ID on possible diatoms. (Microscope)

[Palegic]

Can anyone help ID this. Looks green, short stranded hairs with small seed looking things. Possible type of green dino?

Been battling for weeks to no avail. Running 36w UV, dosing MB7, and keeping my nutrients up. Seems to just slowly get worse. Never better.

 

[fishguy242]

@StatelineReefer ??

 

[StatelineReefer]

Looks like a turf algae I had for a while. Grows fast. None of that moves around under the scope, does it?

 

[Palegic]

The little sesame seeds are definitely dinos. The green is some type of algae. They seem to coexist at the moment

 

[StatelineReefer]

The little sesame seeds are definitely dinos. The green is some type of algae. They seem to coexist at the moment

I would need to see them move in order to properly identify them at this magnification.

 

[Palegic]

I would need to see them move in order to properly identify them at this magnification.

I already ID'd them. Wasn't too difficult. Looked at a few more samples under the slides. Little "sesame seeds" spinning and moving freely.

 

[Troylee]

I already ID'd them. Wasn't too difficult. Looked at a few more samples under the slides. Little "sesame seeds" spinning and moving freely.

Those would be Dinos..

 

[StatelineReefer]

Those would indeed be dinos.

And with that photo, it would appear that these are the type with scuta, which is why UV would have a lesser effect on them.

@vetteguy53081 has an excellent regimen for taking care of these. I'll leave him to it.

 

[Troylee]

Those would indeed be dinos.

And with that photo, it would appear that these are the type with scuta, which is why UV would have a lesser effect on them.

@vetteguy53081 has an excellent regimen for taking care of these. I'll leave him to it.

They suck! And vets cut and paste works okay but doesn’t really get rid of them.. it knocks the population down for sure thou.. it took me a couple months of running uv and just blues on low like 20% dosing h202 every night and sponge excell to get them manageable but they still wouldn’t leave! The nail in the coffin was getting a few live rocks from some friends and throwing them in my tank to balance it all out! After a few days they disappeared.

 

[vetteguy53081]

They suck! And vets cut and paste works okay but doesn’t really get rid of them.. it knocks the population down for sure thou.. it took me a couple months of running uv and just blues on low like 20% dosing h202 every night and sponge excell to get them manageable but they still wouldn’t leave! The nail in the coffin was getting a few live rocks from some friends and throwing them in my tank to balance it all out! After a few days they disappeared.

Cut and paste? - I use this post universally in my own words and it works if followed precisely. Im not going to retype this every time someone has issue.

 

[StatelineReefer]

They suck! And vets cut and paste works okay but doesn’t really get rid of them.. it knocks the population down for sure thou.. it took me a couple months of running uv and just blues on low like 20% dosing h202 every night and sponge excell to get them manageable but they still wouldn’t leave! The nail in the coffin was getting a few live rocks from some friends and throwing them in my tank to balance it all out! After a few days they disappeared.

I ended up murdering mine by nutrient addition, mechanical filtration, and blue light for a month, no h2o2 because I already struggle with pH.

but mine were a different species.

 

[Troylee]

Cut and paste? - I use this post universally in my own words and it works if followed precisely. Im not going to retype this every time someone has issue.

Exactly you cut and paste.. I’ve seen it posted 100 times and it’s exact “word for word” not a bad thing! I wouldn’t type it over and over either haha! So yeah.. cut and paste

 

[Palegic]

Been running UV 36w at around 500gph which hasnt done squat. Population is growing (glass, frag racks, pumps etc, some corals...) nothing growing on rocks or sand at the moment. UV gets run into 200micron filter socks changed out every morning.

Went thru a whole bottle of oceanmagic phyto with little effect.

Been running my nutrients too low I think (5ppm and .03) but by morning I am at < .01. Yesterday I started to dose more (phytofeast, and phos) keeping my nitrates at 5pm but bringing phos up to .10 I also brought my carbon reactor back online to help with potential toxins.

What I have been debating is turning off the UV for a few hours each morning and dosing MB7.

 

[StatelineReefer]

Been running UV 36w at around 500gph which hasnt done squat.

Lower your gph by a factor of 5. Slow and steady. Dwell time is the key here, but as stated, these may take a little more...

Population is growing (glass, frag racks, pumps etc, some corals...) nothing growing on rocks or sand at the moment.

Same issue I had, but mine was the long stranding type, which gave me opportunity to manually remove it.

Went thru a whole bottle of oceanmagic phyto with little effect.

Phyto itself doesn 't compete with dinos. Diatoms and algae may.

Been running my nutrients too low I think (5ppm and .03) but by morning I am at < .01. Yesterday I started to dose more (phytofeast, and phos) keeping my nitrates at 5pm but bringing phos up to .10

My solution was phos at 0.12, Nitrates over 20.

I also brought my carbon reactor back online to help with potential toxins.

Cannot stress enough how important this is, as dinoflagellates will produce horrible toxins that can also aerosolize. When I was murdering mine I felt miserable until I put my carbon reactor online.

 

[Troylee]

Lower your gph by a factor of 5. Slow and steady. Dwell time is the key here, but as stated, these may take a little more...


Same issue I had, but mine was the long stranding type, which gave me opportunity to manually remove it.

Phyto itself doesn 't compete with dinos. Diatoms and algae may.

My solution was phos at 0.12, Nitrates over 20.

Cannot stress enough how important this is, as dinoflagellates will produce horrible toxins that can also aerosolize. When I was murdering mine I felt miserable until I put my carbon reactor online.

I had the stringy ones awhile back before the sand dwellers.. I did notice a smell and my arm would sting or break out with a rash when I was in the tank! I got rid of these quick with h202 by it’s self.. the little sand boogers ugh..

 

[Palegic]

Lower your gph by a factor of 5. Slow and steady. Dwell time is the key here, but as stated, these may take a little more...

Did that also. Had it running around 100-200 GPH and the results were the same over the course of a week,

 

[Palegic]

I believe I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Took another sample today to the scope of areas I thought might have some dinos. I was only able to find two dinos on the slide. I also had received the results of my ICP test from ATI over the weekend.

What I have done in the past week:

Day 1:
LIGHTS OUT. 100%
Dose 1ml per 10 gallons of 3% H202.
Dose 10ml of MB7 at lights out. (UV off)
Dose 20ML of live phyto (nanochloropsis / rotifer blend).
Change filter socks.
36W UV 24/7 (off for 4 hours while dosing phyto/bacteria)

Day 2-5:
Lights 1-5%
Carbon Reactor 24/7. Changed carbon every 3 days.
Alkalinity dropped overnight so I stopped dosing 2-part as the tank is not consuming it.
Dose 1ml per 10 gallons of 3% H202 at lights out.
Dose 5ml of MB7 at lights out. (UV off) (maintenance dose
Dose 20ML of live phyto (nanochloropsis / rotifer blend) at lights out. (UV off)
Change filter socks each morning.
36W UV 24/7 (off for 4 hours while dosing phyto/bacteria)
Daily testing and dosing to keep No3 5+ppm and Po4 .10+

ICP showed low Iodine (.03) so I dosed 1ml of Redsea Trace (A) on days 1, 3, and 5. To bring up to .06.

On day 4 I saw the biggest difference. Dinos started to disappear from the glass, wave makers, and frags. It was at this point that I scrubbed the wave makers and cleaned the glass.

Day 6 they still have not re-appeared however,I am only at 5% on my lights. Tomorrow I ramp up to 10% and then over an 8 week period to 100%.

Some of my soft corals (clove polyps, and kenya) appear to have been affected by either the H202, Iodine, or the MB7 dosing. I cant tell specifically which it was but the tips of the cloves whited out and the kenya dropped some branches.

The LPS seemed to have been unaffected, and some even look better (assumably from the raise in nutrients).

The SPS haven't lost much color (some) but polyp extension has been non existent on all acros. Mili has some polyp extension, as well as montis. I am hoping this is a lighting issue only.

Questions are:

Should I continue the H202 dose?
Should I continue to dose MB7?
Should I be ramping my lights up faster at this point? My corals are starting to show signs of distress (polyp extension, slight color fade, no uptake in alk).
When can I and when should I do a water change? I have heard conflicting opinions on WC during dino fights.

I will keep dosing phyto and maintain frequent testing to keep nutrient levels up.

 

[Palegic]

Any experts have advice on my questions?

 

[Troylee]

Keep dosing and turn your light up to 30% with blues only.. if you wanna change the water it won’t hurt! I’d siphon the sand bed the best you can during that water change to help knock them down more. Dosing some silicates will help at this stage also bringing on diatoms

 

[Palegic]

Keep dosing and turn your light up to 30% with blues only.. if you wanna change the water it won’t hurt! I’d siphon the sand bed the best you can during that water change to help knock them down more. Dosing some silicates will help at this stage also bringing on diatoms

So today, I havent been able to see any Dinos in the scope.

However, my phosphates and nitrates spiked to 9.5 and .20 respectively. Even though I havent dosed neophos or neonitrate in 2 days.

Also - there were never any dinos on the sand thankfully. Sand has been clear, same with LR. Only frags, frag racks, wavemakers and glass.