Dinos and phytoplankton

[malcb76]

I am dealing with Dino’s for the last couple months. The kind that disappear at night. I have lowered the white spectrum on my light and decreased the intensity, increased my phosphate and nitrates and vaccumed some of it out. All the while I was dosing phytoplankton once a day just to feed the coral and pods. I stopped doing photo lately but should I continue? Is it helpful to fight against dinos or does it make the problem worse?

 

[PharmrJohn]

A few questions. How old is your tank? Hoe big is your tank? And do you have any corals? You have the good kind of Dinos, BTW. Those are called Ostreopsis. They are VERY sensitive to UV. If you to get a UV set up, it'd likely be gone in 3 or 4 days.

 

[malcb76]

I am dealing with Dino’s for the last couple months. The kind that disappear at night. I have lowered the white spectrum on my light and decreased the intensity, increased my phosphate and nitrates and vaccumed some of it out. All the while I was dosing phytoplankton once a day just to feed the coral and pods. I stopped doing photo lately but should I continue? Is it helpful to fight against dinos or does it make the problem worse?

Tank size/age: 110g approx 8-9 months old
Livestock: 4 clowns, 3 tangs, 6line Wrasse, Foxface, dry Marco rock
Salinity: 1.024-1.925
Nitrates:8-10
Phosphates: .09
Lights:3 XR15 Radion Blues
Filtration: skimmer, Fleece roll 1200

 

[malcb76]

A few questions. How old is your tank? Hoe big is your tank? And do you have any corals? You have the good kind of Dinos, BTW. Those are called Ostreopsis. They are VERY sensitive to UV. If you to get a UV set up, it'd likely be gone in 3 or 4 days.

I have corals, beginner level no Acros. Mostly softies and LPS. No UV yet but I am waiting for a good sale in the coming weeks. For my 140 total gallon set up what size UV do you recommend?

 

[PharmrJohn]

Let me get back to you on that (if someone doesn't beat me to it). Gotta look that up. I have an idea, but it may be overkill for your system (57W).

 

[PharmrJohn]

I have corals, beginner level no Acros. Mostly softies and LPS. No UV yet but I am waiting for a good sale in the coming weeks. For my 140 total gallon set up what size UV do you recommend?

I'm having a little difficulty with a recommendation. I have a chart for Aqua UV, but I'm having difficulty interpreting the GPH required for success. I need to really look into this. If I were you, I'd post a thread on the issue.

 

[Ziggy17]

I am dealing with Dino’s for the last couple months. The kind that disappear at night. I have lowered the white spectrum on my light and decreased the intensity, increased my phosphate and nitrates and vaccumed some of it out. All the while I was dosing phytoplankton once a day just to feed the coral and pods. I stopped doing photo lately but should I continue? Is it helpful to fight against dinos or does it make the problem worse?

To answer your question, you can keep phyto going. It kinda helps with the right combination of things, but by itself it’s not going to make a huge improvement or hurt you either.
Get a kids microscope that gets you 400x magnification. Find out what Dino you have first. LCA will also disappear into the sandbEd at night, not just osteoporosis.

Even if it’s osteoporosis, just adding a UV will not work efficiently. You have to have the proper flow through it and it should be a closed system in the DT, not inline between the sump and DT.

When I get home I’ll attach a doc for you to read. It’s a Dealing with Dino bible.