Pseudodiego
Active Member
Hi everyone.
Been battling Dinos for a few months and I have finally decimated them. So I wanted to share what I did in case anyone find this information useful.
The thank is a 75 gallon. I mostly have soft corals with a few LPS and SPS, I have very high nutrients: Nitrate around 50 and phosphate around 1.
The species of dinos was Prorocentrum, I used a microscope to ID it. They appeared after a treatment for Cyano.
So first, here is what I tried that didn't work:
-UV+3 day Blackout: This was a suggested method for Prorocentrum, but it did nothing for me. I tried this two times, and both times the dinos were reduced in number for a few days, but them they came back as strong as ever.
H2O2: I started with this as soon as I confirmed that there were Dinos on the tank. I added 10 ml each night, I used a small dose because I have ornamental shrimps. It did absolutely nothing.
Removing sand: obviously there were less of them because majority were on the sand, but they just continued clinging to the rocks.
Adding bottled bacterias: Same effect as if I was adding water.
No water changes: after five weeks I didn't noticed any difference, so I resumed doing water changes.
What actually worked was a combination of 3 things, no idea if it was just one of those things or all of them together.
1-> Overdosing silicates: I tried adding it before at the recommended dose, but it did absolutely nothing, no signs of diatoms in the microscope, so I started overdosing it at like 5 ml of sodium Silicate daily. There wasn't any ill effect on corals or fish.
2->Adding Vodka as a carbon source: I started adding it at 2 ml daily, as I read that adding a carbon source can work in outcompeting the dinos. I turned the UV off so the new bacteria weren't killed.
3->Adding live rock: It wasn't too much, just a small piece of 1 kg, I started the aquarium with around 40 kg of dead rock.
I added the rock and started dosing the vodka + silicates three weeks ago. 1 week later the Dinos were severely reduced, by week 2 there was not sign of them, so I added the sand back, and at week 3 the sand is still completely spotless. So yeah, I think I can say that I have finally beat them.
Hope this help.
Been battling Dinos for a few months and I have finally decimated them. So I wanted to share what I did in case anyone find this information useful.
The thank is a 75 gallon. I mostly have soft corals with a few LPS and SPS, I have very high nutrients: Nitrate around 50 and phosphate around 1.
The species of dinos was Prorocentrum, I used a microscope to ID it. They appeared after a treatment for Cyano.
So first, here is what I tried that didn't work:
-UV+3 day Blackout: This was a suggested method for Prorocentrum, but it did nothing for me. I tried this two times, and both times the dinos were reduced in number for a few days, but them they came back as strong as ever.
H2O2: I started with this as soon as I confirmed that there were Dinos on the tank. I added 10 ml each night, I used a small dose because I have ornamental shrimps. It did absolutely nothing.
Removing sand: obviously there were less of them because majority were on the sand, but they just continued clinging to the rocks.
Adding bottled bacterias: Same effect as if I was adding water.
No water changes: after five weeks I didn't noticed any difference, so I resumed doing water changes.
What actually worked was a combination of 3 things, no idea if it was just one of those things or all of them together.
1-> Overdosing silicates: I tried adding it before at the recommended dose, but it did absolutely nothing, no signs of diatoms in the microscope, so I started overdosing it at like 5 ml of sodium Silicate daily. There wasn't any ill effect on corals or fish.
2->Adding Vodka as a carbon source: I started adding it at 2 ml daily, as I read that adding a carbon source can work in outcompeting the dinos. I turned the UV off so the new bacteria weren't killed.
3->Adding live rock: It wasn't too much, just a small piece of 1 kg, I started the aquarium with around 40 kg of dead rock.
I added the rock and started dosing the vodka + silicates three weeks ago. 1 week later the Dinos were severely reduced, by week 2 there was not sign of them, so I added the sand back, and at week 3 the sand is still completely spotless. So yeah, I think I can say that I have finally beat them.
Hope this help.
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