Options for Combating a Dino Outbreak

[Patrick Cox]

Here’s a mediocre quality video. Does this help identify what I’ve got.?

 

[EnterName]

Here’s a mediocre quality video. Does this help identify what I’ve got.?

Very hard to see but I would guess Amphidinium spp. from the movement and shape.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Very hard to see but I would guess Amphidinium spp. from the movement and shape.

That’s what ChatGPT said. I understand those are difficult to treat.

 

[EnterName]

I understand those are difficult to treat.

Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't.
To be honest, I don't think the ID matters too much. The treatment methods we have so far are rather experimental (sometimes they work, sometimes they don't). I know people say Amphidinium doesn't leave the substrate so it isn't susceptible to UV sterilizers, but a plankton sieve tests says otherwise, so I would still use all the available treatment methods available until something works, including a UV sterilizer.

 

[Falcareef]

Let me tell you what worked for me and how I finally managed to get rid of dinos.

These lovely guests made their way into my tank after I made the mistake of letting my phosphate drop to zero. I was constantly dosing phosphate to keep it between 0.03 and 0.08, but it kept dropping back to zero. While researching phosphates, I came across Randy's article (an excellent read), and it helped me stop being afraid of higher phosphate levels. So, I decided to raise them all at once to 0.25 and tried to keep them around that level until things stabilized. All three of my corals tolerated the change and survived that little bit of extra love.

I started using a UV Sweeper because I was dealing with both LCA and SCA, and this device is designed to target benthic dinos. Within a week, my sand and rocks looked exactly the way I wanted them to. However, whenever I gave the dinos a chance, they would show up again to say hello. I was dosing Nitribiotic according to the recommended instructions for use alongside UV, and the tank looked great, but the dinos were still lurking in the background. If I got lazy or stopped dosing, they would come right back.

I moved all three corals to one side of the tank, left the lights on only over that section, and turned off the other three Radions and both T5 bulbs. It worked just as I expected: the dinos only appeared in the illuminated section. Blacking out the rest of the tank worked really well, but even if I got lazy or neglected things for two or three days, my beloved guests would decorate the illuminated area again.

I had a lot of rock and biological media, including some in the sump. One night, during one of those moments when a single brain cell suddenly decides to get to work, I started thinking about everything I had researched and read on the forums regarding bacterial colonization and competition against dinos.

I decided to remove the excess rock and all the rock I had in the sump. I only had eight juvenile fish, so my reasoning was that, with such a small bioload, bacteria wouldn't be able to fully colonize all that rock and substrate.

The result? Within two weeks, while maintaining the same treatment, I was finally able to say goodbye to my unwanted guests. I haven't seen them since!

For an entire month, I practically lived behind my microscope, checking constantly to make sure they weren't coming back. Nothing! Then I started checking every three days, and everything was still looking wonderful.

After that, I gradually turned the other lights back on, one at a time, checking samples under the microscope along the way. Once all the lights were back on, I continued monitoring, and everything remained clear.

The only change I noticed was that phosphate levels started rising, but I began managing them and got them under control.

Just like you, after spending so much time trying to find a solution, I even considered removing all the sand. But honestly, I really didn't want to have a bare-bottom tank. I'm glad I didn't have to!