I have almost completely eradicated dinoflagellates overnight.
- Thread starter Velcro
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CherBear811
Active Member
I think 700 gph flow through your UV is too fast/not enough contact time. There are a few comments on flow rates earlier in this thread. I would skim through or look into a lower flow rate.
Radman73
Valuable Member
I guess, when in doubt, verify lol! It's a Syncra 1.5 pushing ~350gph, which is still high, but should be perfect once the 2nd 55w sterilizer arrives tomorrow. I'll turn it all the way down for now and then bump it back up to max tomorrow once the 2nd UV is on line.
I did see where velcro stated he was running ~180gph through his, so thanks for the pointer.
CherBear811
Active Member
Last night we implemented a few new methods for eliminating these dinoflagellates. UV sterilization and diatom filtering.
I hacked the UV system together in an effort to quickly get it up and running. If I see results from it, I'll need to come up with a plan to pull water from the display and run it through the UV unit and return it back to the display without looking like a toddler put it together.
It's a simple setup, 520 gph pump resting on the sandbed running through 3/4" tubing with a ball valve and returning directly to the display. Thoughts on cleaning this up?
This is the Marineland Magnum filter. I put the micron cartridge in it and charged it with 6 tablespoons of diatomaceous earth while running it in RO/DI water in a 5 gallon bucket. I'm not super impressed with this piece of equipment, yet. It was blowing lots of microbubbles and making lots of noise this AM. I'll pull it out tonight and double check everything and see if I can get it running quieter and get the air out of the system.
I have that filter too. It seemed to work well and help but cleaning the filter sure isn't easy and now I just need a new cartridge. Someone said that using diatomaceous earth (DE) with it makes it easier to clean the cartridge as the filtered junk ends up on top of the DE so when you rinse it off, the filter is essentially clean again. I have food grade DE on hand but I've read elsewhere that it doesn't filter well with food grade, that you have to use pool grade, which I haven't gotten yet. At this point, either way, I need a new cartridge (ordering those) but Im nervous about using pool grade as it seems very impure for use in a reef tank. Did you use DE? If so, which grade? Have you cleaned your cartridge yet? If so, how easily did it clean off?
Thanks!
CherBear811
Active Member
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Sharing this awesome giveaway for a bonus entry because who can't use free LRS food??
Sharing this awesome giveaway for a bonus entry because who can't use free LRS food??
I ordered two Jaebo 55w as a unit and I run them in series. Water in on one unit, out on the opposite end of the other unit. It eradicated my ostreopsis literally over night.
Be aware the threads on those units really aren't made for connecting with NPT type threads, they seem to be made for a cap with a rubber washer which is what the caps have that come with them. Be sure and use plumbers putty or teflon type tape or they will leak. Drove me crazy for a little while till I got them taped adequately. I would put a union between them rather than glue them. That way you can use just one for maintenance if you want to when everything is back to normal.
Be aware the threads on those units really aren't made for connecting with NPT type threads, they seem to be made for a cap with a rubber washer which is what the caps have that come with them. Be sure and use plumbers putty or teflon type tape or they will leak. Drove me crazy for a little while till I got them taped adequately. I would put a union between them rather than glue them. That way you can use just one for maintenance if you want to when everything is back to normal.
CherBear811
Active Member
Awesome news, as I am afraid I have that strain as well. It's been resistant to all other efforts. What is the GPH you are running through the 2 units and how big is your DT again?
so what are the dangers of getting these UV sterilizers which are close to $600 cheaper then the ones you find for reef tanks in terms of wattage?
I.e. Looking at BRS- https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/emperor-aquatics-smart-high-output-uv-50-watt.html
with the pond ones from amazon which is here-
https://www.amazon.com/Jebao-Clarif...d=1548794535&sr=8-3&keywords=jebao+uv+55+watt
I.e. Looking at BRS- https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/emperor-aquatics-smart-high-output-uv-50-watt.html
with the pond ones from amazon which is here-
https://www.amazon.com/Jebao-Clarif...d=1548794535&sr=8-3&keywords=jebao+uv+55+watt
I'm running about 325 gph which is about 2X my display volume of 155 gallons.
You would be in danger of saving about $500. Seriously, I have both the jebao 55 watt and aqua UV 57 watt. Big difference in cost. Both did the job.
The Jaebo is big and ugly but then again I think all UV set ups are. It's a very simple thing to set up. Water in one end, past the UV light and out the other end.
I think if I had it to do over I might have just gotten a single 55 watt. The dual 55 watt turned my tank from a quagmire of dino on the rocks and sand to pristine rock literally over night (Ostreopsis). If you have a species that goes in to the water column at night you won't be sorry you did UV.
I think if I had it to do over I might have just gotten a single 55 watt. The dual 55 watt turned my tank from a quagmire of dino on the rocks and sand to pristine rock literally over night (Ostreopsis). If you have a species that goes in to the water column at night you won't be sorry you did UV.
My Jeboa 55w comes from Amazon today. I've been dealing with Ostreo for almost 3 years, but kept it under control on the sand bed. If this works I'll be psyched! I've tried so many other methods but the brown sand always comes back.
Radman73
Valuable Member
By microscope we were able to identify my dino's as Ostreopsis. Unfortunately it has been a battle to just see a daily improvement. It seems things look better for a day, and then much worse for a day or two.
I've finally managed to raise nutrients enough to get some algae growing on the back wall, that the snails seem extremely happy to have available to them now. I've also started dosing 30ml of H2O2 twice a day. Once in the morning before lights come on and once in the evening after lights go out. I have 2 55W jebao and am running ~350GPH through them on a 220DT, ~300gal total volume. I still blow off the rocks 1-2 times per day and blast the sand at night.
I've finally managed to raise nutrients enough to get some algae growing on the back wall, that the snails seem extremely happy to have available to them now. I've also started dosing 30ml of H2O2 twice a day. Once in the morning before lights come on and once in the evening after lights go out. I have 2 55W jebao and am running ~350GPH through them on a 220DT, ~300gal total volume. I still blow off the rocks 1-2 times per day and blast the sand at night.
jgvergo
Valuable Member
I'm having moderately good success with UV. Here is a quick synopsis of my battle...
Dinos were quite bad 4 months ago. I tried H2O2 and without any success. All during this time my nitrates and phosphates were pegged at zero. I finally gave in and did a three day blackout (the hardest part was not having a tank to stare at)).
I *THOUGHT* the blackout did the trick, but little %$#^%#$'s made a reappearance in a couple of months. This was despite the fact that I increased my feeding to the point that nitrates have been at 20 and phosphates ranging from 13 to 35 ppb.
I've been maintaining high nitrates and phosphates since the blackout. The Dinos made a steady comeback but never got to the level of the original outbreak.
I then bought a UV sterilizer (24watt Green Killing Machine). Since installing it 3 weeks ago, I have seen steady progress. I also cut my photoperiod by 3 hours to keep the Dinos in the water column longer. Finally, I installed filter floss as mechanical filtration.
I'd say the UV has been a qualified success. The progress has been slower than I hoped for, but it's still progress. It's probably because the UV is a little underpowered for my system (~85 gallons).
Dinos were quite bad 4 months ago. I tried H2O2 and without any success. All during this time my nitrates and phosphates were pegged at zero. I finally gave in and did a three day blackout (the hardest part was not having a tank to stare at
)).I *THOUGHT* the blackout did the trick, but little %$#^%#$'s made a reappearance in a couple of months. This was despite the fact that I increased my feeding to the point that nitrates have been at 20 and phosphates ranging from 13 to 35 ppb.
I've been maintaining high nitrates and phosphates since the blackout. The Dinos made a steady comeback but never got to the level of the original outbreak.
I then bought a UV sterilizer (24watt Green Killing Machine). Since installing it 3 weeks ago, I have seen steady progress. I also cut my photoperiod by 3 hours to keep the Dinos in the water column longer. Finally, I installed filter floss as mechanical filtration.
I'd say the UV has been a qualified success. The progress has been slower than I hoped for, but it's still progress. It's probably because the UV is a little underpowered for my system (~85 gallons).
Sounds like you are doing things that should eradicate ostreopsis relatively quickly... You may be doing this already, but I would certainly run my UV from DT back to DT. At least for the short term.
Idoc
Getting lazier and lazier with upkeep!
Do you know the type of dinos you have? If they are amphidinium dinos, UV isn't going to help since they don't go into the water column.
That reminds me of a question I had. How long is short term. I've been running UV for 10 days now and haven't had any sign of dinos for 9 days and 12 hours.
How long before it's reasonable to plumb my UV to the sump? It's been so long since I've enjoyed looking at the tank it's kind of a bummer to have to look at my jury rigged plumbing!
Radman73
Valuable Member
It is DT to DT. I guess I question if I have enough UV, 110w with ~350gph on a 220DT and 300 total volume. I'm happy with slow progress, which I might finally be seeing. Rocks are certainly better or at least not getting worse; sand patches definitely grow during the day, lessen at night, so hard to track progress.
Edited to add: I still blow off the rocks twice daily, and they need it, but it's not as bad as it was a few weeks ago.
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Radman73
Valuable Member
We identified them as ostreopsis. It's why I even got the UV's.
I don’t know salty. That’s a great question. I moved my from DT to sump return, only to put it back in DT, where I plan to keep it for the foreseeable future. I hung mine off the back so the only thing I see in my tank is the mj1200 powerhead in the corner. Not too bad on a 180 gallon tank. I do know that others had success moving it on the sump return. Some eliminate it altogether.That reminds me of a question I had. How long is short term. I've been running UV for 10 days now and haven't had any sign of dinos for 9 days and 12 hours.
Your UV is very large. I suspect that if you have high sump turnover you can get away with it soon. How lucky do you feel?
Mine is in the top left corner. Excuse the reflection...
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