What kind of Dinos are these?

waqas_01

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I got back into the hobby about 1.5 years ago. I've been battling Dinos for almost 6 months. When they first appeared I ended up dosing Dino x which got rid of them after about 12 doses (every other day). It wiped out all my corals in the process. After a few weeks I started getting loads of coralline growth with no signs of Dino so I waited it out and then started adding corals again.

Dinos appeared again almost 2-3months ago and I don't want to go through losing the corals over again.

Phosphate and nitrate has never dropped below recommended levels for fighting Dino for the last 6 months.

- 65gallon 4ft tank with 20gallon sump
- Started with dry previously live rock (I know...)
- Phosphate 0.1-0.15ppm (hanna ULR phosphorus converted)
- Nitrate 8-15 ppm (hanna high range)
- I pulled out the sandbed slowly this time around thinking they were amphi dinos because it wouldn't react to UV
- I have the green killing machine 24w UV available from when I thought I have coolia. It didn't seem to affect them. Maybe its the wrong flowrate.
- I have microbacter 7 and clean available (dosed it on and off, daily, weekly, no real difference)
- I have dr tims waste away and refresh (same as above)
- Started dosing pro bio s and np pro to get more bacteria. Phosphate and nitrate is still in the range mentioned above
- I have dosed aquaforest life source for the last 2 months (every other week)
- did my first water change after about 3 months just last weekend and it seems to have aggravated it
- I have a lot of pods and sterile phyto on the way but I can ask to hold off the shipping in case you guys think I should run UV or peroxide


Absolutely positive ID would be helpful so I can focus on a few corrective steps. Will accept thoughts and prayers also.
 

Lavey29

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Strange, you seem to have everything in check with good parameters yet they returned. I had a light dusting of possible dinor on my sandbed for months. Would disappear overnight. PNS probio got rid of it. I have been dosing that twice a week. Try cutting lights back while you plan a course of action. Go 6 hours with blue and UV, no whites. Siphon what you can.
 
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waqas_01

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How about introducing a nice piece of live rock to for more biodiversity?
Lights are on a 6 hour schedule since the first outbreak. I had T5 lights at first. I switch to a reefbreeder photon v2 in Nov/Dec when I had them go away the first time. I can try turning the whites and greens off.

I thought all the bottled bacteria, life source, etc would help. Maybe I will try a piece of live rock soon.
 

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This should help. If the links don't work, open in an internet browser after you download it.
 

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waqas_01

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I will plan on adding some live rock.

I've come across some of these ID guides but just can't seem to nail down one type. I might need a better microscope to get a more clear id on them. My latest thought is coolia again just based off how enegetic mine are compared to the rest.
 

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I will plan on adding some live rock.

I've come across some of these ID guides but just can't seem to nail down one type. I might need a better microscope to get a more clear id on them. My latest thought is coolia again just based off how enegetic mine are compared to the rest.
I had been thinking coolia too, based on the shape. But I'm no expert.
 
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waqas_01

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Update for the sake of others who might be battling this stuff. I'm almost in the clear with the dinos. I think I have traces of it in the fuge but no signs of it in the display. I'll do a check under the scope for both soon enough.

I didn't put the uv in this time nor blackout periods. I added the copepods that came in. Dosed about a third to half a cup of live phyto (nanno) daily and I'm continuing with it. I've actually started culturing it myself now. I also bought about a 5-10 pound piece of live rock from an LFS to throw in. The first 3 days or so, I siphoned the visible dinos on the rocks into a 10um filter sock in the sump. I kept dosing AF pro bio s and -np pro daily. Also kept dosing the AF life source and Redsea AB+ weekly.

I definitely think this shotgun approach with the barebottom is what turned the tide for me.

Still no water changes but I'm now able to dose tropic marin trace elements since two weeks. Previously dosing trace elements would cause it to get worse. Phosphates are roughly at 0.15ppm and nitrate at about 5ppm.

Good luck to you if you're currently battling them.
 
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saltyhog

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Congratulations! Keep a close eye out and get back if there's a relapse. I'm not familiar with tropic marin trace elements.....I assume it's a shotgun approach to trace replacement? It doesn't have aminos in it does it? Strange that it would aggravate the dinos.
 
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waqas_01

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Congratulations! Keep a close eye out and get back if there's a relapse. I'm not familiar with tropic marin trace elements.....I assume it's a shotgun approach to trace replacement? It doesn't have aminos in it does it? Strange that it would aggravate the dinos.


Thanks! Dino free for almost a month now. The stuff in the sump has also disappeared.

Yes, the tropic marin is a 2 part shotgun blend of trace elements. I dosed it for 2 weeks after the last update with no issues. I stopped that and now its going in with the all for reef which is supplementing the kalkwasser. Still no dino!

I've got to figure out how to keep some corals alive now. Sps slowly STN away, i had a candy cane thats losing heads. Zoas dont grow or grow very very slowly. It might be toxins from the dino die off or maybe just needs a decent water change schedule after months of no change.
 

saltyhog

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Thanks! Dino free for almost a month now. The stuff in the sump has also disappeared.

Yes, the tropic marin is a 2 part shotgun blend of trace elements. I dosed it for 2 weeks after the last update with no issues. I stopped that and now its going in with the all for reef which is supplementing the kalkwasser. Still no dino!

I've got to figure out how to keep some corals alive now. Sps slowly STN away, i had a candy cane thats losing heads. Zoas dont grow or grow very very slowly. It might be toxins from the dino die off or maybe just needs a decent water change schedule after months of no change.

Are you running activated carbon? Coolia is pretty toxic and that would be a good thing to try if corals look mad.
 
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waqas_01

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Are you running activated carbon? Coolia is pretty toxic and that would be a good thing to try if corals look mad.

I don't typically but I keep it on hand for situations like this. With your confirmation on the toxicity though, I'll toss some in tonight.
 

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