Dino Help

[jeep454]

What I thought were Diatoms turned out to be Dinos on most of substrate and tank walls. I bought a microscope to verify. Photos and video are attached.

These were my parameters last night Before I dosed Phosphate per some research cause they were bottomed out.
Temp 81
Salinity 1.026
Ca 340
KH 8
PH 8.0
P04 0.0
Nitrate 20
Started barely detecting ammonia

-30 gallon
-7Lbs of live rock
-1.5 inch of live sand substrate
-165W reef light that Is on for 10 hrs
-1 powerhead
-Xenia
-GSP
-Condy
-Mandarin Goby
-2 Percula Clowns
-1 Arrow Crab
-2 Trochus Snails
-1 Nassarius Snails
-2 large Nerite Snails

New Sump is a 10 gallon with baffles
-filter sock
-protein Skimmer
-media bags with ceramic rings
-activated carbon
-UV Sterilizer
-added air stone to get some oxygen into water cause I heard that could help with dinos

How do I kill these things??

 

[apb03]

There are a lot of threads with various techniques, unfortunately, there's no single solution for Dinos.

A good place to start is here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dinoflagellates-–-are-you-tired-of-battling-altogether.293318/

I'll share how I beat Dinos if you want to give my method a try.

1. Plumb the UV in a closed loop in the display (water is pumped from the display to the UV and back to the display). Use an inexpensive pump dedicated to the job and drop it right in with the livestock. Make sure the pump has a guard on the intake so snails and fish can't get inside.

This is temporary but necessary. You can move it back to your sump when done.

2. Begin a 3-day Blackout to get the Dinos into the water column. Use trash bags or boxes to cover the tank.

3. At least twice per day, blast the rocks and sand using a small utility pump. You want to get those dinos off the sandbed as much as possible.

4. Add beneficial bacteria (MB7, Dr Tim's Waste-away, etc.) after the blackout period. Do it for at least a week.

5. Add a Marineland Magnum Micron filter inside the display and charge it with Diatom Powder. I think this is a huge help, but probably optional.


Other folks may recommend adding Silicates to induce a diatom bloom or dosing nutrients, but try whatever you feel is best. For me, a mechanical solution was what worked in the end.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it, the above is a huge PITA and is definitely the nuclear option.