Turning the corner on Dinoflagellate???

[Johnmcc]

I've been battling dinos in my 220-gallon system for the last 5 months due to zero/very low phosphate and nitrates hovering around 25PPM. My first step was cut back my algae scrubber to 8 hours a day, dose phosphate, add beneficial bacteria, stop water changes, vacuum out dinos and add filter socks that I change out every other day. 3.5 months in and this did not make a dent in the dinos. Bought a UV sterilizer that I ran for 6 weeks and zero change with all the other steps still in place. This past month, I've been working hard to ensure my nitrates and phosphates are around 5-10ppm. This morning I'm seeing green film algae start to bloom (which I haven't seen in a long time). I am correct in assuming this is a good sign and in theory, this will outcompete the dinos?? Thankfully, the only real casualty has been some zoa's a few acro's and 13 of my 16 rainbow BTA's.

 

[skey44]

Came here to say to help by saying UV worked for me, but alas you had no luck. Just out of curiosity how did you setup your UV and what wattage is it? I know UV isn’t the perfect solution for all types of Dino’s but I was lucky it was for my type. And on the bright side now cyano doesn’t bother me at all bc it doesn’t harm corals and is easy to put a dent in so to speak. Hope you get this figured out! Dinos suck, worst tank problem I’ve ever had to deal with bc no matter how hard I tried nothing worked… until UV was added.
I added an aqua UV 25w inline with return to a 100 gallon systems

 

[Johnmcc]

Came here to say to help by saying UV worked for me, but alas you had no luck. Just out of curiosity how did you setup your UV and what wattage is it? I know UV isn’t the perfect solution for all types of Dino’s but I was lucky it was for my type. And on the bright side now cyano doesn’t bother me at all bc it doesn’t harm corals and is easy to put a dent in so to speak. Hope you get this figured out! Dinos suck, worst tank problem I’ve ever had to deal with bc no matter how hard I tried nothing worked… until UV was added.
I added an aqua UV 25w inline with return to a 100 gallon systems

I picked up a Coralife turbo twist 12, which claims to be rated up to 500 gallons. My water feed rate is around 400GPH.

 

[Biff0rz]

I picked up a Coralife turbo twist 12, which claims to be rated up to 500 gallons. My water feed rate is around 400GPH.

That's ONLY 36w bulb, flow rate/gallonage is only important when determining how fast to run it. On my 233g tank I had to run a 90W lifegaurd unit. It took a year to beat dino. I ran mine at a slow flow rate.

When you hooked up the UV, where is it plumbed in? (it matters)

 

[Johnmcc]

That's ONLY 36w bulb, flow rate/gallonage is only important when determining how fast to run it. On my 233g tank I had to run a 90W lifegaurd unit. It took a year to beat dino. I ran mine at a slow flow rate.

When you hooked up the UV, where is it plumbed in? (it matters)

I have it plumbed into my sump, the pump is right next to where my overflows empty. I'll turn the flow down a little and see if that helps. I appreciate the input.

 

[Biff0rz]

I have it plumbed into my sump, the pump is right next to where my overflows empty. I'll turn the flow down a little and see if that helps. I appreciate the input.

To mitigate dino, the UV needs to be plumbed directly into the display either via built-in closed loops or a hang-on-back style closed loop. I did the HOB style.

black = pvc plumbing
white = pump
large black = UV

I created a siphon over the top of the display, hung the UV in the cabinet, and once the water was going, I set the flow.

 

[Biff0rz]

Also, you'll need a more powerful UV or multiples of the 36w unit (2 more in addition to your current 1). Lastly, before buying more UV's and plumbing it, have you used a microscope (amazon, ~$50) to identify the type of dino you have? Not all dino is waterborne and a UV may not even solve it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I've been battling dinos in my 220-gallon system for the last 5 months due to zero/very low phosphate and nitrates hovering around 25PPM. My first step was cut back my algae scrubber to 8 hours a day, dose phosphate, add beneficial bacteria, stop water changes, vacuum out dinos and add filter socks that I change out every other day. 3.5 months in and this did not make a dent in the dinos. Bought a UV sterilizer that I ran for 6 weeks and zero change with all the other steps still in place. This past month, I've been working hard to ensure my nitrates and phosphates are around 5-10ppm. This morning I'm seeing green film algae start to bloom (which I haven't seen in a long time). I am correct in assuming this is a good sign and in theory, this will outcompete the dinos?? Thankfully, the only real casualty has been some zoa's a few acro's and 13 of my 16 rainbow BTA's.

Please post pics of the tank. Often, when you see zero numbers, the dino has consumed the po4 and no3 and are multiplying and in turn many dose no3 and po4 to bring numbers up not realizing they are feeding these flagellates even more.
Its biological deficiencies that are causing the dino structure. Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED AMINO OR ADD NOPOX which is food for dinos, however you can feed coral, food which will help no3 and po4 to increase. If increasing nutrients, try to keep no3 to about 5 until you are done battling these cells.
Doing a daily siphoning will help greatly But . . . . . Siphoning will reduce nutrients , so siphon the water into/through a filter sock and save the water and return it back to tank. Obviously clean the filter sock each time.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

i tried everything for over a year what finally worked was uv stir the sand bed daily and blow off the rocks with a powerhead daily and vacuum the sandbed with weekly water change and only do about 10 gallons every week on a 120 then i started using aquaforest mud with each water change i have been free for about 2 years now it took a few months but i kept it suspended and let the uv kill it

 

[Biff0rz]

To mitigate dino, the UV needs to be plumbed directly into the display either via built-in closed loops or a hang-on-back style closed loop. I did the HOB style.

black = pvc plumbing
white = pump
large black = UV

I created a siphon over the top of the display, hung the UV in the cabinet, and once the water was going, I set the flow.

You can see the uv, plumbing, and pump all here under the cabinet

Here at the top you can see how it goes back into the tank, under the water (keeps siphon). You'll also see an RODI bung/line/valve -- when it lost siphon (water changes/first start) I would suck the air out of the top to get the siphon going since the pump cannot do it with air in the line.

Inside the tank I had a filter cap on the drain side (this was since re-done as I had an initial poverty setup, but you get the idea)

Return side - I used line-loc to make it add some flow

 

[Biff0rz]

My dino and gha was bad, bad bad bad.

... and now ...

Keep your hope alive.......mine was almost gone. My battle was like 1.5yrs long.

 

[Johnmcc]

To mitigate dino, the UV needs to be plumbed directly into the display either via built-in closed loops or a hang-on-back style closed loop. I did the HOB style.

black = pvc plumbing
white = pump
large black = UV

I created a siphon over the top of the display, hung the UV in the cabinet, and once the water was going, I set the flow.

TY, I'll get it replummed.

 

[Johnmcc]

Please post pics of the tank. Often, when you see zero numbers, the dino has consumed the po4 and no3 and are multiplying and in turn many dose no3 and po4 to bring numbers up not realizing they are feeding these flagellates even more.
Its biological deficiencies that are causing the dino structure. Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED AMINO OR ADD NOPOX which is food for dinos, however you can feed coral, food which will help no3 and po4 to increase. If increasing nutrients, try to keep no3 to about 5 until you are done battling these cells.
Doing a daily siphoning will help greatly But . . . . . Siphoning will reduce nutrients , so siphon the water into/through a filter sock and save the water and return it back to tank. Obviously clean the filter sock each time.

See the attached pictures, I apologize for the quality. I vacuumed the sand a little while ago, so it’s not built up (I siphon into filter socks and run a return pump as I go). I take po4 and no3 readings twice a day and po4 is around .05 and nitrate at 2.5 -.5ppm (the last week to 10 days). If either is elevated, I run my algae scrubber for a longer duration. I have a 50-gallon, 100-gallon plumbed into a 70-gallon refugium. Historically, I've run a near nutrient-free tank with no issues, my wife got into about 8 months ago and she hated all the sand, so I sucked it out, and the issue started shortly after.

I’ll take more pics tomorrow; these don't do the issue justice.... and thanks for the input.

 

[Johnmcc]

My dino and gha was bad, bad bad bad.

... and now ...

Keep your hope alive.......mine was almost gone. My battle was like 1.5yrs long.

Looks amazing, thanks for sharing! I'm stubborn, I'll get it resolved eventually.

 

[skey44]

Just as a reference point I plumbed mine with soft tubing in line after the main return and it worked for me. I think the specific way of plumbing that would not work as well is a loop in the sump, which is my understanding of what you have currently.
I battled hard for a while and it was frustrating. Hope you get some resolution. Godspeed