cabezatuck
New Member
I’ve been battling Dinos for about 9 months in two reef tanks: 13.5 gallon LPS 2 years old and 40 gallon mixed 1 year old. In the 13.5 just prior to the outbreak I had used Vibrant which I believe crashed my nutrient levels after rocking my barely established bio filter and eliminating the small amounts of nuisance bubble and GHA I had. I should have stuck to scraping and siphoning but had heard other claims about the benefits of using Vibrant so I gave it a try. The 40 had low nutrients with a lack of competing algae, being newer with limited livestock. I personally believe Vibrant should only be used in well established older tanks with a diverse bio filter.
With the stage set the Dinos were introduced from my local LFS, I had observed some in their frag tank but assumed it was GHA I could scrape off and then dip. This was prior to my outbreak and nightly internet searches of “getting rid of Dinos in a reef tank, Dinos, Dinos, Dinos…” so I knew absolutely nothing about them. That said there is so much conflicting information online about eliminating these, largely due I believe to the variety of Dinos people deal with and for which they discover successful treatments as well as cases of misidentification.
I purchased a $20 microscope to 100% confirm they were Dinos, once I saw the buggers at 400x magnification I then followed what appeared to be the most common and suggested steps: I raised nutrients, raised temp to 83, added macroalgae (to my horror they even began growing on my chaeto), 3 day total blackouts (afterwards these make them go away for a few blissful days before returning), reduced lighting period/intensity and added inline UV sterilizers in my filtration. I maintained healthy levels in both tanks and aside from periods of wanting to raise nutrients I performed weekly 10% water changes siphoning out as much and using only RODI salt mix I make myself. Nutrients definitely play a factor here but once you get these they aren’t the end all solution.
My Dinos are the dreaded sand and rock dwelling type and do not disburse into the water column, this behavior makes them a more difficult variety to rid yourself of as they won’t happily flow to their demise in your UV sterilizer. They would coat rock work, sand and corals alike, pretty much anything they could cling to. They would then extend long brown or red slimy strings with many bubbles. I noticed many of my corals were struggling and lost a birdsnest.
With nothing working I decided to try Dino X. I followed instructions to the letter. I think the most important step here is determining the volume of water in your tank, this differs from what size your tank is billed as and should be accurately determined in order to factor precise dosage. There are several sites that offer tools to determine volume, just enter dimensions, weight of rock, sand, etc. Do this step, don’t guesstimate. Don’t under dose either, only to see it’s not working and start adding more and more, this stresses everything out. Factor your dose, and apply the same amount each time until you see a reduction, not exceeding 14 doses/30 days.
After the initial dose and the recommended 48 hour lights out period I turned on the lights to see them virtually gone in the 13.5 and barely visible in the 40. I then performed the next dose and after another 48 hours I am delighted to see these pests almost completely gone. My corals and fish are all alive and healthy and I have only observed some slight polyp retraction in my firework clove and a couple of Zoas but nothing of concern. My SPS are all fine as are my snails, crabs and anemones. Other than the Dino X and frozen shrimp I am not dosing anything else or using reef food. I will continue dosing until I no longer see any Dinos and will wait the recommended 7 day period there after before performing a water change.
If you’re where I’m at and have exhausted all steps and are still dealing with this nightmare I would recommend this product, again follow the instructions exactly as they appear, their website lists additional steps and recommendations not listed on the bottle, make sure to read those and don’t rush this or decide you know more than the manufacturer. Finally dose and enjoy finally watching the Dinos wither away!
With the stage set the Dinos were introduced from my local LFS, I had observed some in their frag tank but assumed it was GHA I could scrape off and then dip. This was prior to my outbreak and nightly internet searches of “getting rid of Dinos in a reef tank, Dinos, Dinos, Dinos…” so I knew absolutely nothing about them. That said there is so much conflicting information online about eliminating these, largely due I believe to the variety of Dinos people deal with and for which they discover successful treatments as well as cases of misidentification.
I purchased a $20 microscope to 100% confirm they were Dinos, once I saw the buggers at 400x magnification I then followed what appeared to be the most common and suggested steps: I raised nutrients, raised temp to 83, added macroalgae (to my horror they even began growing on my chaeto), 3 day total blackouts (afterwards these make them go away for a few blissful days before returning), reduced lighting period/intensity and added inline UV sterilizers in my filtration. I maintained healthy levels in both tanks and aside from periods of wanting to raise nutrients I performed weekly 10% water changes siphoning out as much and using only RODI salt mix I make myself. Nutrients definitely play a factor here but once you get these they aren’t the end all solution.
My Dinos are the dreaded sand and rock dwelling type and do not disburse into the water column, this behavior makes them a more difficult variety to rid yourself of as they won’t happily flow to their demise in your UV sterilizer. They would coat rock work, sand and corals alike, pretty much anything they could cling to. They would then extend long brown or red slimy strings with many bubbles. I noticed many of my corals were struggling and lost a birdsnest.
With nothing working I decided to try Dino X. I followed instructions to the letter. I think the most important step here is determining the volume of water in your tank, this differs from what size your tank is billed as and should be accurately determined in order to factor precise dosage. There are several sites that offer tools to determine volume, just enter dimensions, weight of rock, sand, etc. Do this step, don’t guesstimate. Don’t under dose either, only to see it’s not working and start adding more and more, this stresses everything out. Factor your dose, and apply the same amount each time until you see a reduction, not exceeding 14 doses/30 days.
After the initial dose and the recommended 48 hour lights out period I turned on the lights to see them virtually gone in the 13.5 and barely visible in the 40. I then performed the next dose and after another 48 hours I am delighted to see these pests almost completely gone. My corals and fish are all alive and healthy and I have only observed some slight polyp retraction in my firework clove and a couple of Zoas but nothing of concern. My SPS are all fine as are my snails, crabs and anemones. Other than the Dino X and frozen shrimp I am not dosing anything else or using reef food. I will continue dosing until I no longer see any Dinos and will wait the recommended 7 day period there after before performing a water change.
If you’re where I’m at and have exhausted all steps and are still dealing with this nightmare I would recommend this product, again follow the instructions exactly as they appear, their website lists additional steps and recommendations not listed on the bottle, make sure to read those and don’t rush this or decide you know more than the manufacturer. Finally dose and enjoy finally watching the Dinos wither away!
