FIGHTING DINOS OVER A YEAR!!!! IM DONE!!!

Polyp Punk · Apr 28, 2022

Hey everyone,

So the dinos came back AGAIN. i have a 15g nano and have been battling dinos for over a year. this tank has been the biggest pain in the A********. Been in this hobby for over 8 years and never had a tank that just wont settle in. I have tried EVERYTHING under the sun to get rid of this dino problem and hjave my nutrients balance out and it just wont happen. i finally got my nutrients up for a while. my nitraates are 10-15 and .2-.3 phos. This makes no sense to me that the dinos are back my tank has not bottomed out since i first put up my tank. HOW IN THE HELL ARE DINOS COMING BACK WITH SKY HIGH NUTRIENTS PRESENT????? i am loosing my mind. my last attempt is the Aqua HOB UV sterilizer from bulk reef supply. I am going to try another 3 day blackout and then run the sterilizer. I am praying i have the strain that responds to UV. any other suggestions for me? If this does not work i will be breaking this tank down. I have had a ton of patience but you also have to know when to quit. Any tips on how to use the sterilizer or other suggestions on how to fight would be great. this battle has really killed my passion for the hobby i am so disappointed.. thanks !

Rtaylor · Apr 28, 2022

That sucks.....did you try adding macro algae to the display? I have had success out-competing dino's that way. Good luck!

Acros · Apr 28, 2022

Sometimes, you just have to start over. 15gallon is not too hard to rip clean. I did a mini rip clean on my 25 lagoon in January. Tank has been Dino free since then and is doing great now.

DavidinGA · Apr 28, 2022

You've tried everything? Really?

It seems you haven't tried uv.
Have you tried dosing silica?
Dosing NO3?
Trying multiple approaches at the same time?

I just recently beat dinos in my 90g in hours after adding a big uv.

MaxTremors · Apr 28, 2022

Did you start with dry rock or real live rock? If it’s the former, I would try adding a couple pounds of maricultured live rock. I’ve never experienced Dinos in any tank that had live rock (in 25 years, just started my first dry rock tank a year ago but made sure to seed with 25% live rock, wish I would’ve done 100%), and I have a theory that it’s the lack of encrusting organisms and a lack of a diverse and balanced biome. Dinos never used to be a problem, in fact years ago I think the only time I ever saw them was in a tank someone started with lava rock. I’m not convinced dinos are due to nutrients bottoming out, I think it may be more of a symptom than the cause (was watching one of Coral Euphoria’s videos recently, and he had the same idea - not saying that’s proof, just that it’s maybe something worth exploring). Anyway, if you haven’t already, it might be worth trying.

Polyp Punk · Apr 28, 2022

DavidinGA said:
You've tried everything? Really?

It seems you haven't tried uv.
Have you tried dosing silica?
Dosing NO3?
Trying multiple approaches at the same time?

I just recently beat dinos in my 90g in hours after adding a big uv.

i have tried all of that ... the last thing is the UV ... i have not tried it yet because i know it only works on specific strains of dino and its not that cheap.. i tried dosing NO3, bacteria, blackouts, manual removal, reducing light intensity, Dr tims method 4 times.. it just wont budge. i bought the 8 watt aqua HOB UV sterlizer im praying this will work.

Polyp Punk · Apr 28, 2022

MaxTremors said:
Did you start with dry rock or real live rock? If it’s the former, I would try adding a couple pounds of maricultured live rock. I’ve never experienced Dinos in any tank that had live rock (in 25 years, just started my first dry rock tank a year ago but made sure to seed with 25% live rock, wish I would’ve done 100%), and I have a theory that it’s the lack of encrusting organisms and a lack of a diverse and balanced biome. Dinos never used to be a problem, in fact years ago I think the only time I ever saw them was in a tank someone started with lava rock. I’m not convinced dinos are due to nutrients bottoming out, I think it may be more of a symptom than the cause (was watching one of Coral Euphoria’s videos recently, and he had the same idea - not saying that’s proof, just that it’s maybe something worth exploring). Anyway, if you haven’t already, it might be worth trying.

I started with dry rock. been in th hobby for over 8 years and always started with live rock and had many successful tanks ... i will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER start with dry rock ever again.

Chrisv. · Apr 28, 2022

Salt_Life said:
I started with dry rock. been in th hobby for over 8 years and always started with live rock and had many successful tanks ... i will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER start with dry rock ever again.

Have you bumped the temp? When you do your black out, is it completely blacked out? Like "aluminum foil covering the tank" blacked out? Did you use waste away only, or also refresh?

Acros · Apr 28, 2022

Do you have an id of the dinos?

Polyp Punk · Apr 28, 2022

Chrisv. said:
Have you bumped the temp? When you do your black out, is it completely blacked out? Like "aluminum foil covering the tank" blacked out? Did you use waste away only, or also refresh?

i blacked it out with all cardboard no light at all.. the first dr tims method i used refresh and easte away and it didnt work. the rest of the times i used just waste away.. it seemed like i beat it the last time but it just came back yesterday out of nowhere with a vengeance. i tried bumping the temp alittle and it did nothing. how high are you supposed to go ? ill try the UV and if that doesnt work i will be breaking it down and ill start again when i have the money. very disappointed. my biggest mistake was using dry rock. ill never make that mistake again.

Chrisv. · Apr 28, 2022

Salt_Life said:
i blacked it out with all cardboard no light at all.. the first dr tims method i used refresh and easte away and it didnt work. the rest of the times i used just waste away.. it seemed like i beat it the last time but it just came back yesterday out of nowhere with a vengeance. ill try the UV and if that doesnt work i will be breaking it down and ill start again when i have the money. very disappointed. my biggest mistake was using dry rock. ill never make that mistake again.

I agree that the dry rock is a really big factor.

Polyp Punk · Apr 28, 2022

jamesdomini4 said:
Do you have an id of the dinos?

unfortunately i dont which is why i never tried UV. i dont have the money to buy a microscope so im crossing my fingers here... is there anyway to tell without the microscope ?

Acros · Apr 28, 2022

Salt_Life said:
unfortunately i dont which is why i never tried UV. i dont have the money to buy a microscope so im crossing my fingers here... is there anyway to tell without the microscope ?

Not that I know of. I used a $16 kids microscope to identify dinos. Works as good as anything else to id dinos.

Acros · Apr 28, 2022

This works.

Science Kits for Kids Beginner Microscope with LED 100X 400X and 1200X-Include Sample Prepared Slides 12pc- Educational Toy Birthday Valentine's Day Gift

Nonya · Apr 28, 2022

Could it be diatoms?

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 29, 2022

Im really into the microbiome of the tank and the fact that you started with all dry rock really sticks out...the microbiome established by dry rock is a good bit different than that established by live rock (live rock establishes a much more natural microbiome much faster)...I'd recommend you try to find some live rock preferably from the ocean and not just seeded with bottled bacteria and possibly even see if a LFS will sell you some sand from one of their mature systems (bagged sand probably wouldn't help as much and I even heard recently that a lot of brands actually just have freshwater bacteria in their bagged sand)

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 29, 2022

Sorry for the double post but I just had an idea...why don't you send in samples to Aquabiomics to have your microbiome examined and they can help you in determining if your microbiome may be to blame or not...if you do want to try this then take the sample before using the UV because a UV can cause changes to the bacterial diversity and populations

undermind · Apr 29, 2022

I'm sorry mate, and I feel your pain. A few years back I started a dry rock tank and it has been an absurd battle.

I agree with the others here that bacteria is the ticket to a long term win. But the bottled products are ineffective in my experience. Many of them are focused on nitrifying bacteria and don't have the diversity anywhere near what the live rock provided that we used to start our tanks with. The good news is that you can get real deal live rock from KP Aquatics or even live rock rubble from Aquabiomics. Or some wonder mud from Hawaii via ipsf.

I did all of the above. I started by adding a few pieces of KP Aquatics and saw a change overnight.

I also agree that a rip clean is a good option. Simply starting the tank over and using a great source like KPA rock would be quick and easy. I recently started a 10g nano with KPA rock and had no cycle and SPS in there within a week. It does better in that tank than my 4 year big display with dry rock origins.

Yes I may be oversimplifying live rock vs dry rock and yes there are other factors. But bacterial diversity that is legit right out of the ocean just wins.

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 29, 2022

undermind said:
I'm sorry mate, and I feel your pain. A few years back I started a dry rock tank and it has been an absurd battle.

I agree with the others here that bacteria is the ticket to a long term win. But the bottled products are ineffective in my experience. Many of them are focused on nitrifying bacteria and don't have the diversity anywhere near what the live rock provided that we used to start our tanks with. The good news is that you can get real deal live rock from KP Aquatics or even live rock rubble from Aquabiomics. Or some wonder mud from Hawaii via ipsf.

I did all of the above. I started by adding a few pieces of KP Aquatics and saw a change overnight.

I also agree that a rip clean is a good option. Simply starting the tank over and using a great source like KPA rock would be quick and easy. I recently started a 10g nano with KPA rock and had no cycle and SPS in there within a week. It does better in that tank than my 4 year big display with dry rock origins.

Yes I may be oversimplifying live rock vs dry rock and yes there are other factors. But bacterial diversity that is legit right out of the ocean just wins.

I think a lot of the algae issues especially the ones people have early on has to do with the bacterial diversity (as long as nutrients aren't just way out of whack)... people thick bottled bac is gonna make up for it quickly but that just doesn't seem to happen and how could it with only a few bacterial strains being added at once anyway?...there's a lot more than just nitrifying bacteria to a healthy microbiome which I think a lot of people don't understand