What to do?

denise willenborg · Jan 31, 2021

Hi-
So, I started this new build about 6 months ago. About two months ago I noticed my ALk was low like 6 . Now it is 5.6 and I also have a dino problem that I am fighting. My nitrates are less than 1 and so are Phosphates. I never dosed my old tank with ALk or Calcium and it did ok. I have this new tank set up to do auto water changes of 3 gallons daily but have stopped that due to dinos. I also threw out the Chaeto that was in the sump because I feel like that is what caused my dino out break. I have never tried to raise the Nitrates or Phosphates but that is what I am told I should do to help with dinos? Should I get more Chaeto and start running the fuge again. Its a 135 gallon tank with only 7 fish and a few frags so far. I just want to get this thing back on track and not sure what the best way to do that is.

Thanks for your help!

gentlefish · Jan 31, 2021

There are long treats to dinos. Suggest UV. Understand that some suggest vibrant, H2O2, bacterium dosing. I suggest phosphate/nitrate increase, preferably by dosing, else by heavy feeding. Test often to keep both from being 0. You would be correct to presume that this pushes the tank towards algae/cyanobacter.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 1, 2021

Getting the N and P up is a good first step. Feed more or dosing nitrate and phosphate.

It is typically a loosing battle to drive it out with low nutrients. You need to have nutrients to drive other things (such as algae) that outcompete it.

Willbiker · Feb 1, 2021

I just finished battling the dinos. Low nutrient levels and an immature tank are the main causes. There are loads of different methods that people take but here is what worked for me. I tried almost all of them!

It would be a good idea to get a cheap kids microscope to take a picture or video and upload it on reef2reef. If you can get a diagnosis, you can pick the exact treatment.

However In general, go for the following:

1) Raise nitrate to 10ppm and phosphate to over 0.1. This is the most important action in my opinion. You can either do this by dosing products like neophosphate and neonitrate, or take your skimmer cup off (leaving skimmer running for airation) until nutrients hit the elevated levels. Increase your feeding but make sure all food is consumed. The reason for this action is the raised nutrients help other bacteria and algae thrive which out competes the dino for space.

2) If you can, install a UV tuned with a slow flow. Around 2x or 3x tank volume per hour. Some dino types look like they improve at night and get worse throught the day. This is because the dino enters the water column at night so while it is waterbound, the uv kills it.

3) turn off white light and stick to blue only

4) stop all water changes and dont use coral foods.

5) Do daily dosing of a bottled bacteria. I used microbacter7 and it helped increase the biodiversity. The more mature the tank is, the harder it is for the dino to establish.

This takes a long time to beat, it took me 3 months. Do it the natural way and don't be tempted by chemicals. Also, blackouts help temporarily but I found it wasn't a solution.

Here is how bad mine was!