The dreaded dinos?

[TankYouVeryMuch]

I recently had a major tank crash which killed almost all of my inverts. It wasn’t exactly clear what happened. I am starting to wonder if the problem may have been exacerbated or caused by the beginnings of a Dino infestation, which I unknowingly blasted all around the tank trying to get a wave maker set up.

Today I noticed that the brown stuff I thought was diatoms started producing bubbles when I changed my light settings.

I’ve watched so many videos and read countless posts on dinos, but no one seems to agree on what to do. Things I’ve seen recommended:
- Install a UV light (although many say it doesn’t work)
- Add lots of copepods
- Dose with nitrate and phosphate
- Don’t use nitrate and phosphate because it feeds dinos
- Feed phytoplankton (which also eat nitrate and phosphate)
- Do a full three day blackout, although many say this wasn’t enough
- Siphon out the dinos off the sand through a filter sock and return the water
- Don’t do a water change
- Do a small water change
- Tear the tank down entirely and sterilize everything
- Do the opposite and culture the tank by buying tons of bacteria and live rock/sand/mud
- Install a wood bubbler and raise oxygen levels
- Turn off the skimmer to reduce oxygen
- Use lots of carbon
- Remove all sources of carbon

Note that many of the options above involve buying expensive stuff that likely won’t be used again (such as a microscope).

And of course…it could just be diatoms.

 

[hadams356]

Well all I can say is I battling them now, have been for 6 months. I did all those things you mentioned. Dosing 4 brands of bacteria every other day. 100 ml of phyto on opposite days. Corals looked pathetic. I resorted to Dino X where about 80% gone after 5 treatments. Grant you I had a severe Dino problem, took over back glass on 180 gal tank. Thought it was some kind of turf algea. Bought a 100 dollar microscope off ebay and was surprised all that on glass was dinos. Worth the money. Spent probably 1000 bucks on phyto, bacteria and cleanup crews. Just bought a 60 buck UV sand aweeper, only used it today so can't give opinion. Good Luck

 

[TankYouVeryMuch]

Well all I can say is I battling them now, have been for 6 months. I did all those things you mentioned. Dosing 4 brands of bacteria every other day. 100 ml of phyto on opposite days. Corals looked pathetic. I resorted to Dino X where about 80% gone after 5 treatments. Grant you I had a severe Dino problem, took over back glass on 180 gal tank. Thought it was some kind of turf algea. Bought a 100 dollar microscope off ebay and was surprised all that on glass was dinos. Worth the money. Spent probably 1000 bucks on phyto, bacteria and cleanup crews. Just bought a 60 buck UV sand aweeper, only used it today so can't give opinion. Good Luck

OMG.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

- Dose with nitrate and phosphate
- Don’t use nitrate and phosphate because it feeds dinos

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels?

 

[TankYouVeryMuch]

So far I have been unable to locate any decent nitrate or phosphate tests locally (my LFS received a shipment today and still no tests). I’ve been using Tetra test strips, which have showed no detectable nitrates over the past 10 days or so. I tried upping feedings gradually to no avail.

 

[Tangdora]

Feel the pain. I am just coming off a 6 month battle. I do not have a lot of coral in my tank every square inch of it was covered in that snot. Tried most of the common stuff but it kept coming back. Changed two steps from what I wave tried in the past and notice a major improvement after (bold below). Reason I want to say I may be getting over the hump (knock on wood) is simply due to to one small Zoa frag. That has been closed for months since my outbreak started that has just started to open as of yesterday. Below are my exact steps From my last go around. Only can speak on what worked for me Most will sound like a broken record. Will note I was battling Ostreopsis only

Steps.
1) get nitrate to at least 10ppm and phos to at least .1

2) not sure how much this help in my case. My uv is currently under sized for Dino’s but I lowered it to 1X turn over just to maximize contact intensity

3) I chose to do a 5 day black not 3 Dino’s dying will help increase nitrate a phosphate a bit. But definitely need to be sure to maintain after.

4) photo feast all 5 black out days at max dose

5) stating on the 4th and 5th night id turn the lights on for a few mins to quickly perform a daily rock work blow off and sand stir. DO NOT USE A BRUSE TO BRUSH OFF ROCK. Best thing I found to blow off rock is a 6in plastic drywall taping knife that you can grab at a home improvement. Photo attached. As of writing this I’m now 10 day post black out and still performing this step. But no longer see any bubble now through out the daily lighting schedule.

6) after ever daily blowoff. Dose coral snow right after when the Dino’s are suspended. Only been on it for the last two weeks but notice a big improvement. This stuff is amazing!! lol . I add mb7 with each dosing. Along with mb clean at its 2 week recommendation schedule. Once I hit the two week mark. If you can turn off pumps and let it blow around in your tank for 1 hour. I will be transitioning rock work blow offs and coral snow dosing to only when I go to clean glass. Which is like every 3-4 days. If I notice Dino starting to come back I will switch back to daily.

Extreme Water Clarity and Cyano Eradication, Made Easy!

Edit 10/092023: Note that I have tweaked the formula a bit. You can find an updated video here: Coral Snow Link: Coral Snow Hello all! I have been reefing now for about 25 years, and over those many years I have picked up many tips, tricks, and best habits/practices. From a hobbyist and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Crimsonphoenix]

I recently had a major tank crash which killed almost all of my inverts. It wasn’t exactly clear what happened. I am starting to wonder if the problem may have been exacerbated or caused by the beginnings of a Dino infestation, which I unknowingly blasted all around the tank trying to get a wave maker set up.

Today I noticed that the brown stuff I thought was diatoms started producing bubbles when I changed my light settings.

I’ve watched so many videos and read countless posts on dinos, but no one seems to agree on what to do. Things I’ve seen recommended:
- Install a UV light (although many say it doesn’t work)
- Add lots of copepods
- Dose with nitrate and phosphate
- Don’t use nitrate and phosphate because it feeds dinos
- Feed phytoplankton (which also eat nitrate and phosphate)
- Do a full three day blackout, although many say this wasn’t enough
- Siphon out the dinos off the sand through a filter sock and return the water
- Don’t do a water change
- Do a small water change
- Tear the tank down entirely and sterilize everything
- Do the opposite and culture the tank by buying tons of bacteria and live rock/sand/mud
- Install a wood bubbler and raise oxygen levels
- Turn off the skimmer to reduce oxygen
- Use lots of carbon
- Remove all sources of carbon

Note that many of the options above involve buying expensive stuff that likely won’t be used again (such as a microscope).

And of course…it could just be diatoms.

I had Dino’s bad in my 65 mixed reef and contacted Brightwell and they helped me get rid of mine in a few months using their clean product. It took persistence and following their advice!

 

[TankYouVeryMuch]

- Dose with nitrate and phosphate
- Don’t use nitrate and phosphate because it feeds dinos

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels?

I was finally able to get an API Nitrate drop test: 0. I’ve been steadily increasing feeding and even turned off my skimmer, but I can’t seem to get my nitrates up.

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

You need to dose actual nitrates and phosphates do get the level up and maintain it like NeoNitro and NeoPhos. Feeding and hoping that fixes dinos will NOT work. You need to also identify which type you have as that will play a role in the battle. Many people also suggest starting a diatom bloom by dosing a bunch of silicates. That will outcompete the dinos and they will go away and the diatoms will flame out very quick once the silicates are exhausted.

3-5 day complete blackout. LOTS of beneficial bacteria. LOTS of good pods. I went through the same thing and it was a battle no doubt.

Get your hands on good test kits ASAP. That will be crucial in understanding how much to dose.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I would dose food grade ammonium bicarbonate or sodium or calcium nitrate, and sodium phosphate. They are cheaper than the Brightwell products, carry a purity guarantee those lack, and can be made more concentrated, if needed.

 

[TankYouVeryMuch]

Respond to add I made a new thread today indicating that the problem correlates exactly with using Petco carbon, which someone else chemically analyzed and it showed high likelihood of being filled with heavy metals. https://www.reef2reef.com/posts/13707615/

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, I went to that Reddit page and while it may be the carbon is a problem, the test was a big overestimate of the effect (217 ug/L) by soaking a cup of GAC in 2 gallons of water.

That same cup in 50 gallons of tank water (giving 8.7 ug/L) would not have produced a copper level that is likely to crash a tank (when I tested my own tank, it was around 13 ppb without apparent issue).