So, it's me. The guy with Dinos. The tank is a month old and somehow, here we are. It's tempting to break it all down and start over, since there's nothing really in there to lose. That said, I'm confident I can kick it's butt. Here's my approach:
Phase 1: Physical and Photo
The hope for this is to knock them down enough to where the other biomass in the system can out-compete them. It may not work. It's worth a try since it's free, though. Free sounds appealing.
Phase 2: Chemical
If things don't work the way I'm hoping, it's going to get a little more drastic. I'll repeat the steps above for the manual clean, and then go with this guide: https://s3.amazonaws.com/brsinstructions/brsDrTims/DrTims_Dinoflagellate_Recipe_BRS.pdf. I realize I'll want to pull my snails out, and throw them in QT. That's fine with me. They can chillax in a 5.5g with some fresh nori to munch on. They'll survive. This should take about a month, since I'll repeat it twice if I need to.
Phase 3: Nuclear Blast
If this still doesn't help, I'll splurge on a UV sterilizer. I can't say I planned things well enough, and this is going to be a hang it over the side" solution which...doesn't thrill me. I'll go Pentair 25W (for this 90g tank, it's fine) and let this run about a month.
Phase 4: Cry a little
I'm hoping that I don't get to this phase, but it could happen. Here's where you'll find me in the fetal position in the corner. Send cookies. Or Rum. Maybe both.
Either way, I'll keep this post updated with progress, since I'm well aware I'm not the only one dealing with these suckers.
Phase 1: Physical and Photo
The hope for this is to knock them down enough to where the other biomass in the system can out-compete them. It may not work. It's worth a try since it's free, though. Free sounds appealing.
- 25% WC
- Clean off Sand
- Clean off LR (and the poor snails bless their hearts)
- Pull Chaeto and then rinse it clean in a bucket. Gonna lose some pods through this, but I do love the folks at Algaebarn and wouldn't mind giving them more business.
- Skimmer set to super wet, since this is going to look kinda ugly
- Both Sump and DT lights are off for a week. Chaeto may get grumpy, but I'd rather have to buy new Chaeto if that's my biggest loss here.
- Continue to dose Phyto daily to feed the pod population
- Give this two total weeks to see if it did any good.
Phase 2: Chemical
If things don't work the way I'm hoping, it's going to get a little more drastic. I'll repeat the steps above for the manual clean, and then go with this guide: https://s3.amazonaws.com/brsinstructions/brsDrTims/DrTims_Dinoflagellate_Recipe_BRS.pdf. I realize I'll want to pull my snails out, and throw them in QT. That's fine with me. They can chillax in a 5.5g with some fresh nori to munch on. They'll survive. This should take about a month, since I'll repeat it twice if I need to.
Phase 3: Nuclear Blast
If this still doesn't help, I'll splurge on a UV sterilizer. I can't say I planned things well enough, and this is going to be a hang it over the side" solution which...doesn't thrill me. I'll go Pentair 25W (for this 90g tank, it's fine) and let this run about a month.
Phase 4: Cry a little
I'm hoping that I don't get to this phase, but it could happen. Here's where you'll find me in the fetal position in the corner. Send cookies. Or Rum. Maybe both.
Either way, I'll keep this post updated with progress, since I'm well aware I'm not the only one dealing with these suckers.