured it would work on Chryosphytes also.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Thank you for the help! I'm ordering a UV and maintaining nutrients at this point. Should I stop adding the microbactor? I figured it would work on Chryosphytes also.

MB7 is just denitrification bacteria. I don't think it's necessary.

 

[mdd1986]

MB7 is just denitrification bacteria. I don't think it's necessary.

I'm using microbactor clean which is supposed to be more for "cleaning" your tank of algae and other nasties. Anyway I just finished a 3 day black out, lowered my lighting amount from 8 hours to 5 hours a day and have been keeping my NO3 around 5-10ppm, P04 around .05PPM. I have added a poly filter and black sponge filter and scrub the sand/rock every 5 to 7 days. I'm running GAC but no GFO. Should I run GFO? Any recommendations on anything else I should do?

 

[reeferfoxx]

I'm using microbactor clean which is supposed to be more for "cleaning" your tank of algae and other nasties. Anyway I just finished a 3 day black out, lowered my lighting amount from 8 hours to 5 hours a day and have been keeping my NO3 around 5-10ppm, P04 around .05PPM. I have added a poly filter and black sponge filter and scrub the sand/rock every 5 to 7 days. I'm running GAC but no GFO. Should I run GFO? Any recommendations on anything else I should do?

How are your coral looking?

 

[mdd1986]

How are your coral looking?

I took most of it out and put them into my frag tank just so they weren't stressed from the black out. I have a GSP colony and an a small acan piece in there. They look better than before the blackout. I would say they appear to be surviving but not necessarily thriving or dying. The stuff seems to be growing back but not nearly as fast and has more of greenish color on the rocks as opposed to brown.

 

[reeferfoxx]

The stuff seems to be growing back but not nearly as fast and has more of greenish color on the rocks as opposed to brown.

When my chrysos were gone, my rocks started turning green. I would keep doing what you are doing. If you dont see anymore change after a week or so, then we can do another manual removal, 3 day black out, and this time gfo.

 

[mdd1986]

When my chrysos were gone, my rocks started turning green. I would keep doing what you are doing. If you dont see anymore change after a week or so, then we can do another manual removal, 3 day black out, and this time gfo.

Awesome man. Thank you so much for your patience and help. I will keep you posted.

 

[mdd1986]

When my chrysos were gone, my rocks started turning green. I would keep doing what you are doing. If you dont see anymore change after a week or so, then we can do another manual removal, 3 day black out, and this time gfo.

sorry one more question. Do you think its worth it to buy a UV and put it on here? Or will it not do much for me in my case?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Do you think its worth it to buy a UV and put it on here? Or will it not do much for me in my case?

I couldn't tell you. I tried many thing but UV wasn't one of them. You could try a cheap one from Petsmart?

 

[mdd1986]

I couldn't tell you. I tried many thing but UV wasn't one of them. You could try a cheap one from Petsmart?

I was just going to bite the bullet an spend a $100 on a Aqua advantage 8 Watt UV since my tank is only 40 gallons. I guess its not a bad investment.

 

[Rakie]

So this is slightly controversial it seems, but personally, I've had great success with Metronidazole. Metronidazole is an antibacterial medication (or at least used for bacterial infections). It seemed to be the missing link in what killed MY dinos.

The thing to note here is there is no guaranteed cure for dinos, because each species of dinoflagellates reacts differently. I battled dinos for 6 months straight and while every little thing I did helped me out, what really solved the problem was Metronidazole. You can get metronidazole at fishlifeantibiotics.com or you can use Seachem Metroplex. They both can work. You just have to be diligent and not skim while using meds.

And again to reiterate -- this is not a silver bullet. It may work, it may not. But after battling for 6 months and trying everything I could, I absolutely believe it should be considered as an option -- as nothing is truly a silver bullet for dinos.

 

[Rakie]

I couldn't tell you. I tried many thing but UV wasn't one of them. You could try a cheap one from Petsmart?

The problem with the cheap ones from petsmart is they don't work. You really need a good one to make an impact :(

 

[reeferfoxx]

So this is slightly controversial it seems, but personally, I've had great success with Metronidazole. Metronidazole is an antibacterial medication (or at least used for bacterial infections). It seemed to be the missing link in what killed MY dinos.

The thing to note here is there is no guaranteed cure for dinos, because each species of dinoflagellates reacts differently. I battled dinos for 6 months straight and while every little thing I did helped me out, what really solved the problem was Metronidazole. You can get metronidazole at fishlifeantibiotics.com or you can use Seachem Metroplex. They both can work. You just have to be diligent and not skim while using meds.

And again to reiterate -- this is not a silver bullet. It may work, it may not. But after battling for 6 months and trying everything I could, I absolutely believe it should be considered as an option -- as nothing is truly a silver bullet for dinos.

It's chrysophytes not Dino's and metro doesn't work with chrysos, I tried it.

The problem with the cheap ones from petsmart is they don't work. You really need a good one to make an impact :(

I wish that were true but I used one for my dinos.

 

[Rakie]

It's chrysophytes not Dino's and metro doesn't work with chrysos, I tried it.


I wish that were true but I used one for my dinos.

I just went off the thread title saying dinos. And yeah, nothing is a sure thing with dinos, including UV. I know a guy running very nice top of the line UV and it doesn't help him at all -- Conversely, some people supposedly solved their problem with it.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I just went off the thread title saying dinos. And yeah, nothing is a sure thing with dinos, including UV. I know a guy running very nice top of the line UV and it doesn't help him at all -- Conversely, some people supposedly solved their problem with it.

Yeah. That's mostly because of the different strains. Ostreopsis can get wiped out in less than a week and then amphidinium doesn't respond to UV. Thankfully the OP posted a video not showing any aggressive common Dino's plaguing our tanks. His first picture shows the almost transparent mulm that chrysos is characterised by rather than the brown web or long strands of snot.

 

[taricha]

sorry one more question. Do you think its worth it to buy a UV and put it on here? Or will it not do much for me in my case?

I couldn't tell you. I tried many thing but UV wasn't one of them. You could try a cheap one from Petsmart?

In theory, yes it may. As far as I know UV hasn't been tried on chrysophytes...

regarding UV, although the ones we've seen under the scope are entirely motionless, locked in mucus blobs, and don't appear to migrate en masse like dinos do - several of the species in the papers posted have a motile phase with flagella. So it's possible, but not certain that UV could be helpful.

 

[mdd1986]

is this the one you are talking about?

https://www.petsmart.com/fish/food-...ne-internal-aquarium-uv-sterilizer-16387.html

 

[reeferfoxx]

is this the one you are talking about?

https://www.petsmart.com/fish/food-...ne-internal-aquarium-uv-sterilizer-16387.html

Yeah that's the one.

 

[mdd1986]

Ok guys long overdue update. I have been maintaining a .07PPM P04 level but having a hard time keeping my NO3 above 0PPM. I now have Green hair algae all over my tank. It appears the chrysophytes/dinos have been taken care of. How do I deal with the hair algae? Is this likely due to my NO3 being at zero?