Mack’s Reef dino support group

[Jason mack]

So Dinos are driving me crazy now ...

I'd siphoned all this out before I left for work today

So now tonight

I've cleaned the sump ...pulled and cleaned my ATS, and media reactor ...dosing pumps are off for 2 days ....

and now we nuke them ...!!!! I hope this works ...if not I'm gonna tear it apart ...!!!!

 

[GoVols]

Mack,
I'm sorry that I missed the call out.

Have you dosed Dino-X yet?

Freddie

 

[Jason mack]

Mack,
I'm sorry that I missed the call out.

Have you dosed Dino-X yet?

Freddie

Yes I have Freddie , in fact I've just done the second dose tonight ..I've seen what might be a slight improvement but nothing significant...Will know more tomorrow ...the problem is it says to stop dosing trace elements ..which triton has so the dosing pump is off ...and I do t know how long I can keep it off ...if I have too dose dinoX every 2 days ...plus what happens when I turn it back on and start dosing ...Will the dinos come back ....at the moment it's a lot of ifs and buts ..
I've stripped my sump back too just a skimmer ...back too basics ...tank in general is looking good everything is open ..what sps I have seem too be hanging on ...but it's certainly not the tank it was ...I'm still really happy with the kessils ...and now I worked out the ramp up and down , I'm really impressed ..Love them ..glad I bought them ...
If dino X doesn't work ...I'm going too pull everything clean it all ..new sand in and put it back ....but that's a big step that I really do not want too do ...
Have now bought a jebo 36w uv ..so 1w per 3gal ...so that will be next step

 

[Jason mack]

This this is how the tank looks today after the second dose of dinoX ...it's less for sure....but I'm not sure if it's the dino X...anyway my alk is at 7.7dkh and my po4 is 0.19 no3 100...not sure where too go from here ....do I do another dose leaving everything off for another 2 days ...or put the rowaphos back on and triton ....it's gonna give me more issues I don't need ....should I do another 3day blackout with the dino X...
I'm at a loss .........
Oh one thing I have noticed is both my watchman goby and sandhapper have both disappeared after dosing dinoX, I don't see them for a day ..then they show up again ,dosed ...went missing ...again today ...this is unusual behaviour for my fish ....so I'm sure dinoX is affecting just them 2 ...everyone else seems happy

 

[Jason mack]

Tanks looking good today ...3 third round of dinoX tonight ...then a water change and dosing back on ....see what happens .....that's my plan anyway ....

 

[Mike T IL]

Beautiful, Great job!

 

[Jason mack]

Beautiful, Great job!

Still a long way too go yet ..!!!

 

[GoVols]

Still a long way too go yet ..!!!

Mack,
I did not think... about the Triton trace elements.

Please follow Dino-X's directions to a tee.

It worked for me in 2015, but it did kill all my inverts except BTA's back then including a Crocea clam that had bored deep into the live rock.
FM may have changed the formula since 2015.

Good Luck... ;Nailbiting



Freddie

 

[Jason mack]

DinoX has not worked one bit :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

 

[NY_Caveman]

DinoX has not worked one bit :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

That is a real bummer.

 

[SPR1968]

Whats the plan now then Jason, any thoughts ?

 

[Jason mack]

To be honest ....I have no idea .!

 

[SPR1968]

To be honest ....I have no idea .!

When you did the original black out you said it had reduced them by around 60%, but then of course they started to return.

I’ve just been reading through the Dino x instructions and it says you can increase the dose, and also you need maybe 10 doses and to make sure there is no carbon etc in place.And from the date of the posts I’m guessing you should still be dosing it every 2 days maybe ?

You’ve probably seen this but it looks like the lighting element may be critical as it says no more than 6 hours lights and to dose 1 hour after lights out, wet skimming etc. In particular when Photosynthesis of Zooanthellae algae is discontinued

https://www.faunamarin.de/en/dino-x-250ml-remove-any-hairy-or-plague-type-algae/a-84/

I’ve never actually used it, although I have a bottle, but from what @GoVols said and from the notes it looks like the various parts of the instructions are critical

If it were me, and please do a bit of research on this as to feasibility as this is just ‘my thoughts’, I would look at doing another blackout whilst dosing Dino x as a possible option as clearly light looks like it’s a potential issue. And just double check everything is off line that should be.

Just my thoughts anyway to maybe give you a few ideas

 

[Jason mack]

When you did the original black out you said it had reduced them by around 60%, but then of course they started to return.

I’ve just been reading through the Dino x instructions and it says you can increase the dose, and also you need maybe 10 doses and to make sure there is no carbon etc in place.And from the date of the posts I’m guessing you should still be dosing it every 2 days maybe ?

You’ve probably seen this but it looks like the lighting element may be critical as it says no more than 6 hours lights and to dose 1 hour after lights out, wet skimming etc. In particular when Photosynthesis of Zooanthellae algae is discontinued

https://www.faunamarin.de/en/dino-x-250ml-remove-any-hairy-or-plague-type-algae/a-84/

I’ve never actually used it, although I have a bottle, but from what @GoVols said and from the notes it looks like the various parts of the instructions are critical

If it were me, and please do a bit of research on this as to feasibility as this is just ‘my thoughts’, I would look at doing another blackout whilst dosing Dino x as a possible option as clearly light looks like it’s a potential issue. And just double check everything is off line that should be.

Just my thoughts anyway to maybe give you a few ideas

The problem for me is I'm using triton...dino X says not too add trace elements when dosing ,which all the triton packs have ...calc, alk And mag...I had done 3 doses over 6 days ...but my alk dropped too just below 7 so had too start dosing again ..dino X also says too take out carbon or rowaphos ...which I also did ..but after 6 days my po4 was above 0.22...also my nitrate is now above 100ppm ...tonight I do a 1/3 water change ...tank is looking bad again and my remaining sps have started stn ing again ....I've bought a 36w uv light but not sure when it gets here .. I'm also dosing carbon from Drs now too try and get my no3 and po4 under control ....I'm really at my wits end with it all now ...so apart from ripping the whole tank apart ...I don't know what too do ....

 

[SPR1968]

Could you potentially temporarily stop dosing triton and revert to ‘standard methods’ to control the foundation element levels while your dosing. For example if your treating for a total 20 days or less, the magnesium and calcium may be ok anyway to drop a little, and maybe use a ‘basic alkalinity’ additive to maintain that during treatment as of course that’s more critical. It does mention using bailing light or limewater which don’t affect Dino x in the notes.

I’ve found temporary drops in calcium and magnesium to be less critical than alkalinity and you could always boost them up before starting treatment again

Do you think the nitrate and phosphate increase could be a result of the die off from the dino’s, as they do call for wet skimming as well. It would only be temporary anyway, as once the treatment is done you can drop the nitrate and phosphate levels back relatively quickly with water changes etc.

If you can get the foundation element issue sorted, maybe start again with very wet skimming but with all the notes, and as previously said it looks like every aspect is critical and 10 doses.

Don’t give up yet and just have a think about different options and maybe someone else will drop by and help with some ideas.

 

[Jason mack]

Could you potentially temporarily stop dosing triton and revert to ‘standard methods’ to control the foundation element levels while your dosing. For example if your treating for a total 20 days or less, the magnesium and calcium may be ok anyway to drop a little, and maybe use a ‘basic alkalinity’ additive to maintain that during treatment as of course that’s more critical. It does mention using bailing light or limewater which don’t affect Dino x in the notes.

I’ve found temporary drops in calcium and magnesium to be less critical than alkalinity and you could always boost them up before starting treatment again

Do you think the nitrate and phosphate increase could be a result of the die off from the dino’s, as they do call for wet skimming as well. It would only be temporary anyway, as once the treatment is done you can drop the nitrate and phosphate levels back relatively quickly with water changes etc.

If you can get the foundation element issue sorted, maybe start again with very wet skimming but with all the notes, and as previously said it looks like every aspect is critical and 10 doses.

Don’t give up yet and just have a think about different options and maybe someone else will drop by and help with some ideas.

Thanks for the advice ..my guy at Lfs has suggested maybe only doing half doses of triton 3a and 3b and not dose the calc and mag ...so maybe that's an idea ... but what about po4 ..how can i control that while dosing dinoX.??after reading your post I started looking at lime water ...I had considered that also as an option ..if I can get it ...I've done a 1/3 wc tonight ..gonna test everything tomorrow see where I'm at ...my girlfriend has also said don't give up ...she was getting worried I might decide too just stop ..which was kinda nice ..!!

 

[Jason mack]

Ok found and bought this on eBay

So that's another option....plus I'm waiting on my 36w jebo uv ...(which by the way is the same length as my sump ) but I really think I need too get my no3 under control and down too acceptable levels ..my thinking for this is that if my coolia dinos thrive in a high nutrients ..then I need too start there...also after reading fudsey's posts over using copepods and phytoplankton...I've now found a supplier in England who has something similar too what algae barn has and will ship as well ...so next payday that's getting ordered ...

 

[najer]

I hate reading this, don't give up and don't rush, great advice above.
Do you have a refugium or algae reactor?
How are your levels after the water change?

 

[Jason mack]

Don't know what's going on anymore ...did my 100 litre wc last night ...this morning my sandhapper dead ....yellow doctor not eating and looking sheepish .. zoas not opening and in fact melting ..goniapora not opening .....tank looks half empty now ..

 

[SPR1968]

Sorry to hear this Jason, I seem to think dinoflagellates can release toxins which might have been an issue.

I read a great deal on these things when I was having the issues, this is another article if you haven’t seen it

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/how-i-beat-dinoflagellates-and-the-lessons-i-learned

As @najer says, ‘don’t give up’ , regroup and decide on a definite course of action, you can beat them.