Hi All,
I have a 65 gallon reef and I've been fighting ostreopsis dinoflagellates for well over a year now. My partner has a healthy 315 gallon tank with no visible dinoflagellates. His tank is very healthy except for the presents of aptasia. I've been dosing silicates for a couple weeks now, but still can't find any diatoms in my tank. However, I took a sampling of my partner's sand bed and his is swarming with diatoms.
I was thinking about taking a small portion of his sandbed and introducing it to my aquarium to "inoculate" my aquarium, so to speak. However, while looking at his sand in the microscope, I also noticed he has amphidinium dinos in his sandbed. Not many, but some.
Is taking some of his sandbed and introducing it to my tank an effective way to re-introduce diatoms to my aquarium? Is it a good idea?
If I do introduce it, how do I prevent myself from also introducing aptasia into my aquarium, or winding up with two strains of dinos to fight?
I have a 65 gallon reef and I've been fighting ostreopsis dinoflagellates for well over a year now. My partner has a healthy 315 gallon tank with no visible dinoflagellates. His tank is very healthy except for the presents of aptasia. I've been dosing silicates for a couple weeks now, but still can't find any diatoms in my tank. However, I took a sampling of my partner's sand bed and his is swarming with diatoms.
I was thinking about taking a small portion of his sandbed and introducing it to my aquarium to "inoculate" my aquarium, so to speak. However, while looking at his sand in the microscope, I also noticed he has amphidinium dinos in his sandbed. Not many, but some.
Is taking some of his sandbed and introducing it to my tank an effective way to re-introduce diatoms to my aquarium? Is it a good idea?
If I do introduce it, how do I prevent myself from also introducing aptasia into my aquarium, or winding up with two strains of dinos to fight?
