Ostreposis Dinos; Very Capable Of Ruining A Tank..............And Making Me Think About Taking A Break From The Hobby

[MTBake]

My experience with osteropsis wasnt awful I was able to cure it in like 2 weeks
I attempted dinox but that made things exponentially worse. What ended up working for me was a 3 day blackout strong uv and peroxide. I had an extremely bad outbreak in one tank and a moderate outbreak in my other tank.
What helped the blackout and peroxide the best was taking out the rocks, scrubbing them with a toothbrush (extremely time consuming) I also filtered all the water in the tank in a 5 micron filtersock then poured it back in the tank. Give it time and you will beat it.
I've included a before and after shot of my tank

I saw the difference in your thread. Very nice improvement I've been thinking of pulling my rocks out and scrubbing them after reading that thread.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

I saw the difference in your thread. Very nice improvement I've been thinking of pulling my rocks out and scrubbing them after reading that thread.

The rock scrubbing made a world of difference. Lowered the population enough to the point where peroxide would kill it dead. My corals were all angry and I was afraid of losing them but now they look better than they ever have

 

[MTBake]

The rock scrubbing made a world of difference. Lowered the population enough to the point where peroxide would kill it dead. My corals were all angry and I was afraid of losing them but now they look better than they ever have

I've actually taken this approach on a past tank with bubble algae. It worked out pretty ok. Minimal coral losses. Lots of unintentional frags where made though

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

I've actually taken this approach on a past tank with bubble algae. It worked out pretty ok. Minimal coral losses. Lots of unintentional frags where made though

Luckily I only have 2 colonies and they were easilly removed to avoid forced fragging haha

 

[Mikedawg]

My experience with osteropsis wasnt awful I was able to cure it in like 2 weeks
I attempted dinox but that made things exponentially worse. What ended up working for me was a 3 day blackout strong uv and peroxide. I had an extremely bad outbreak in one tank and a moderate outbreak in my other tank.
What helped the blackout and peroxide the best was taking out the rocks, scrubbing them with a toothbrush (extremely time consuming) I also filtered all the water in the tank in a 5 micron filtersock then poured it back in the tank. Give it time and you will beat it.
I've included a before and after shot of my tank

Very nice; hope I can post the same one day soon

 

[Mikedawg]

I added back fresh saltwater. Still do while dealing with the coolia actually. Maintaining nutrient levels is the main reason for not changing water while fighting dinos. I was adding no3 and po4 solutions to maintain levels. Now, I just over shoot on no3 and po4 by changing water between my mantis tank once every weekend. Been shooting for over 20ppm no3 and .15ppm po4 in my "sps dominate dino trouble tank". If I didn't have the mantis tank to 'dose' with, I would add no3 and po4 solutions to maintain 10ppm and .1ppm, respectively.

Yeah, I'm at 10 and .1 as well and think that I'll go towards fresh saltwater replacement - seems somewhat pointless to add back in what you're trying to remove. Strangely enough my sps and euphyllia's, gonis are doing great; just lobos that seem to be affected. Oh well...….....

 

[Mikedawg]

@Mikedawg sorry you are going through this. I just followed this method, loosley, mind you. I documented what I did and the results. Check out this thread before you give up. Dinos and neomeris annulata made me redo my 180. Wish I had known about this method a few years ago.

Analyzing a Bacterial Method for Dinoflagellates (and cyano?)

I've seen this method posted about and tried here and there. It has more than enough success to warrant its own thread and a closer look. Failures have been of the form - it bloomed too hard and killed things. Because it relies almost entirely on the invisible activity of bottled bacterial...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks, I tried something like this early on but probably didn't follow the recommendations close enough. I'm researching now and looks like some good science behind this approach. I really don't like relying on uv sterilizers alone. Glad it worked out for you.

 

[saltyhog]

One thing I thought of. Have you sampled your dinos recently to confirm it's still the same species? When I had ostreopsis I eliminated them literally in 2-3 days with UV and then got complacent and had a return. I assumed it was still ostreopsis but when I sampled again it was nothing but amphidinium. It seems that if you eliminate the main strain you have you can pave the way for a different strain to take hold sometimes.

Just a thought if you haven't looked at it in quite a while.

 

[Mikedawg]

One thing I thought of. Have you sampled your dinos recently to confirm it's still the same species? When I had ostreopsis I eliminated them literally in 2-3 days with UV and then got complacent and had a return. I assumed it was still ostreopsis but when I sampled again it was nothing but amphidinium. It seems that if you eliminate the main strain you have you can pave the way for a different strain to take hold sometimes.

Just a thought if you haven't looked at it in quite a while.

Yes, re-examined five samples earlier today and saw that ovate shape again and it was predominate; frankly I was hoping it was amphidinium but looks like I continue to have the devil itself. Seems like dinos are a gift that keeps on giving as one species gives way to another. I had read a post of yours on another thread and was heartened to think that UV might be the solution, but so far I haven't seen a significant impact in my tank. Hopefully, it is just a matter of time and I am researching technical specs of my sterilizer to make sure it is up to the task.
Did you do a blackout and/or use hydrogen peroxide?
Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[saltyhog]

Oh well, it was a thought. Dang it!

I did use a simple 36 hour lights off "black out". No wrapping of the tank or anything like that. Basically just turned the lights off for one full cycle. This did seem to help.

I'm really surprised by your experience (and disappointed). Ostreopsis has seemed to be the "hoped for" strain to have as it's usually been the easiest to get rid of. It really is toxic though and that is the bad news. I lost every coral in my tank except two acros and my zoas before I purchased and set up my UV. Hoping this isn't some type of new strain that is somehow resistant to UV!!!!

 

[Mikedawg]

Oh well, it was a thought. Dang it!

I did use a simple 36 hour lights off "black out". No wrapping of the tank or anything like that. Basically just turned the lights off for one full cycle. This did seem to help.

I'm really surprised by your experience (and disappointed). Ostreopsis has seemed to be the "hoped for" strain to have as it's usually been the easiest to get rid of. It really is toxic though and that is the bad news. I lost every coral in my tank except two acros and my zoas before I purchased and set up my UV. Hoping this isn't some type of new strain that is somehow resistant to UV!!!!

Ha ha, as quickly as it reconstitutes itself, about 15 minutes after siphoning before it combines again into sticky strands in my experience, it must be highly adaptable. I'm re-examining my treatment protocol thinking that I might be overlooking something given the number of people who have responded positively to this thread.
Thx

 

[Grossman90]

Dose 1ml of what per 10 gallons? H2O2?

Woops yeah peroxide. Lol. Its the whole combination of uv/blackout/peroxide/bubble scrub to keep ph up that did my ostreopsis in. Peroxide and uv alone didn't do anything. My uv was a turbo twist 36w for my 50g tank. Instructions recommended 290gph going through uv to kill parasites. I used a 314gph pump but by the time it pulled the water up to the uv it was around or below the 290 mark. Hope this helps.

 

[Katrina71]

Been waiting for an update. Anything new with this?

 

[ScottB]

I am really sorry and surprised that this is dragging on for you. My battles have been intense, but of short duration. I could never have sustained the fight as long as you. Kudos for endurance.

Three questions:
a) How old is that bulb and are you sure it is running properly? We had a breakout on a FOWLR tank with UV. I confirmed the bulb was running, but it was 18+ months old. Changed the bulb and presto. Dead dinos.
b) Are you feeding phyto or aminos? Stop if you are; in my frag tank at least, they thrive on the stuff.
c) Are you running the UV in/out of the display and not the sump? Again from experience, it works much better that way.

 

[Mikedawg]

Been waiting for an update. Anything new with this?

Thanks for asking, ha ha. Never heard back from the Ruby Reef folks re: does Rally impact dino's and after reading label more closely I think it is formulated to work against parasites, not necessarily protists like dinos. So, I bought the largest uv sterilzer I could find which would fit in my AIO sump - an Aquatop product which I really like btw, and am minimizing skimming and water changes, making sure nitrate is about 10 and phosphate around .1 and dosing hydrogen peroxide at night. 1 ml/10 gal. So far this regimen has eliminated all algae which I don't necessarily believe is a good thing since my strategy is to ultimately increase the number and kind of organisms that will successfully compete with dinos. Along the way I lost two more beautiful symphillias and have a couple of lobos with some tissue recession. Inverts doing fine.

Only been running sterilizer for three days and do havefewer dinos, so hoping this strategy will work.

Oh yeah, I've decided not to give up and let something with no brain, no nerves and certainly no heart defeat me!!!

 

[Mikedawg]

I am really sorry and surprised that this is dragging on for you. My battles have been intense, but of short duration. I could never have sustained the fight as long as you. Kudos for endurance.

Three questions:
a) How old is that bulb and are you sure it is running properly? We had a breakout on a FOWLR tank with UV. I confirmed the bulb was running, but it was 18+ months old. Changed the bulb and presto. Dead dinos.
b) Are you feeding phyto or aminos? Stop if you are; in my frag tank at least, they thrive on the stuff.
c) Are you running the UV in/out of the display and not the sump? Again from experience, it works much better that way.

Thanks Scott, altho it is more about being stubborn than endurance for me!
Brand new unit and bulb is illuminated so I assume it is working; slowest water flow dialed in. Stopped dosing phyto a few days ago. Unfortunately, because I have a RS 260 AIO, I have to have the uv unit in the sump and imagine I am losing some effectiveness.
Did you have ovata species as well?

 

[ScottB]

Stubbornness can be a virtue too.

Yes on the ovata. In my second battle now, but SO MUCH easier to deal with the second time around.

Proximate cause: I added another frag tank to my frag system and failed to up my dosing & or fish load quick enough. And uh... was dosing phyto & aminos. This won't happen a third time.

To give you a sense of just how "local" ostreopsis are: My frag system is a 40G frag, and two 80G frag tanks all tied together with two sumps. I only have ostreos in ONE tank. The other tanks & sumps are all clear.

Here is a picture. You can guess which tank it is based on the elegant installation of the UV hanging on the side glass. My wife would hate me if this were on the upstairs display tank. Whew.

 

[Mikedawg]

Stubbornness can be a virtue too.

Yes on the ovata. In my second battle now, but SO MUCH easier to deal with the second time around.

Proximate cause: I added another frag tank to my frag system and failed to up my dosing & or fish load quick enough. And uh... was dosing phyto & aminos. This won't happen a third time.

To give you a sense of just how "local" ostreopsis are: My frag system is a 40G frag, and two 80G frag tanks all tied together with two sumps. I only have ostreos in ONE tank. The other tanks & sumps are all clear.

Here is a picture. You can guess which tank it is based on the elegant installation of the UV hanging on the side glass. My wife would hate me if this were on the upstairs display tank. Whew.

Good to hear of your progress. I don't think we mere humans can eliminate dinos (my reading suggests that they are found in many marine, freshwater and even moist soil ecosystems and do serve important functions) but hopefully I/mankind can learn how to better manage them.
Appreciate your comments

 

[hart24601]

Wow, sorry to hear about so many troubles. UV have totally cleared up my dinos every time I have had them on a few systems in just a few days. I wonder what is going on. Is the UV working? Bad bulb or something?

 

[ScottB]

Good to hear of your progress. I don't think we mere humans can eliminate dinos (my reading suggests that they are found in many marine, freshwater and even moist soil ecosystems and do serve important functions) but hopefully I/mankind can learn how to better manage them.
Appreciate your comments

My belief as well. Almost anything that has ever been in your tank is still lurking in there, waiting for it's next moment in the sun.

My pic did not attach. Here we go: