Upgraded tank. Now dinos

Aldrinlights

Reeth Huthbandry
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Anyone experienced this before. 3 weeks ago I upgraded my tank from a 20 gallon reef with 10 gallon sump to a 75 gallon with a 29 gallon sump. I started the 75 gallon with all new sand which was dry sand. A mixture of fine and coarse. I used the old tank water plus new and only seeded the sand bed with a handful of old sand. I bought some new pods for the tank and my refugium has all new chaeto in it. These dinos only show up when the tank lights are on. Also my water is still slightly cloudy from the new sand even though I rinsed the crap out of it. I added some new rock but it was all fully cured live rock from a local fish store who's tanks have been up for years and I know the new rocks were cured because they had coraline algae growing on it.

My nitrates are currently at 5 ppm
My phosphates are at 0.19 and I have a phosphate reduction filter pad in the sump.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
PH 8.0
Salt 1.026
Temp 78

IMG_20210204_123034.jpg IMG_20210204_123030.jpg
 

boacvh

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If it's new upgrade, I think it could be diatoms instead of dinos? Have you checked under microscope? Or tried the cup ID trick for dinos?
 
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Aldrinlights

Aldrinlights

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If it's new upgrade, I think it could be diatoms instead of dinos? Have you checked under microscope? Or tried the cup ID trick for dinos?
I have not but after reading about them disappearing during the night and coming back at day it seems like it's dinos.

I am considering adding filter floss to my filter socks to try and export them since I don't have UV yet. Also changing the socks daily. Hopefully this can help my cloudy issue from the sand as well, which my goby isn't helping.
 

boacvh

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To be honest I would suggest you get an id first, before you take any course of action. (Although some additional filter floss won't hurt anything) Make sure is not just diatoms because of the new sand.
For me the tell tale sign it was dinos was that my snails and conches started dying. After that I got the microscope and Id them for certainty.
I eradicated them actually by dosing silicates as per @taricha thread on LC amphidinum.
My experience and after reading the entire thread on dinos is that UV won't help much if it's just LC amphidinum as opposed to the other kinds of dinos, since they stick to the sand.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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Hey nice skip cycle reef, that indeed is good rock keenly identified. Nice pre rinse work

simply use a gravel vac with thumb control to siphon up the growths and let clean grains fall back down. Not a chemical doser or a parameter offset, just hold course and switch to a few manual removals

be willing to do four runs before trying another method, that’s using a few siphons and water change set back to totally clean, four times if needed. It might slow down by two

simple hand guiding is best, you started with clean vs cloudy sand and this access is a side benefit, we would not have used the cup of old sand in our work threads, its not needed and brings in minor blooms sometimes

it’ll clear with simple hand guiding. This is an example of ideal skip cycle rock selection for our skip cycle rock thread. Nice.
 

Dkmoo

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diatom - your tank is trying to reestability equilibrium and nutrient competition from such a large change. Skip cycle just means you have mantained your nitrifying bacteria population but your microfauna still has experienced a very drastic change so now need to readjust.

just wait it out and keep up with your regular husbandry.
 
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Aldrinlights

Aldrinlights

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Thanks everyone. I'll wait and use the manual method for now. Also adding some extra floss to the socks and changing them frequently. I don't like adding any chemicals to the tank if I don't have to. There's a Kessil H80 on the refugium as well from my old sump and it's set to grow spectrum so hopefully it will help soon. There's a lot more diatom growth in there which I feel like is fine. Starting from scratch with a new squeeky clean fuge seems like another reason everything is a little out of balance of course.

@brandon429 I'm keeping an eye on your thread tracking pure skip cycle and planned to put my entire upgrade story on there once I feel like it's completely leveled out.
 

SpecificGravity120

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I have not but after reading about them disappearing during the night and coming back at day it seems like it's dinos.

I am considering adding filter floss to my filter socks to try and export them since I don't have UV yet. Also changing the socks daily. Hopefully this can help my cloudy issue from the sand as well, which my goby isn't helping.
Get the UV sterilizer. Buying one was the single thing that changed my saltwater hobby from recurring disappointments to fun again .Its a s game changer at keeping the tank healthy, and replacement bulbs have never been cheaper.
 
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