Using Dino X (Ultra Algea X) to solve GHA
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OP
OP
A couple of pictures from today. It has been two weeks now so 7 treatments. Yesterday I syphoned a lot of algae and it does seem to be retreating. My sand sifting starfish is doing OK but I have not seen the serpent sea star for a number of days...
I decided to use my old T5 for the pictures as there are less shadows and also less blue and UV that the camera has a hard time with.
One thing I would note is that I am wet skimming as per instructions. However, I wonder if I am skimming too wet because the morning after DinoX is dosed I always have the cup full of clean water. I wonder if the skimming is pulling out Dino X too quickly...
Anyway, some photos.
I decided to use my old T5 for the pictures as there are less shadows and also less blue and UV that the camera has a hard time with.
One thing I would note is that I am wet skimming as per instructions. However, I wonder if I am skimming too wet because the morning after DinoX is dosed I always have the cup full of clean water. I wonder if the skimming is pulling out Dino X too quickly...
Anyway, some photos.
OP
OP
Only saw your post now. Do you have any idea why it crashed? Do you think you may have overdosed?
fishmommy
Active Member
I don't think so. The directions say you can use it for 28 days ....at day 21 my corals and starfish started to die. Before that it was going great. I would recommend staying under 3 weeks with it.
OP
OP
Here it is: http://static.faunamarin.de/manuals/algea_x_en_sep.pdf
Explicitly say no ore than 21 days, which means 10 doses.
Explicitly say no ore than 21 days, which means 10 doses.
OP
OP
Sorry for the delay. Been busy these past two weeks. So, after 10 treatments these are my findings:
1 - the algae did retreat considerably...
2 - ... But not completely, as you'll see ion the photos below, taken after the last treatment.
3 - as far as casualties go, I'm afraid that my serpent starfish probably did not make it. Have not seen him in several weeks.
Here are some pics.
1 - the algae did retreat considerably...
2 - ... But not completely, as you'll see ion the photos below, taken after the last treatment.
3 - as far as casualties go, I'm afraid that my serpent starfish probably did not make it. Have not seen him in several weeks.
Here are some pics.
OP
OP
Now for the bad news... These are one week after having finished the treatment. As per instructions two days after the treatment I performed a large 20% water change and added carbon to the reactor. These are one week after.
OP
OP
[emoji31][emoji31][emoji31][emoji31]!
Algae is back WITH A VENGEANCE!
Now, there are a couple of things I believe are the cause:
1 - during the treatment as per instructions you do not perform any water changes and cannot have any phosphate removing media. As such I had 3 weeks of nutrient accumulation in the tank without any phosphate media. Phosphates were as high as 0,10ppm 1 week after having finished the treatment.
2- one of my anthias died and I cannot find it, not to mention the serpent starfish. So somewhere in the tank I have a significant amount of decomposing mater.
Please note that the anthias was already fighting ich before the treatment began. I believe that having turn out the UV during the 3 weeks probably led to a growth in the number of parasites that finally overwhelmed the immune system of the anthias therefore I DO NOT attribute this to the DinoX.
Algae is back WITH A VENGEANCE!
Now, there are a couple of things I believe are the cause:
1 - during the treatment as per instructions you do not perform any water changes and cannot have any phosphate removing media. As such I had 3 weeks of nutrient accumulation in the tank without any phosphate media. Phosphates were as high as 0,10ppm 1 week after having finished the treatment.
2- one of my anthias died and I cannot find it, not to mention the serpent starfish. So somewhere in the tank I have a significant amount of decomposing mater.
Please note that the anthias was already fighting ich before the treatment began. I believe that having turn out the UV during the 3 weeks probably led to a growth in the number of parasites that finally overwhelmed the immune system of the anthias therefore I DO NOT attribute this to the DinoX.
OP
OP
NEXT STEPS:
1- bought a sizable clean up crew. I was down to one Trochus snail and one sand sifting starfish plus 3 large hermit crabs. Hardly enough for this tank. I bought 10 Trochus, 10 cerith snails and 10 red leg hermits (paguristes cadenati).
2- now that the UV is on again the remaining fish look ok (no one is scratching or showing any spots). However this means that I have ich in the system so I will now moved all fish into quarantine and leave the tank fallow for 72 weeks.
3- this means that during this time I will hardly feed the tank (a couple of pellets per week just to keep CUP healthy if required). I will also do a second bout of DinoX in two weeks time. I am hoping that a second treatment plus nutrient starvation will finally get rid of the algae once and for all.
Will continue to post pictures during this time so stay tuned.
1- bought a sizable clean up crew. I was down to one Trochus snail and one sand sifting starfish plus 3 large hermit crabs. Hardly enough for this tank. I bought 10 Trochus, 10 cerith snails and 10 red leg hermits (paguristes cadenati).
2- now that the UV is on again the remaining fish look ok (no one is scratching or showing any spots). However this means that I have ich in the system so I will now moved all fish into quarantine and leave the tank fallow for 72 weeks.
3- this means that during this time I will hardly feed the tank (a couple of pellets per week just to keep CUP healthy if required). I will also do a second bout of DinoX in two weeks time. I am hoping that a second treatment plus nutrient starvation will finally get rid of the algae once and for all.
Will continue to post pictures during this time so stay tuned.
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You should have removed a lot of it by hand before starting treatment. No traces are to be added to the system so no ESV 2 part which contain traces, no special blend food that contain trace elements (use frozen food like mysis), and no WCs until done with the doses.
Did you reduce the lighting schedule?
Also, an alternative would be a seahare and/or lettuce nudibranch.
Did you reduce the lighting schedule?
Also, an alternative would be a seahare and/or lettuce nudibranch.
OP
OP
I did remove a lot before starting the treatment. I also syphoned out as much as I could weekly and I did not dose any trace elements, only Fauna Marin own 3 part which Fauna Marin confirmed it could.
I also reduced the light schedule to the recommended hours, and only with 18K lights.
The second time around will probably cut lights further back. I believe DinoX is a good product and it did work but probably I should have started the treatment when the a.gae started to pop up and not let it take over like it did.
The results after the first treatment was quite noticeable.
The issue could be coming from the live rock. The algae seems to be well rooted in your live rock which makes it even more tricky to eradicate. One way to find out if the issue is from the rocks or not is to put a new piece of live rock in the tank and see if you get the same algae growing at all.
The issue could be coming from the live rock. The algae seems to be well rooted in your live rock which makes it even more tricky to eradicate. One way to find out if the issue is from the rocks or not is to put a new piece of live rock in the tank and see if you get the same algae growing at all.
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