Please ID my Dinoflagelletes (3 Videos under microscope)

Micro-Reefs Aquarium · Jul 28, 2021

Video #1

Video#2

This last video is of my LPS 12 gallon AIO system

I know the video is bad, it was all I could do with a $19.99 plastic microscope. Is anyone out there familiar with the shapes of these Dinos?

Thanks,

MG

taricha · Jul 29, 2021

Even though I can't quite make out the part of the cell at the front needed to be definitive, I'm leaning pretty hard towards amphidinium dinos

Micro-Reefs Aquarium · Jul 29, 2021

taricha said:
Even though I can't quite make out the part of the cell at the front needed to be definitive, I'm leaning pretty hard towards amphidinium dinos

That is what I figured based on all the videos I have seen and what others have talked about. During the night, they go down into my sandbed, since they have that mobility. I have UV connected to all three of my tanks. Other than having crystal clear blue water due to the help of my UV's it doesn't do a darn thing to these partcular Dinos.I

My 30 gallon developed what my LFS and I believed might be Dino's so I purchased a tiger conch to see if he would attempt to eat what ever was on the sand bed.

He did, he cleared out my entire sandbed in two nights turning it back white, now get this it looked like Dino's it had the snot look and the air bubbles, so I thought he had eaten Dino's. I will post the video so you can see how he cleared out what I thought was dinos. (LATER I READ/LEARN DIATOMS CAN ALSO PRODUCE SNOT AND AIRBUBBLES).

So, I take my tiger conch and bring him over to the 12 gallon filled with dinos, he takes two bites and gets what I believe a foul taste and stomach ache, he moves aside and digs into the sand and goes to bed for 1 day. Sleeps the whole day and part of the night and then I see him tilted up on my rock trying to eat anything off the sand but staying clear of the dinos, then goes back to sleep in the same spot leaving all the dinos untouched. I think amphidinium is toxic but not as toxic as osteoposis. (But is was enough for him to get sick)

I removed him last night and place him back to my 30 gallon which is not as mature as the 12 gallon tank, giving me plausible assumption the 30 is going through diatoms. He is in there super happy eating what he can find and the sandbed is ghostly white.

I will order a nice microscope that has a 1080p video to keep good future ID's, as I know I want to identify micro organisms in my tank, I have three tanks and about to start up 2 more systems in the next year.

Take a look at the diatoms and see how my LFS and I were fooled.

See here how he cleared out Diatoms

Micro-Reefs Aquarium · Jul 29, 2021

After reading a lot on this forum about the Amphidium Dinoflagellates, I found the 25 micron sock at my LFS

Started the vacuuming and will do before and after.

Micro-Reefs Aquarium · Jul 29, 2021

Vacuuming with the 25 micron filter. I saw a difference already.

When I would only turn the dinos with a rack the white sand would last 15 minutes and by one hour be full blown madness exactly before I racked it.

Now, I vacuummed the sand 2 times in one take, that is let the bucket fill up with 25 micron sock attached. Pour filter sock water back into the UV compartment, which is 100 bypass to display area repeat twice.

Here are the videos after 2 hours of letting my lights full blast, no change in intensity.

1st video was taken without my camera filters because I was in a rush to get into vacumming (I was too excited)

2nd video taken exactly 2 hours apart from the 1st video after vacuuming (filter was placed on my camera to identify the true color of the sandbed)

Conclusion, they are still very much there but not to the degree that I had on the surface before, I hit the vacuum on them. Water temp is still controlled at 82F degrees 3 days in.

taricha · Jul 29, 2021

Micro-Reefs Aquarium said:
So, I take my tiger conch and bring him over to the 12 gallon filled with dinos, he takes two bites and gets what I believe a foul taste and stomach ache, he moves aside and digs into the sand and goes to bed for 1 day. Sleeps the whole day and part of the night and then I see him tilted up on my rock trying to eat anything off the sand but staying clear of the dinos, then goes back to sleep in the same spot leaving all the dinos untouched. I think amphidinium is toxic but not as toxic as osteoposis. (But is was enough for him to get sick)

This is definitely typical snail behavior in response to dino toxins.
Another reason that dinos can become dominant, avoidance and selectivity of grazers.

Micro-Reefs Aquarium · Jul 29, 2021

taricha said:
This is definitely typical snail behavior in response to dino toxins.
Another reason that dinos can become dominant, avoidance and selectivity of grazers.

Yeah poor guy/girl had a really bad stomach ache he did not move for almost 24 hours.

Now back in the 30 gallon that has diatoms he is so happy not sleeping just moving everywhere looking for food.

Take a look at exactly 3 hours from the 1st video. Dinos are coming back but not like before from simple stirring the 25 micron does pick up a lot of them.