How would you feel if I tore it all down?

[danielb333]

Might get som flack for this, but you could try Bleach dosing. I had a bacteria in my sump the last 4 months that I could not get rid of, tried everything. IT would build so fast that within 5 days I had to tear down my sump, skimmer, return pump and all plumbing and clean or flow would slow down so far my overflow would serge badly and skimmer would simply stop skimning. 2 weeks of bleach dosing 1ml per 25gal when lights go out and when they come back on, and it's completely gone no trace. SOunds nuts but it worked and all my SPS (80% SPS in my tank) are perfect, infact I have never seen them have so much polyp extension.

If your ready to tear down I really recommend giving this a shot too. I had dinoflagellate ostreopsis. Did everything. Read everything. Including the dirty method. Was ready to give up after numerous restarts. 2 doses a day 12 hrs apart. 0.5ml of 6% for every 10 gallons. Pretty close to the same. Zero casualties and had the same experience as the above post. Dosed bacteria right before treatment and after as a precaution. Hard and Soft Corals actually seem to flourish during the treatment. All corals open and expanding after I believe the second day. I believe this was due to the reduction of Dino's in the aquarium. Fish would move sporadicly for a while then calm down after several treatments they seemed to get use to it. Everyday was a noticeable reduction. When dosed with the lights on you can see an almost instant reaction with the brown slime occurring and it begins to break down. Only dosed for 5 days. Hope this helps if you have tried everything else.

 

[ReefBum]

Have you tried metroplex? One scoop per 10g? I did 3 doses which killed it way back and a few months later dosed another round of 3 doses and I haven’t seen it since. Vibrant also helped but I think it cleared the water more than killed the Dino’s.

I tried Metroplex to rid my tank of dinos and it basically put my SPS into a tailspin that they did not recover from. I would use extreme caution with this stuff.

 

[OldOne14]

I added magic milk from Algea Barn and it worked great! I have been battling for about 3 months. 2 tanks

 

[siggy]

I may have found the source for dino's, cyano's and bubble algae.

 

[Brew12]

I added magic milk from Algea Barn and it worked great! I have been battling for about 3 months. 2 tanks

Just their regular phytoplankton?

 

[Sea MunnKey]

Hey Rev ... just hang in there & with all the good folks here with many good intentions in helping to cope with this Dino issue. You're Not Alone !! The Force is Strong ... "young" David.

On a side note it seems dinoflagellates is an ongoing problem with many R2R members as it seems to be one of the most active threads on this site ....

 

[OldOne14]

Just their regular phytoplankton?

I think it's a combination of plankton. I'll find the link and send it.

 

[OldOne14]

Here's the link to the article I read. It really worked for me. I was shocked.
https://www.algaebarn.com/using-live-microalgae-to-control-nuisance-dinoflagellates/

 

[Brew12]

Here's the link to the article I read. It really worked for me. I was shocked.
https://www.algaebarn.com/using-live-microalgae-to-control-nuisance-dinoflagellates/

Ah. So yes, their regular phytoplankton which they call Ocean Magik.

Yup... beating dino's is all about competition. Plankton is a good source of that competition.

 

[OldOne14]

I actually over dosed slightly and was very impressed with the results. I loaded my bubble trap full of filter floss to help remove the dinos as well.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

I went back to read your build thread. I see a bunch of similarities to the issues I had when I started my system. I’m not looking to start a debate, just speaking from my own issues. But having myself started with dry rock and sand, it was a real struggle for my tank to get through the “ugly” stages. Something I didn’t mention before, 6 months in to my new tank it had developed bryopsis and I couldn’t beat it. I did a reset on the tank by removing 80% of that rock and replacing it with spare stuff I had (dry).
And I still fought issues with the tank for another 18 months. Bubble algae, Dino’s, cyano ect..
I really believe that my issues were from starting with the dry materials, both sand and rock. It’s not that it’s a bad thing to start with, it just takes a much longer time to be presentable. Also in dealing with a larger system, those “possible” negatives are multiplied more because there is a larger volume of materials that need to mature. It becomes in a sense, the exact opposite of one of the better features of having a large system.
As I said before, just let the tank, sand and rocks run their course and separate the display from your frag tank. It may take a bit of time, but when it’s ready you will also be stocking your tank with some killer mini colonies

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would just add the following comment...

If you are going the route of trying to outcompete the dinos, these are the things you should do many/all at the same time, not pick and choose your favorites (IMO):

1. Make sure there are adequate nutrients (N and P in the water). Say, at least 0.03 ppm phosphate and 5 ppm nitrate. If not, dose them.

2. No water changes, because (IMO) you may be actually trying to limit a critical trace element that competitors (e.g., algae) are also using

3. No supplements that contain trace elements, same reason as 2.

4. You may consider increasing competitors (folks have mentioned phyto, but other things may work too).

5. I wouldn't organic carbon dose since some dinos can take up the carbon and use it, but many competitors may not (or may not as effectively).

6. More export of trace elements and organics (both for the organic part removed and for the trace elements attached to them). GAC, Purigen, possible metal binders such as metasorb.

 

[jasonwible]

Sea hair

 

[jasonwible]

Had the same problem introduced a green sea hair gave it abot 2 weeks and cleaned it all up

 

[jasonwible]

It looked like this all over the whole frag tank

 

[Joe Rice]

... Perhaps add algae to out-compete? Allelopathy is underestimated!

When I had bad dinos, I did the blackout then improved the lighting on my refugium and started dosing iron - seemed to do the trick.

 

[rtparty]

My bad I didn’t mean for the last post to go up 3 times!!! Rookie, again I haven’t been on here for a while, but here’s the coral snow I was referring too. Maybe someone has used this and can give their opinion. I haven’t used it, but I am in about two weeks. Wanna give it a try for some red cyno and hair algae I’m battling. The battle isn’t a full blown war lol but I can’t let it win. I refuse lol. Hope this helps.

Coral Snow is just chalk and it won't do anything for cyano or hair algae. It does make your water super clear though.

 

[WWIII]

I can't believe the switch out to all live Fiji rock and switching of sand didn't help resolve this. I know you've done a lot to try and solve these, but really hope you can stick it out and finally win the battle! Such a beautiful tank and setup. We all need to see this in full glory one day! It will be all that much sweeter when that day comes and will provide a valuable reference/ncouragement to the entire community here!

 

[rtparty]

Edit: Nevermind

Hope you can pull through this Rev!

 

[joshporksandwich]

Coral Snow is just chalk and it won't do anything for cyano or hair algae. It does make your water super clear though.

I've had good results with cyano and coral snow. What do you mean it's chalk?