Dinos Getting Bad

[NigeltheBold]

I've been battling what I assume to be Dinos for several weeks now. Brown, stringy/slimy stuff that loves the sand and coats live rock with bubbles inside of it. I've tried running my skimmer more, lowering nitrates, changing carbon, using Chemi Pure Elite, and even dosing Vibrant and Ocean Magik to increase biodiversity. I've been using vibrant at the recommended dose for about a month, and haven't seen any improvements. I've been using Ocean Magik phytoplankton for about two weeks without any improvement. I can't siphon it out because it rips up the top layer of sand with it. I'm not sure what to do next. Salinity is 1.024, pH is 8.2, ammonia is zero, nitrite is zero, nitrate is 5ppm, phosphate is zero, alk is 8.1, calcium 445, magnesium 1700. Corals and clams seem happy, and my cleanup crew seems fine, but they don't touch the stuff. It's getting worse every day. Any suggestions?

 

[Idoc]

First, you want to make sure it is dinos you are battling and not cyano, which can come in many colors as well. If you can get a cheap microscope or take a sample to a friend, that will help to confirm what you are fighting. If it is dinos, you need to know the type which will tailor your attack. But, having nitrates and no phosphates in the system is also a trigger for cyano to occur...which makes mats on the sand/rocks and bubbles as well. Plus, you're using Vibrant...which seems to lead to cyano outbreaks and sometimes for dino outbreaks...I'd stop using it in this situation.

But, you need to vacuum that stuff out of your tank. Hook up a 1/2" diameter hose to drain into a filter sock in your sump and vacuum with the other end of the hose. You can hold it above the sand and it will pull off the top layer and maybe some sand as well. But, you are collecting it in your sock in the sump so it can be cleaned and returned to the tank later...and you don't have to worry about losing all the water. This will get that junk out of your tank for the time being.

 

[NigeltheBold]

Thanks for the reply. I figured it was Dino's because it's really stringy. But I'll see if I can get ahold of a microscope. Are there any ways to test without a microscope?

I'm also reading that having zero phosphate in the tank isn't actually a good thing. I'm also seeing that raising pH to 8.4 can help, if it's Dino's.

Here's another pic:

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Let me tell you how I went from this

To this in less than 1 month

Photos taken at lights on so dont judge the closed coral lol

What I did:
1) uv steralizer paired with 1ml/gal peroxide every night after light out
2) 3 day blackout to weaken the dino to have it freefloat in the tank to be eaten by the steralizer
3) no water changes! How I cleaned detritus and visible dino out was filter the entire tank through a 2micron sock ($10 on amazon) and then pour the filtered water back into the tank
4) once you are sure the dino is gone dont do water changes until you see other forms of algae grow and continue uv and peroxide until you get to this point.

After running this treatment my tank now looks happier than ever!
Side note:this was osteropsis dinoflagellates I cant guarentee the success with other forms of dino. Persistence is key

 

[NigeltheBold]

Thanks for the reply. A couple of questions: will peroxide hurt the fish, coral, inverts or biofilter? And will a blackout affect the corals in any way?

 

[ScottB]

I can't speak to peroxide dosing. I've never been able to understand under what conditions it works, nor why.

Here is a link to a method of confirming dinos without a microscope. Only with a microscope (400X) can you know for sure which species you have (and therefor which tools you should use to treat.)

Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

@mcarroll I am linking a thread I started that noticed my ORP was super low and I thought that was probably due to dinos. Anyone else notice the same thing? https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/can-dinos-cause-really-low-orp.325625/#post-4035164 I'll continue updating there.

www.reef2reef.com

There are many dino species in the wild, but really only 5 that are common in aquarium settings. 4 out of 5 are treated similarly:
a) You must elevate PO4 and NO3 to allow "good" organisms to outcompete. Stop GFO or Chemipure elite. Stop Carbon dosing or Vibrant. Stop aminos. Skim very dry.
b) Run a UV: 1 watt per 3 gallons. To and from the DISPLAY (not sump). Slow rate like 3X tank volume per hour. (One sand based species does not go into the water column (large cell amphidinium) so the UV cannot kill them.
c) Physical removal. Turkey baste them into the water to be killed by UV frequently. Vacuum them into a sock.
d) Most species are toxic, so you should run GAC. Some also have a strong odor that this reduces a little.

The link above is the main dino thread. Page 1 of it kinda lays out the general dino info, and how to avoid it in the future.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Thanks for the reply. A couple of questions: will peroxide hurt the fish, coral, inverts or biofilter? And will a blackout affect the corals in any way?

Peroxide will not hurt any of those if you keep to 1ml per gallon. I've never had any reaction to peroxide a lot if people swear by peroxide dosing.
You will be suprised how happy your corals still look after a 3 day blackout in the wild there are storms that black out the sun for days and days so a 3 day blackout will produce little to no stress on your corals.
Just slowly turn your lights on as to not scare the crap out if your fish

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

I have heard anemones have no tolerance toward peroxide so if you have nems maybe skip on it I'm not a scientist so research is key just a fellow hobbyists two cents

 

[NigeltheBold]

I don't have any nems right now but I might want one in the future. Should I avoid peroxide for now if I ever plan on having one? And if not, can I just use peroxide from the pharmacy?

 

[CoralClasher]

I had really good luck with this method.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

I don't have any nems right now but I might want one in the future. Should I avoid peroxide for now if I ever plan on having one? And if not, can I just use peroxide from the pharmacy?

Peroxide breaks down very quickly so no worries about the future. And you can use pharmacy 3% peroxide