Definitely thinking have a pretty bad dinoflagellate outbreak on the top of my Marco rocks after watching/reading about more examples and pictures. I had been assuming it was just a lot of brown algae... Guessing it's because I only had one or two fish in 40g, was lightly feeding, doing weekly water changes, and Hydra LEDs were on full blast for 10 hrs/day. Microscope should arrive tomorrow to confirm and identify species.
Starting parameters: 0.04ppm phosphate and 0.8ppm nitrate (A couple weeks ago this was holding steady at 8ppm...).
Tank finished initial ammonia cycle about 5-6 weeks ago.
Plan of attack:
Starting parameters: 0.04ppm phosphate and 0.8ppm nitrate (A couple weeks ago this was holding steady at 8ppm...).
Tank finished initial ammonia cycle about 5-6 weeks ago.
Plan of attack:
- Manually trim the growth back as much as possible and blast rocks with turkey baster.
- Fully cover tank in foil to black out for 72 hours and raise temperature to 82F over the course of 3 days.
- Alternately dose Brightwell Microbacter7 and Dr. Tim's Eco-Balance probiotic bacteria during/after blackout (depends on shipping) to aid in biodiversity.
- Copepods are currently all over my glass, but I can dose another bottle of Algae Barn Galaxy pods if recommended.
- Dino X treatment if previous steps have not made a dent.
- Purchase UV sterilizer and install if previous methods did not work.
- I don't know... chuck live rock in there and see what happens??
- No water changes and no removing filter balls or filter sock. I do not own a skimmer or UV.
- Eheim autofeeder dispensing pellets every 12 hours as if feeding 2 fish.
- Carbon is on hand to remove residual Dino X post-treatment if necessary.
- Current inhabitants: No corals or fish are present in the system. Invertebrates include snails, a hermit crab, a fire shrimp, and a tiger conch. Dragon's Breath macroalgae is in display.
- Any additional plan recommendations or a change in operational order?
- Do you guys think I can/should be more aggressive since there are no corals or fish? Should I just go straight to Dino X?
- Should I throw in carbon during this process to remove any potential toxicity issues or will that only hurt trying to accumulate more nutrients?
- Assuming this resolves, do I just keep my temperature at 82F forever or is the hope that other organisms will have established to outcompete the dinos so they do not arise again at 78F?