If I would have known dinos existed I’m not sure I would have gotten into this hobby.

[justinfitts]

Hey guys first time posting and felt compelled to share some extremely valuable information from a hobbyist that is the master at fighting Dino’s. He is available on Instagram and he also has a Facebook group. He has a comprehensive document that is step by step from identifying each type and treatment for all! I will admit you will have to be patient with them and you will win the battle. Here is the link to his Facebook group and his name on Instagram is _macks_reef

Facebook

l.instagram.com

Credit to Devildog_reefing for hosting a live on Instagram to spread the word from Jason Mack

 

[GarrettT]

Curious why you wouldn’t vacuum the sand?

Not really sure on this, but I suspect it strips the sand of any competitors and leaves the dinos to flourish. They reproduce so fast you can never suck them all out, to beat them they have to be out competed by other more beneficial organisms.

Exactly. Why dose silicate to increase diatoms only to remove them? Dino’s are very hard to vacuum anyways, your likely just turning over sand. If you vacuum, you’ll start to see a more aggressive and quicker response from the dinos.

 

[justinfitts]

Exactly. Why dose silicate to increase diatoms only to remove them? Dino’s are very hard to vacuum anyways, your likely just turning over sand. If you vacuum, you’ll start to see a more aggressive and quicker response from the dinos.

Dosing silicates will only help to consume a specific type of Dino. UV will remove some types of Dino’s, but the silicate creates a diatom bloom which then over runs the Dino. I had LCA (large cell amphidinium) and Ostreopsis. The UV for 2 weeks killed the Ostreopsis off, then I dosed silicates to 4ppm and maintained that level until you start seeing the diatoms under the microscope. Keep dosing silicates until there is a good population of diatoms and then let them die off as the silicates are consumed by your tank. You may see a cyano bloom afterwards, but get your nitrates and phosphates in check. The rules is 1/100th phosphate to nitrate.

The images below will give you an idea of what you will be seeing.

 

[GarrettT]

I wouldn't get a sterilizer until you id the type of dinos you have. Some do not go into the water column. As such a uv sterilizers will do nothing.

If you take a turkey baster and force water towards the rock and dinos detach, then you’ll want a UV sterilizer. Regardless, it will have zero impact on the sand. For the sand, you will need to dose silicate.

 

[GarrettT]

The UV for 2 weeks killed the Ostreopsis off, then I dosed silicates to 4ppm and maintained that level until you start seeing the diatoms under the microscope.

It’s suggested to not keep silicate above 2ppm. Don’t ask me why…

UV only took me 2 days to wipe out the dinos from my rocks. I did use a turkey baster 5 times each day to dispel the dinos from the rocks though. Also, slightly oversized the sterilizer.

 

[ABQ_CHRIS]

I am not qualified to give any advice on this, but I am rooting for you op!

 

[Stormlasher]

UV i bought an 80W jabao one for 90$ i have 300 gallon tank dosing a bit of phosphate (mine bottemed out) and adding the uv cleared them up in 1 week, after the sterilizer i made them waterbourn by spraying them off the rocks

 

[justinfitts]

It’s suggested to not keep silicate above 2ppm. Don’t ask me why…

UV only took me 2 days to wipe out the dinos from my rocks. I did use a turkey baster 5 times each day to dispel the dinos from the rocks though. Also, slightly oversized the sterilizer.

It’s suggested to not keep silicate above 2ppm. Don’t ask me why…

UV only took me 2 days to wipe out the dinos from my rocks. I did use a turkey baster 5 times each day to dispel the dinos from the rocks though. Also, slightly oversized the sterilizer.

Your tank will actually consume silicates very quickly. I have a mixed nano reef and there was zero loss of coral or fish. The problems you will likely face if you don’t follow the steps will be when the Dino’s die off they release toxins. You will need to run carbon during this process to keep them under control. You may also lose some snails and hermit because they are consuming the dying Dino’s. There has been research done that silicates at 17ppm for several weeks showed no impact on inhabitants.

 

[aggrofish]

Dinos suck. I lost most of my coral when I battled mine for 6+ months. You get a lot of try this, this and this. Sometimes it works, for me literally nothing worked. Siphoning sand daily, no water changes, DIY coral snow, UV sterilizer, dosing NO3/PO4, silicates, blackouts, dosing every bacteria known to man. I had Prorocentrum.

you should definitely get a cheap microscope to verify what type you have in order to put together a game plan. Some people hate Dino-x but it wiped out my dinos in a coupe days. If I ever get dinos again I’m not F’n around. I’m putting all coral in a qt and dosing Dino x. Good luck in your fight.

oh and if you end up getting a UV the coralvie a coral view 18watt is way oversized for a reefer 170. I have one on a reefer 170 and it knocked out a bacterial bloom in a couple hours.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Dinos suck. I lost most of my coral when I battled mine for 6+ months. You get a lot of try this, this and this. Sometimes it works, for me literally nothing worked. Siphoning sand daily, no water changes, DIY coral snow, UV sterilizer, dosing NO3/PO4, silicates, blackouts, dosing every bacteria known to man. I had Prorocentrum.

you should definitely get a cheap microscope to verify what type you have in order to put together a game plan. Some people hate Dino-x but it wiped out my dinos in a coupe days. If I ever get dinos again I’m not F’n around. I’m putting all coral in a qt and dosing Dino x. Good luck in your fight

I'm pretty sure OP already tried Dino X

 

[iMi]

I’ve had my tank for almost 2 years now and I absolutely fell in love with this hobby. The first year and a half everything was going great. I was slowly stocking my tank, everything was growing great . My euphillia were dividing and so were my acans. Everything was going so well that I even started shopping around and preparing to get a larger tank, but that’s when the dinos happened.

I had always heard other reefers talking about the dreaded dinos and how awful they were. I thought they just meant they were unsightly like cyano or diatoms. I had no idea they could completely wipe out your entire collection of corals.

I have tried everything during these past 6 months to battle these little beasts but absolutely nothing works. In fact, it only seems to make things worse. One by one I’ve watched my corals slowly die. A tank that used to bring me so much joy as I walked past it now brings me grief.

Before, if there was an issue with my tank I could solve it by tinkering with parameters or lighting, etc. But with these little jerks there’s absolutely nothing you can do. The only coral I have left is a GSP and it might also be dead I just can’t tell because it’s been closed up for so long.

Does anyone know exactly how dinos kill coral? And will my fish be next? For now they seem to be doing fine.

I thought about starting over but the thought of dinos coming back at any time and completely destroying my tank while I stand there helpless to do anything is too much of a risk. I’ll keep trying to fight them a while longer but if I can’t kill them I’ll probably just end up bringing my fish back to the LFS and getting rid of my tank. It sucks because I love this hobby and was always so excited to go buy a new coral and fish, but I can’t do that anymore.

Anyway I’m just wondering if anyone else has gotten to this point but things finally turned around? Any bit of wisdom would help. Thanks

Take a deep breath and consider what I’m about to share with you.

I had two Dino outbreaks in the past year and learned two things.

One, they are a pain in the behind but the stories you read here are often drastically blown out of proportions. I suspect it’s because everyone is immedietly conditioned to think they have encountered the black plague. I was of the same opinion and was discouraged and concerned the first time it happened. When I read about people boiling their rocks, I thought… hold on a second. This is nuts. There has to be a better way! After some research and trial and error, I found beating them isn’t all that hard.

Two, patience is key. Dinos are one of those things that come on hard and fast but go away slowly. I would say be ready for at least a few weeks of incremental improvements until balance is restored. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of info here, but here is what worked for me.

Step One — Buy a properly sized UV sterilizer. The operative word being “properly sized.” This is very important. I suggest you google it.

Step Two — Buy good quality nitrifying bacteria in a bottle. I like to use a combination of either Stability and Pristine or MicroBacter Clean.

Step Three — Dose Nitrates to maintain at least 4-5ppm. Feed regularly and that should take care of Phosphates. I never had to dose them.

Run the UV 24/7 until the problem is resolved. Add bacteria products at a capful per 25 gallons of water each daily. Dose nitros daily to maintain adequate levels.

The goal is to disrupt dinoflagellates life cycle with the UV light, which will reduce their population, while also creating conditions where other organisms, beneficial ones, can start to outperform it in the nutrient uptake game. In time, dinos will be gone. Well, not gone… they will never be gone. They will be held in check by a well balanced environment. Prevent another outbreak by keeping nutrients at proper levels.

Don’t give up. Stay the course. Even if you see some coral die off, as long as there is tissue there is hope!

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Take a deep breath and consider what I’m about to share with you.

I had two Dino outbreaks in the past year and learned two things.

One, they are a pain in the behind but the stories you read here are often drastically blown out of proportions. I suspect it’s because everyone is immedietly conditioned to think they have encountered the black plague. I was of the same opinion and was discouraged and concerned the first time it happened. When I read about people boiling their rocks, I thought… hold on a second. This is nuts. There has to be a better way! After some research and trial and error, I found beating them isn’t all that hard.

Two, patience is key. Dinos are one of those things that come on hard and fast but go away slowly. I would say be ready for at least a few weeks of incremental improvements until balance is restored. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of info here, but here is what worked for me.

Step One — Buy a properly sized UV sterilizer. The operative word being “properly sized.” This is very important. I suggest you google it.

Step Two — Buy good quality nitrifying bacteria in a bottle. I like to use a combination of either Stability and Pristine or MicroBacter Clean.

Step Three — Dose Nitrates to maintain at least 4-5ppm. Feed regularly and that should take care of Phosphates. I never had to dose them.

Run the UV 24/7 until the problem is resolved. Add bacteria products at a capful per 25 gallons of water each daily. Dose nitros daily to maintain adequate levels.

The goal is to disrupt dinoflagellates life cycle with the UV light, which will reduce their population, while also creating conditions where other organisms, beneficial ones, can start to outperform it in the nutrient uptake game. In time, dinos will be gone. Well, not gone… they will never be gone. They will be held in check by a well balanced environment. Prevent another outbreak by keeping nutrients at proper levels.

Don’t give up. Stay the course. Even if you see some coral die off, as long as there is tissue there is hope!

Just curious but wouldn't running a UV light 24/7 kill a majority of the bacteria you just added before they had a chance to colonize the rock assuming the UV is strong enough to have an effect on dinos?

 

[justinfitts]

Just curious but wouldn't running a UV light 24/7 kill a majority of the bacteria you just added before they had a chance to colonize the rock assuming the UV is strong enough to have an effect on dinos?

It’s recommended to turn UV off for about an hour after dosing your bacteria

 

[iMi]

Just curious but wouldn't running a UV light 24/7 kill a majority of the bacteria you just added before they had a chance to colonize the rock assuming the UV is strong enough to have an effect on dinos?

Technically some, yes. But in general, no. UV light doesn’t “kill” bacteria or any other microbe. It damages its DNA, which makes it nearly impossible for it to reproduce. Nitrifying bacteria resides on life rock surfaces, sand, etc. Dinos enter a free floating stage when the lights are out. That slime literally lifts off the surfaces and enters the water column and can then be acted upon by the UV light.

I was gonna say you could turn off the UV light for a little while after dosing bacteria, but @justinfitts nailed it already

 

[MoreReef]

I had dinoflagellates in my tank once... ran a uv and increased feedings and that did the trick, but if you cant access or don't want to do a uv you can increase feedings without the uv, and wait for the green algae to appear and hopefully outcompete your Dinos...

 

[muffinmanXL]

Technically some, yes. But in general, no. UV light doesn’t “kill” bacteria or any other microbe. It damages its DNA, which makes it nearly impossible for it to reproduce. Nitrifying bacteria resides on life rock surfaces, sand, etc. Dinos enter a free floating stage when the lights are out. That slime literally lifts off the surfaces and enters the water column and can then be acted upon by the UV light.

I was gonna say you could turn off the UV light for a little while after dosing bacteria, but @justinfitts nailed it already

Only some types of Dinos enter the water column; UV is mostly useless if you have the type that stays within the sandbed

 

[undermind]

This is a super frustrating thread. Running a UV will accomplish squat unless his/her dinos are a type that will be affected. And it doesn't make one bit of difference how many of us in this thread killed dinos with UV. That has no impact on whether it will be effective for them.

The OP already stated that trying so many things and nothing working was reason enough to quit. So the suggestion is to go spend a few hundred on a UV?

What happens when his/her dinos don't respond to UV because they happen to be the ones that UV is useless on? They're just MORE mad with less money in their pocket when they quit?

The thing to do is to slow down, relax and read the "Are you tired of battling altogether" thread that @atnet360 suggested and form a solid plan and stick to it. Maybe the plan will include UV, maybe it won't. But it will certainly start with ID'ing them before spending a bunch more money on that.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Yeah...for real...like 30 posts ago we established that the most important thing OP can do right now is identify the dinos which they agree to do...that should definitely be the first step. Let's all of us just wait for the ID...

 

[atnet360]

This is a super frustrating thread. Running a UV will accomplish squat unless his/her dinos are a type that will be affected. And it doesn't make one bit of difference how many of us in this thread killed dinos with UV. That has no impact on whether it will be effective for them.

The OP already stated that trying so many things and nothing working was reason enough to quit. So the suggestion is to go spend a few hundred on a UV?

What happens when his/her dinos don't respond to UV because they happen to be the ones that UV is useless on? They're just MORE mad with less money in their pocket when they quit?

The thing to do is to slow down, relax and read the "Are you tired of battling altogether" thread and form a solid plan and stick to it. Maybe the plan will include UV, but it will certainly start with ID'ing them before spending a bunch more money on that.

So much this!!!

Apply the wrong treatment - - > do more harm than good - - > get more frustrated - - > breakdown your tank and sell your stuff for pennies on the dollar.

 

[Reefer/0]

Dinos been pretty much solved with plenty of people successfully getting rid of it. I am surprised your research hasn't shown you the cause and the treatment. Usually just manual removal and raising nitrate / phosphate + adding biodiversity will do the trick.

+1 on this