I'm assuming this is the dreaded dinoflatellates?

992gnt

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No blackout, but I did reduce lighting by about 10% overall, turned off the skimmer, and increased feeding to get the nutrients back up. Water changes (before the UV) made things worse since the nutrients were already bottomed out. So far I've been able to avoid having to dose NO3 and PO4 by feeding alone.
 
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mikez104

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Cool. I just did water tests and I have 0 nitrates. I have to raise that. I don't have a phosphate test kit so IDK what that is but everything else seems to be in check. I almost need more fish just so I have something to feed.
 

ggNoRe

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I agree with waiting for the UV. I too noticed a negative effect on corals from peroxide. Everyone on forums says wattage has to be 1W per 3G and plumbed into the display. Instead I purchased a 55W for my 200G and plumbed it in my sump. Worked amazingly well. Dino clear for months now.

Best of luck!
 

992gnt

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My outbreak was due to both NO3 and PO4 being too low, I would suggest picking up a PO4 test kit to have visibility of where that parameter is as well. I increased my testing frequency over the last 2 weeks as well, to make sure things were trending in the right direction. Good luck!
 

Cory

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My dinos are coming back in the sump after 1 year without them. Po4 on hanna is .55ppm and no3 is 100ppm. I too also got them when nutrients were zero but now it doesnt matter my nutrient level, they come back. I did notice a correlation tbough. My tanks green algae is significantly reduced despite high nutrients. Strange. When i replace my uv bulb, they will be gone the next day.
 

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Cool. I just did water tests and I have 0 nitrates. I have to raise that. I don't have a phosphate test kit so IDK what that is but everything else seems to be in check. I almost need more fish just so I have something to feed.
You definitely want to have measurable phosphates and nitrates or dinos will come back. You want to create an environment where beneficial bacteria and algae thrive and you need nutrients for that. Many of us had to dose nitrates and phosphates at the beginning of the dino fight. Later, good fish feeding will replace the need for additives. Good luck.
 
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mikez104

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You definitely want to have measurable phosphates and nitrates or dinos will come back. You want to create an environment where beneficial bacteria and algae thrive and you need nutrients for that. Many of us had to dose nitrates and phosphates at the beginning of the dino fight. Later, good fish feeding will replace the need for additives. Good luck.
What did you dose to bring up the nitrates and phosphates?
 
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mikez104

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And I just realized that I misspelled dinoflagellate in the thread title ;Facepalm. Thanks for not making fun lol.

So today I went to the local petco today to pick up the 24w green killing machine that was said to be in stock... And yep, you guessed it, not in stock. There were two other locations in the Pittsburgh area that were also supposed to have one also and the Petco gent was nice enough to call the other locations to check for me and they didn't have them either.

Went to the local fish store and they actually had a few UV sterilizers to choose from. I ended up getting an Aqua Ultraviolet 15W hang on unit. It was twice as much and didn't have a pump but beggars can't be choosers. I had an old powerhead that I repurposed. The lights are at about 15% power and I've turned off the skimmer. Not sure what else I'm supposed to be doing.
PXL_20210827_234049940~2.jpg
 

ggNoRe

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And I just realized that I misspelled dinoflagellate in the thread title ;Facepalm. Thanks for not making fun lol.

So today I went to the local petco today to pick up the 24w green killing machine that was said to be in stock... And yep, you guessed it, not in stock. There were two other locations in the Pittsburgh area that were also supposed to have one also and the Petco gent was nice enough to call the other locations to check for me and they didn't have them either.

Went to the local fish store and they actually had a few UV sterilizers to choose from. I ended up getting an Aqua Ultraviolet 15W hang on unit. It was twice as much and didn't have a pump but beggars can't be choosers. I had an old powerhead that I repurposed. The lights are at about 15% power and I've turned off the skimmer. Not sure what else I'm supposed to be doing.
PXL_20210827_234049940~2.jpg
Manually remove what dinoflagellates you can. I typically did this by tooth brush scrub while syphoning into a filter sock back into the sump. You can use filter floss if you dont have a sock and make sure use plenty of filter floss in your overflow compartment. This plus what you already setup and hopefully you will be completely dino free in a week. It doesn't hurt to dose bottled bacteria and nitrates and phosphates during that time as well. Good luck!
 

Cory

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And I just realized that I misspelled dinoflagellate in the thread title ;Facepalm. Thanks for not making fun lol.

So today I went to the local petco today to pick up the 24w green killing machine that was said to be in stock... And yep, you guessed it, not in stock. There were two other locations in the Pittsburgh area that were also supposed to have one also and the Petco gent was nice enough to call the other locations to check for me and they didn't have them either.

Went to the local fish store and they actually had a few UV sterilizers to choose from. I ended up getting an Aqua Ultraviolet 15W hang on unit. It was twice as much and didn't have a pump but beggars can't be choosers. I had an old powerhead that I repurposed. The lights are at about 15% power and I've turned off the skimmer. Not sure what else I'm supposed to be doing.
PXL_20210827_234049940~2.jpg
This is a good unit compared to the green killing machine. And youncould qctually resell it later on for a decent price.
 
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mikez104

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Manually remove what dinoflagellates you can. I typically did this by tooth brush scrub while syphoning into a filter sock back into the sump. You can use filter floss if you dont have a sock and make sure use plenty of filter floss in your overflow compartment. This plus what you already setup and hopefully you will be completely dino free in a week. It doesn't hurt to dose bottled bacteria and nitrates and phosphates during that time as well. Good luck!
What to dose to raise nitrates and phosphates? dwest tried to link above but the links are broken.
 

992gnt

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I was going to use Brightwell NeoPhos and NeoNitro but held off to see how the increased feeding and UV would react first. In my case, that was enough and I never purchased the Brightwell supplements.
 
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mikez104

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I was going to use Brightwell NeoPhos and NeoNitro but held off to see how the increased feeding and UV would react first. In my case, that was enough and I never purchased the Brightwell supplements.
I need some livestock to actually eat the food from the increased feeding. All I have left is 1 bangeye Cardinal, 1 cleaner shrimp and my algae blenny + snails and crabs. The algae blenny is my favorite. When I put some nori on the clip, he guards it like a boss. It's an awesome fish. And those crazy eyes lol. Maybe time to pick up something else. I have no lid though so jumpers are out.
 
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mikez104

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I know this is probably just wishful thinking and all in my head but even after lights out, my remaining corals still have polyps extended and are looking better than before. I'm not getting my hopes up.
 

992gnt

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I was only feeding once per day, and increased to twice per day. That was enough in my case, but I've got a much higher bioload. You might need to dose to bring the levels up.
 
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mikez104

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So day 4 of the battle and it seems to be going well. In the past, every day I had to remove dinos from my leather coral. This morning it had none and I saw no new growth where I have removed it. I've done several different things. So far I've...
  • Installed the UV unit
  • Vacuumed the sand bed and tried to remove as much of them as possible
  • Changed the lighting to almost all blue
  • Stopped water changes
  • Turned off the skimmer
  • Increased feeding
  • Daily filter sock cleaning
Waiting on my NeoPhos and NeoNitro to show up so I can increase those levels. Should arrive tomorrow. I think one thing that may have helped is I shut off the return pump and cranked up my gyre to try an blow loose all that snot and get it in the water column. Ran it that way for a few hours trying to get as much through the UV then turned the return pump back on and caught most in the filter socks. We'll see what the future brings but fingers crossed.
 
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mikez104

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So how did your plan go?
So so. Turns out I have two types. The ones that go into the water column and the ones that migrate down into the sand at night. The ones in the water column were destroyed by the UV in a few days. The ones on the sand bed are still there. I have tried to increase the phosphates and nitrates and have a hard time getting them to a measurable level. When I was trying to do that, my coral started to look bad so I tried a water change and they turned right around.

So now I back at the point where I have no phosphates or nitrates and the dinos are populating on the sand bed. I have slowly been removing them and the sand. Not sure where to go from here.
 

attiland

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So so. Turns out I have two types. The ones that go into the water column and the ones that migrate down into the sand at night. The ones in the water column were destroyed by the UV in a few days. The ones on the sand bed are still there. I have tried to increase the phosphates and nitrates and have a hard time getting them to a measurable level. When I was trying to do that, my coral started to look bad so I tried a water change and they turned right around.

So now I back at the point where I have no phosphates or nitrates and the dinos are populating on the sand bed. I have slowly been removing them and the sand. Not sure where to go from here.
I take it it is Amphidinium than what you have left. I have had these and silicates dosing works just like a charm and the Corals didn’t mind it. So fare I don’t know anyone who had problems with diatoms bloom used to outcompete dinos.
 
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