ReefEsq
Community Member
I hesitated to even write this up because I know dinoflagellates tend to bring out the worst of emotions in reefers. I know this from my own personal battle. However, I thought if my experience could help someone else, it might be worth taking the heat for this.
First, I have to say I did not microscope my dinos. This is purely anecdotal. There is not one scintilla of science, evidence, or a guarantee in what I am writing. I just want to be clear in saying that there is far more evidence against my method than there exists any support. I tried this because it was my last method before I did a full reboot. I had holding tanks and everything ready to do it, so I thought "why not?"
Story: I went from an AIO to an Innovative Marine 50 EXT with a Trigger Systems 34. It was going to be my dream build, but that hope was over as fast as it started. I got this really strange green algae, almost looked like pom-poms, and I decided to treat my rocks with hydrogen peroxide (dumb, I know). After doing that, life was good for a week or so, and then I got dinoflagellates. I've had them before and been able to eradicate them with a UV at night and a polishing pad during the day. These were very different. They weren't particularly stringy at all. They almost resembled diatoms, but also had the thick mat characteristics, and the snot bubbles.
Methods: UV and polishing pads didn't even make a dent. I tried manual removal, etc. I did not do the black-out because I know that is largely ineffective. I took my skimmer offline, fed heavy, tested nitrates and phosphates for weeks, all while manually removing. I'm currently in law school, and for a couple of weeks my life because almost an even split between school and dinos. I dosed bacteria as well. Didn't help. Finally, I read @revhtree thread about defeating dinos with vibrant, and despite the almost 100 to 1 ratio of bad experiences to good, I gave it a shot. I followed the ratio he did in his system (50ml/400gal, every other day). At first, there weren't really any results one way or another, but after about four or five doses, I began to notice that when I got home from school I wasn't greeted by the brown tank. About a week after I began seeing a decrease in dinos, I noticed some other algaes growing, and as of today, about two and a half weeks later, I cannot visibly identify any dinoflagellates in my system.
That being said - I know they are still present and just waiting to pop back up. I won't let my NO3 & PO4 ever hit 0 again, so hopefully, I won't have to fight them again. I also dosed waste away a little heavier than I should have, so that might also have helped. I continued to run the UV throughout this all, as well as a carbon reactor. I siphoned out the top layer of sand, but did not do any water changes throughout this.
I'm not telling anyone to try this. In fact, I'm going to recommend you probably don't in light of the evidence against it. However, for the sake of people keeping their sanity in this hobby, and to maybe trigger some discussion with more experienced reefers, I thought I'd log my firsthand account of what helped me "beat" my impossible case of dinos. This should also serve as a reminder that nothing good happens overnight. I tried to beat algae with a harsh chemical instead of patience, and I got dinos. I shot myself in the foot because it itched and I'm lucky I can still walk. Take this for what you will. I'd be happy to answer any questions I can with my limited knowledge. I'll try to update this thread with some pictures if I can find any tonight.
First, I have to say I did not microscope my dinos. This is purely anecdotal. There is not one scintilla of science, evidence, or a guarantee in what I am writing. I just want to be clear in saying that there is far more evidence against my method than there exists any support. I tried this because it was my last method before I did a full reboot. I had holding tanks and everything ready to do it, so I thought "why not?"
Story: I went from an AIO to an Innovative Marine 50 EXT with a Trigger Systems 34. It was going to be my dream build, but that hope was over as fast as it started. I got this really strange green algae, almost looked like pom-poms, and I decided to treat my rocks with hydrogen peroxide (dumb, I know). After doing that, life was good for a week or so, and then I got dinoflagellates. I've had them before and been able to eradicate them with a UV at night and a polishing pad during the day. These were very different. They weren't particularly stringy at all. They almost resembled diatoms, but also had the thick mat characteristics, and the snot bubbles.
Methods: UV and polishing pads didn't even make a dent. I tried manual removal, etc. I did not do the black-out because I know that is largely ineffective. I took my skimmer offline, fed heavy, tested nitrates and phosphates for weeks, all while manually removing. I'm currently in law school, and for a couple of weeks my life because almost an even split between school and dinos. I dosed bacteria as well. Didn't help. Finally, I read @revhtree thread about defeating dinos with vibrant, and despite the almost 100 to 1 ratio of bad experiences to good, I gave it a shot. I followed the ratio he did in his system (50ml/400gal, every other day). At first, there weren't really any results one way or another, but after about four or five doses, I began to notice that when I got home from school I wasn't greeted by the brown tank. About a week after I began seeing a decrease in dinos, I noticed some other algaes growing, and as of today, about two and a half weeks later, I cannot visibly identify any dinoflagellates in my system.
That being said - I know they are still present and just waiting to pop back up. I won't let my NO3 & PO4 ever hit 0 again, so hopefully, I won't have to fight them again. I also dosed waste away a little heavier than I should have, so that might also have helped. I continued to run the UV throughout this all, as well as a carbon reactor. I siphoned out the top layer of sand, but did not do any water changes throughout this.
I'm not telling anyone to try this. In fact, I'm going to recommend you probably don't in light of the evidence against it. However, for the sake of people keeping their sanity in this hobby, and to maybe trigger some discussion with more experienced reefers, I thought I'd log my firsthand account of what helped me "beat" my impossible case of dinos. This should also serve as a reminder that nothing good happens overnight. I tried to beat algae with a harsh chemical instead of patience, and I got dinos. I shot myself in the foot because it itched and I'm lucky I can still walk. Take this for what you will. I'd be happy to answer any questions I can with my limited knowledge. I'll try to update this thread with some pictures if I can find any tonight.
