Dino's, how do you know when they are gone!

[Clownfishy]

As per subject, I know they never go completely but how do you know when you can start getting back to running your tank normally. So I am still dosing MicroBacter7 daily, running a UV 24/7, dosing phosphates etc but for those that have been through this, how did you know when you could stop being obsessed with Dino's? I have started doing tiny water changes and all seems OK but I am literally scared to do anything else just incase they appear again!

 

[saltyhog]

I feel your pain!

I think you can go by how your corals look. When you can't see any visible sign of the dinos and your corals are opening,growing and colorful you know you've turned the corner. Unfortunately that may take quite some time to happen after the dinos are whipped. As long as your water changes and other maintenance aren't bottoming out your nutrients I think it's ok to go back to a more normal schedule. Unfortunately, I think for me UV is going to be a permanent thing.

Interested to see what the experts think.

 

[TessGlo]

To help remove dinos I hung a fluffy old filter sock directly in my display, in pathway of high flow, the dinos loved to stick to it more than anything else. When I stopped seeing any dinos on the sock I felt I was out of the woods. The contrast of the white sock really showed that even though I didn't see dinos on the rockwork etc, they were still present. I posted a photo here https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/trick-to-capture-dinoflagellates-in-tank-w-photos.493691/

Interested what others say bc I lived in fear I would trigger an outbreak again. I guess like anything with reefing, go very slowly back to your normal routine?

 

[Clownfishy]

It is certainly nerve wrecking! I am doing 0.5litre water changes daily in my 180litre reef and the corals look all the better for it. Watching the rocks like a hawk! Will continue to add bacteria daily for a long time to come and I do like the idea of running the UV for a while yet. I brought a cheap one some may invest is something a bit more rugged.

 

[Dave1987]

Had dinos. And cant be bothered by them.

The trick is to get as much bacteria in there as you can and keep them alive. If your po4 and no3 gets to low these bacteria die off again. So you need to forcefully raise them. Keep adding bacteria. The best ones are that smell like a sewer

This also eliminates cyano. If youve got a good supliment, you will see a noticable result in a week.

 

[Entz]

I thought I beat mine till I looked at a water sample under a microscope and found them floating around in the tank. UV time! But that will only control outbreaks, they are still everywhere I am sure.

I am not sure you ever completely get rid of them (short of bleaching your whole tank) but once diversity goes up and stability is restored they wont be able to hit a critical mass and hurt things. At least that is my belief. Kinda like Cyano ...

 

[sfin52]

I dont think they ever go away. I believe they are always in our tanks. Its when we make the conditions right for them to bloom is when they create a problem. Just my 2 cents

 

[Dave1987]

Allot of things are in the system. Had velvet a while ago. And the only one who died was the one who brought it with.

After every round that poped up I removed some substrate. As of now its gone for the last 3 months. Is it gone? Probably not. But my new yellow tang is perfectly fine.

 

[Dave1987]

Double post...

 

[Clownfishy]

Thanks for all the responses. I am going to continue to take scrapings and test under a microscope. I am so worried about turning my light intensity up as I am still on 80% just blue lighting.

 

[Clownfishy]

Resurrecting this thread as it is a year on and my corals look great, Nitrates at 25ppm and phosphate up at 0.3ppm. I did a scraping and I still see Dino's alive and moving, far less than at the peak. So my question is that are they always there? I don't seem to have the on the rocks any more, just on the back of the aquarium which I have left dirty. My lights are still only on blue as as soon as I add 1% to 2% white, the Dino's start to multiple.
I am kinda kept in limbo and not sure how I can get rid of them and if I can't, I can't seem to raise the light intensity.

 

[Dave1987]

Add some fresh live rock. Lower your nitrates.

They are always there. I found if my nitrates go over 2,5 I see some patches come up.

Add good bacteria. Start carbon dosing to sustain them.

And patients. Allot of patients.

 

[Clownfishy]

I thought the idea was to stop carbon dosing and raise nitrates? I have been adding MicroBacter7 for well over a year and I also add BioDigest weekly. I am at the point where the numbers are really low so am wondering if this is now just normal. I just cant seem to ever go back to using white light as they just begin to grow again. I am going to extend the time my blue lights are at 100% from 3 hours to 4 hours by extending it 15mins each week. There was a time I could not even get to 100% blue without them coming back. Maybe if I can keep extending the 100% blue period to maybe 6-8 hours, I can then slowly add white light 1% each month. At this rate, it is going to be years before I can get back to normal lighting!

I think you are right about live rock, as dosing bacteria alone is just not adding enough biodiversity. I just hate adding anything new to the tank just in case I introduce aiptasia or some other pest.

The other change I made today was change the direction of one pump so it is blast the back glass (which I have left to remain dirty with alga growth) so any dinos get blown off into the water column for the UVs to kill off.

I would really like someone who has never had Dino to do some scrapings from their tank and see if they actually do see some, they just cannot take hold.

 

[Mattman1977]

So growing up in the 80’s my dad was a reefer. Well seemed more like a fish keeper as most of the coral were hard to keep alive. I started reefing around 5 years ago and had a horrible Dino outbreak and my dad came over and looked at the tank, at this point I guess he had been reefing 30+ years, and asked what the heck was growing on it. Back in the 70’s through early 2000 there wasn’t many if any Dino blooms in reef tanks according to him. He also asked me why I started with dry rock and had so little of it.

so with that in mind I’ve set up a couple of tanks. Some with a lot of rock and some with a little both dry and gulf live rock. I’ve found less issues with overly stocked tanks with a ton of Gulf live rock. Dang near like the old school rock wall setup. Also found a underly sized skimmer with a algae scrubber works to keep it clean but not overly clean.

my next build is a 220 gal mixed with 150 lbs of live gulf rock in display with a 125 gal sump with over half of that being a low flow refugium with macro algae plants and mangroves along with additional 50-100 lbs of gulf live rock with Macro algae growing on it. No cheato but a algae scrubber.

just my observation and $0.02

 

[Mattman1977]

I think you are right about live rock, as dosing bacteria alone is just not adding enough biodiversity. I just hate adding anything new to the tank just in case I introduce aiptasia or some other pest.

order you some live gulf rock, dip it in some salt water mixed to 1.030 and qt it for a few weeks before adding it to your tank.

 

[Dave1987]

Dont dip it. Dont quarantine.

Just add it. To be on the safer side place it in the sump.

And yes. There is pests in live rock as there is tons of good stuff. A good tank has both of them in balance.

I dont worry about aiptasia, dinos, chyano, ich, velvet, valonia, or whatever.

Ive had, or still have it all.

 

[Wampatom]

A critical question is are some species of algae ever completely eliminated from a tank? I don't think this has been answered.

 

[Clownfishy]

A critical question is are some species of algae ever completely eliminated from a tank? I don't think this has been answered.

Your right, I would be really interested in people who do not have Dino issues, take a sample of their aquarium and see if they see any. I have heard a number of people say that all aquariums have them, they are just in so low numbers, it is not a problem.
Looking under the miroscope, I can see several Dinoflagellates in each sample I take from my aquarium. The numbers are massively lower than at the peak and they do not seem as active (some not moving, some moving slowly). Is this now normal? However, as soon as I start adding white lighting to my LEDs, they start to increase greatly. When I say increase white lighting, I am only talking 1-3%. I am now taking samples every other day to try and understand if they are increasing.

 

[Dave1987]

Just run your tank.

If they get the upper hand. You have an imbalance.

You have dinos because they are not out competed by other life forms.

Add diversity in every way you can. Fish that clean the substrate, snails, pods, algea, live phyto.

Dont worry about them. Most tanks crash not because of the dinos. But people trying to get rid of them.

Sometimes its a quick fix. Others it will take you a year. Aslong as your not overrun by them. Chilllll