Update:
SOW 15 will be here Friday, as will be my order of Ulva.
I posted this in the "tired of battling dino" thread. Worth posting it here as well:
"Here's my run down and observations of my last ditch effort to deal with ostreopsis for the last 5 years!
Microscopic identification was done with the sample taken to my work. We use some high-powered microscopes. None of which have any abilities to take photos, so I don't have a photo of them. So the best of my ability at 200x, 99.9% confirmed ostreopsis.
N03 consistent around 40 PPM.
P04 consistent around .03.
Approximately 240 gallons total system.
Uv 15 watt.
Total flow through UV 300 gph.
I've tried every trick in the book to eliminate them.
4 day blackout.
Addition of bottle bacteria.
UV plumbed directly to display tank.
Hydrogen peroxide dosing.
Addition of copepods and phytoplankton.
No addition of nutrients as my tank has been stable at those numbers for years.
Removing sand bed and replacing with brand-new aragonite sand.
Vacuuming sand with a micron filter.
Reduced water changes.
None of the above worked in reducing them.
After reading about some of the hobbyist having had success with raising the water temperature to 80-81 degrees Fahrenheit, I figured why not give it a shot.
I adjusted my heaters until I reached the final temperature of 81 degrees Fahrenheit confirmed with a fluke digital thermometer that is calibrated. After day 4 of the temperature being at 81 degrees, I witnessed a reduction in dinoflagellates. Now after a week and a half at 81 degrees Fahrenheit, there is no visible signs of the dinoflagellates on my sand bed. Rocks, tank glass, wavemaker pumps....etc never showed any signs of them the whole 5 years. The elevated temperature during this duration has not shown any negative signs to any of my corals, inverts or fish. Growth and coloration has been maintained.
I feed the tank by broadcasting frozen food, unrinsed, the size of a thumbnail twice-daily.
I do not dose anything into my system other than Kalkwasser (calcium hydroxide) through my ATO reservoir.
I am skeptical by nature and willing to try any method within reason understanding by researching before applying it and having little doubt that there could be a negative outcome before attempting anything.
At this stage right now I'm fairly convinced, though anecdotally at this point, that increase and stability long-term at 81 degrees Fahrenheit has had a positive effect in reducing or possibly eliminating the ostreopsis dinoflagellates that I have battled with all this time.
What needs to be done in a controlled setting is an experiment with the increase in temperature to verify its validity with ostreopsis."
Sand is nice and white now!
