Dino help

[Oceansinmybasement]

I know there are many threads about treating Dino’s, but I think I have a bit of a unique case and need some help deciding on treatment/management. I have a 80 gal tank (mixed reef) about 2 months old, and confirmed Dino’s by aggregation test today.

A few weeks ago my nutrients bottomed out and I feared a Dino outbreak so I stopped water changes, started over feeding in an attempt to raise nutrients which resulted in a diatom bloom(went away on its own). Over the last few days I noticed what I thought to be Dino’s but my water parameters have swung in the other direction; nitrates 10, phosphates 0.22, mag 1280, calcium 435, alk 11, ph 8.6.

So the question is do I try to lower my nutrients via water change, bottle bacteria etc? Or do I try to raise them further. From all my reading it seems it needs to be fought on multiple fronts. I’ve been thinking blackout and h2O2 dosing….. but then should I also add bacteria (microbacter)? Or will the h2O2 just render it useless?

I do have some corals in the tank all of which seem happy with full polyp extension if I go blackout tour what’s the longest I should go without killing them off.

 

[Tankkeepers]

Lower phosphates for sure alk is high cal and mg are low

I'm guessing you use instant ocean

Get a uv light it'll help some and never ever change things that fast

You are going to have to stick one thing and let the tank balance

People freak out alittle to much about this stuff

 

[Oceansinmybasement]

Thanks for the quick response. I’m freaking out a bit because the last time I had Dino’s was in a nano and that was much easier to tear down and restart than my current tank.

I actually use RPM but have been adjusting my dosing hence some of the numbers being borderline high or low.

I started some gfo to take down the phosphates, today I’m down to 0.10.

I had a uv from one of my smaller tanks that I put in for now, it’s undersized for sure but until I can get something bigger I figure it can’t make things worse.

I figure I give it a few days and see how the Dino’s respond to the lower phosphates. After that if it’s still a problem I think I’ll go the blackout route or H2O2. Unless you have any other suggestions.

 

[Lavey29]

If you had a diatom bloom then you don't have dinos most likely. Diatoms out competes dinos in the tank. Taking all these drastic steps in a 2 month old tank is going to open the door to a lot of problems. Cut your lights back to 6 hours with blue and UV only. Get a diverse cleaner crew. Siphon up what you can. Add good bacteria like PNS probio. Focus on consistency in parameters and weekly water changes.