I have been reefing since 1991 when I was 21 years young, now at 2021 at the age of 51 and what I thought was wise unitl meeting Dinoflagellates and them schooling into being naive, I have come up with liking Diatoms wPUrhhen before they were my foes.
Vacuuming with a Micron 25, then with a Micron 5 filter sock, DOESN'T DO NOTHING BUT MAKE THE SAND GORGEOUS WHITE FOR ALMOST 24 HOURS.
Purhasing a Tiger Conch, will eliminate 98% of diatoms, yummy they love it and are the vacuum cleaners of diatoms, but THEY WILL NOT TOUCH, AMPHIDINIUMS! If they do taste it they will burry themselves in the sand for a 24 hour hold, on the stomach ache they received for trying that out for dinner.
Reducing whites from LEDs and increasing blues, makes it better for a short time, takes longer for the Dinos to regroup and multiply. If the whites were on, wow they do it quicker.
Raising the temperature from 77-78F to 82-83F, AMPHIDINIUMS, they don't care! Doesn't do a darn thing to them at all, in fact they seem to have reproduced more, warmer water, faster metabolism.
Keeping my Phosphate .03-09, Nitrates 5-15ppm still working on this concept for 2 weeks in and aquarium is not worse but it is not better!
Adding beneficial bacteria, like Microbacter 7, two weeks in not any better, not any worse!
Flushing filtered water from Micron 25 and Micron 5 filter through 100% by-pass UV, not any worse not any better.
Conclusion:
Large Cell Amphidiniums are here to stay, they are not going nowhere, they can have my sandbed, my rocks my corals are 100 percent free of Dinos, they are not interested, well at least not yet on the live rock which is aquacultured from the ocean, Keys of Florida. They are thriving on the sandbed, both from my lights and nutrition, this makes them both mixotrophic! These ugly guys are tough and resilient and that makes them almost bullet proof in our marine tanks.
My corals were suffering from my hands going into the tank and adding more mayhem, then they like, that stress knocked out a couple frags, so I stopped and brought back all parameters temp and lighting the same before and the corals are blooming once again.
This is not a fight to erradicate Dinos, no way! They have eluded predation and are part of the ecosystem in our tanks, I am led to believe they will burn themselves out into a smaller more un-noticeable area of my reef. When conditions favor them, they will explode, when conditions are against them, they will hibernate so they can live for the next run.
My microscope arrives this week, I cannot wait to learn more about these very ellusive Protist that has baffaled the reefing community. This is a hobby that fascinates me as easy as it irritates me when things go south. So, I miss the Good, Diatoms, I hate the Bad Osteo Dinos, and I really hate/dispise the Ugly Amphidinium but they are here to stay wilth us!
Vacuuming with a Micron 25, then with a Micron 5 filter sock, DOESN'T DO NOTHING BUT MAKE THE SAND GORGEOUS WHITE FOR ALMOST 24 HOURS.
Purhasing a Tiger Conch, will eliminate 98% of diatoms, yummy they love it and are the vacuum cleaners of diatoms, but THEY WILL NOT TOUCH, AMPHIDINIUMS! If they do taste it they will burry themselves in the sand for a 24 hour hold, on the stomach ache they received for trying that out for dinner.
Reducing whites from LEDs and increasing blues, makes it better for a short time, takes longer for the Dinos to regroup and multiply. If the whites were on, wow they do it quicker.
Raising the temperature from 77-78F to 82-83F, AMPHIDINIUMS, they don't care! Doesn't do a darn thing to them at all, in fact they seem to have reproduced more, warmer water, faster metabolism.
Keeping my Phosphate .03-09, Nitrates 5-15ppm still working on this concept for 2 weeks in and aquarium is not worse but it is not better!
Adding beneficial bacteria, like Microbacter 7, two weeks in not any better, not any worse!
Flushing filtered water from Micron 25 and Micron 5 filter through 100% by-pass UV, not any worse not any better.
Conclusion:
Large Cell Amphidiniums are here to stay, they are not going nowhere, they can have my sandbed, my rocks my corals are 100 percent free of Dinos, they are not interested, well at least not yet on the live rock which is aquacultured from the ocean, Keys of Florida. They are thriving on the sandbed, both from my lights and nutrition, this makes them both mixotrophic! These ugly guys are tough and resilient and that makes them almost bullet proof in our marine tanks.
My corals were suffering from my hands going into the tank and adding more mayhem, then they like, that stress knocked out a couple frags, so I stopped and brought back all parameters temp and lighting the same before and the corals are blooming once again.
This is not a fight to erradicate Dinos, no way! They have eluded predation and are part of the ecosystem in our tanks, I am led to believe they will burn themselves out into a smaller more un-noticeable area of my reef. When conditions favor them, they will explode, when conditions are against them, they will hibernate so they can live for the next run.
My microscope arrives this week, I cannot wait to learn more about these very ellusive Protist that has baffaled the reefing community. This is a hobby that fascinates me as easy as it irritates me when things go south. So, I miss the Good, Diatoms, I hate the Bad Osteo Dinos, and I really hate/dispise the Ugly Amphidinium but they are here to stay wilth us!