Newbie needing dino help.
- Thread starter Llorgon
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Wirat
Active Member
I am fighting the same battle my friend. Just began dosing silicates along with having elevated nutrients for around two weeks now. Seems to be getting better little by little, just taking some time.
Llorgon
Well-Known Member
Oh I have that as well. Never actually used the valve. I should try it.
Good luck. I definitely started noticing more of a difference when I started dosing silicates. Could be a coincidence though.
Update time. Been about 5 days since my last water change. Dinos are definitely not coming back as strong or as quickly.
I did lose a snail, maybe 2. So I have changed and added more carbon. I finally bit the bullet and cleaned the front glass. It was a pod massacre! You could see them floating in the water. Was interesting seeing the fish go after them in the water. Unfortunately my wife didn't agree. It does make the tank look much better though.
I am having some trouble with my hammer coral. It's been closed up for awhile. The frogspawn beside it seems to be fine. Any ideas on how to get it happy again?
Reefgirl79
Community Member
I just started getting dino's as well. Fi dino it hard to identify even with microscope.
There is so much info out there it starts getting overwhelming.
Few things I learned
Dino due to lack of nutrients:
1. If it's due to lack of nutrients, waterchanges are your enemy.
2. Lack of biodiversity so adding bacteria and pods, phyto to feed pods will add competition for the dino's.
Dino's from too high of nutrients:
1. Adding chaeto reactor helps
2. gfo helps
3. Waterchanges help.
There is so much info out there it starts getting overwhelming.
Few things I learned
Dino due to lack of nutrients:
1. If it's due to lack of nutrients, waterchanges are your enemy.
2. Lack of biodiversity so adding bacteria and pods, phyto to feed pods will add competition for the dino's.
Dino's from too high of nutrients:
1. Adding chaeto reactor helps
2. gfo helps
3. Waterchanges help.
Llorgon
Well-Known Member
I use seachem phosphorus and nitrate. You can get it at most any LFS.
At first you will have to add a lot of it to see any raise in nutrients. By a lot I mean I was dosing 4 cap fulls 3 times a day for close to 2 weeks. After awhile the levels will even out and then you won't need to add near as much.
Agreed lots of info out there. Hard to comb through what is good and what isn't. My dinos were caused from lack of nutrients.
I have noticed the biggest improvement to the dinos when I started doing water changes. I started doing water changes using tap water and I have had more algae growth and less dino growth. Agreed on the lack of biodiversity. I have heard that some bacteria can fuel the outbreak though. I was only able to add pods and the like once the outbreak had subsided a bit and the toxins were reduced enough.
Depending on what type of dinos you have UV can help as well.
Llorgon
Well-Known Member
Update time. It has been about 7 days since my last water change where I was sucking out dinos. The tank is looking much better! At least dinos wise. There is still tons of gha. Just waiting for the lfs to get some smaller tangs in. Which I am hoping will help.
On the downside, all 3 trochus snails I bought 2 weeks ago have died. Not sure the cause. The 2 astreas I bought at the same time are doing well. I tested the water and everything seems fine. All other snails and hermits are doing well and fish are doing well.
Hammer coral is still unhappy though. But my one mushroom has split which is cool.
On the downside, all 3 trochus snails I bought 2 weeks ago have died. Not sure the cause. The 2 astreas I bought at the same time are doing well. I tested the water and everything seems fine. All other snails and hermits are doing well and fish are doing well.
Hammer coral is still unhappy though. But my one mushroom has split which is cool.
Chris Villalobos
Active Member
About the GHA. I seriously doubt any form of CUC will touch that. If you want to get rid of that much GHA you need to manually remove it. I'd take the rocks out and scrub them.
How old is your tank because it looks less than a year old?
How many gallons of water are in your tank including sump?
Did you ever add any beneficial bacteria?
How much are you feeding?
How old is your tank because it looks less than a year old?
How many gallons of water are in your tank including sump?
Did you ever add any beneficial bacteria?
How much are you feeding?
Llorgon
Well-Known Member
When I do a water change I pull a bunch out, but it grows back quick. I have a yellow tang on hold at my lfs so hopefully once that is done QT it will help a bit in keeping it in check.
Tank is about 6 months old.
I think the total volume of water I have is 80 gal
Never added any bacteria. Just let in cycle from putting in some pieces of shrimp.
I feed once a day, alternating between flake, pellet and frozen
Chris Villalobos
Active Member
You got a bad bout of the uglies, it happens to all new tanks under 2 years of age. If it was me I would lower the amount you feed and get NO3 down to around 2PPM and PO4 down to 0.03PPM. Lower the lighting. Add beneficial bacteria like waste away. You will just have to be "Johnny on the Spot" with the hair algae until you can build up good bacteria and coraline algae. Expect to deal with this for awhile. Your coral growing is going to be put off for awhile too. Sorry
Llorgon
Well-Known Member
Well I had the N & P elevated to help fight dinos. How soon do I start to lower them again once they have almost all disappeared? I don't want the dinos to make a comeback. I've just now got the tank not looking like complete crap! I don't want to go back by dropping things too soon.
Chris Villalobos
Active Member
I personally think that dino's are driven by organic nutrients (you need Triton's N-DOC to test for organics). My belief is that we are either feeding too much or our good bacteria population has been compromised. I beat dinos with the parameters I posted. Bacteria dose Waste Away or something comparable and reduce your feedings and you will beat both the dinos and the GHA. It will take time though.
Llorgon
Well-Known Member
Interesting. For me it was the opposite. I got dinos when N&P got too low. I was only feeding half a cube of mysis every other day. Then dinos started to recede when I upped my N & P and dosed silicates. I will take a look at the waste away stuff. Probably wouldn't hurt to add some.
Chris Villalobos
Active Member
We can have low NO3 & PO4 but also high organic Nitrogen in our tanks. Dino's thrive in that environment.
Llorgon
Well-Known Member
Bit of a update, there has been no signs of dinos in the tank for a week or so now. Still have tons of hair algae. I have been pulling it out bit by bit every night. How long after you stop seeing visible dinos should you wait before getting N&P back down to normal levels. Currently they are at 2.97ppm P and 10ppm N. I have just been letting them drop naturally now.
The yellow tang I picked up is doing well, but shows no interest in the gha.
The yellow tang I picked up is doing well, but shows no interest in the gha.
Chris Villalobos
Active Member
My tangs never ate gha when it was long. I would to scrub it down to the rock. Phosphate should be more around 0.02 - 0.05 PPM. It's gonna take a lot of scrubbing, but will be worth it in the end. Good Luck!
Chris Villalobos
Active Member
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