Yep, sure were Dino’s. Microscope slides confirmed Ostreopsis and Prorocentrum, although it also could have been LCA. Handled the ostreos and took another slide of lingering algae on the sand and it was a different cell.How a fuge ( refugium with algae?) is able to overfilter the system? A fuge ( photo-autotrophic) not actively managed just will use what is left over by faster growing organisms. My opinion a fuge can never be too large, this if it is actively managed, maintaining the growth rate needed at all times.
Certain dinoflagellates (Prorocentrum spp)) are epiphytic on seagrasses and do produce the toxin okadaic acid, which can be a tumor promoter for seagrass consuming organisms. How do you know you had both Ostreopsis and Prorocentrum Dino’s? What about all others? How did you bottom out NO3 and PO4? Is the reason for having dino's linked to the low nitrate and phosphate level or to the method used to bottom out some nutrients creating a nutrient unbalance favorable for the growth of dinos. Did you use growth to clear the water of nutrients ( having a fuse) or did you just focus on nitrate and or phosphorus only ( GFO)? Having a large fuge it should have been easy to remove most nutrients by growth, allowing competition. Adding nitrate and phosphorus only, how do you see the future keeping on doing this?
If the water is cleared of nutrients using photo-autotrophic growth competition is allowed. What I do not untherstand is the combination of promoting photo-autotrophic growth to clear the water using a fuge and running GFO, limiting growth and leaving all other essential nutrients behind, only usable for PAO having build up a phosphorus reserve, this until the reserve is used up ( promoting selective growth in a small biotope). How the growth rate in the fuge was maintained because I would expect the algae to die off?