What do I do?

[d3r3km]

My tank has been running since December so about 5 months old. I recently been have a issue with algae started with diatoms, I thought the ugliest were just Diatoms, now the owner of one fish stores I go to is telling me chrysophytes and Dino’s are also a part of the ugly stages. The reason I’m saying this is my Nitrates are 14ppm my Po4 is always 0, I got a microscope and I first had chrysophytes that turned is what looks like Dino’s. I started dosing po4 with Neo phos to bring it up to 0.01 but I haven’t dose like 5 times the amount I am supposed to because I guess my rock or sand or Algae is instantly sucking or binding it up. The fish store owner is telling me to leave it alone don’t dose anything let it ride out. How bad do I let it get? I though Dino’s were very toxic they were both telling me that it’s normal though. Should I stop dosing po4 and and let it ride at 0 till the tank catches up?

 

[Justfebreezeit]

What id do is dose .02ppm. Po4 a day until I get a reading. The rock and sand will bind it but eventually you will get a reading.

I'm sure other people have different strategies as well.

Dinos in the sandbed isn't the end of the world and the tank most of the time will sort itself out. With a little help from dosing.

Also I'm gunna assume you are using a hanna checker as your test.

 

[d3r3km]

I have Hanna URL and salifert that I use. In your opinion does the above pictures look like Dino’s? I am comparing pictures to what I think Amphidinium Dino.

 

[d3r3km]

I know this sounds weird but almost immediately after dosing the other algea seemed to leave and this Dino became real bad in the sand. It’s gone at night when lights go out and comes back when lights comes back on.

 

[slingfox]

Definitely looks like Dino’s. There are many threads on this board about how to treat. It usually takes a combination of measures including tank UV, dosing nitrates and/or phosphates, dosing bottled bacteria (specifically Microbe Life Special blend), dosing silicates, and most importantly manually removal via siphoning of the rocks and/or sand. I have also found the 3DReefing UV sand sweeper to be quite effective.

 

[slingfox]

I know this sounds weird but almost immediately after dosing the other algea seemed to leave and this Dino became real bad in the sand. It’s gone at night when lights go out and comes back when lights comes back on.

You need to siphon the Dino’s out of the sand and dose. Eventually the other microbes will catch up.

 

[d3r3km]

If anyone is reading this I want to update how I beat my Dinos.
1. Start dosing po4 to get stable levels 0.05 to 0.1
2. I started scrubbing rocks and sifting sand/ removing which in turn I think cause a cycle because I am in a cycle now.
3. Introduced TBS sand 6lbs 2lbs rock pretty much after I put that in they were gone.

4. Turned my lights more blue and cut the light cycle down a bit. Also was dosing micro bacter 7 quit a bit.

 

[smol_reef]

Also since you only have a few corals, you could also try putting something like cardboard on the top of your tank to block out the light, and just let the light hit the areas where your corals are. Just in case doing a big general cut of light impacts your existing corals

 

[PharmrJohn]

Dosing MB7 is OK, but don't expect results. It's in the 'well, it can't hurt' category. At this point just keep a positive value for Nitrate and Phosphate, practice manual removal and wait it out. Your tank is young.