Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[taricha]

[QUOTE="Jolanta]Im trying a product red cyano rx that my friends from spain used and it seems to kill ostreopsis So I tried it yesterday and thats what ostreopsis looks today, what do you think?
[/QUOTE]
What did the ostis look like before? Any noticeable changes?

Regarding Red Cyano rx, what does this sound like to y'all?
"Directions for use
For best results, siphon out as much Cyano bacteria as possible from your aquarium. Remove 1 cup of water from your aquarium. Mix 1 level scoop of Blue Life Red Cyano Rx in the cup for every 10 gallons (37.9 liters) of water in your aquarium. Dissolve thoroughly and pour solution into the aquarium. Note: The pH in your aquarium should be greater than 8.0 before you begin adding Blue Life Red Cyano Rx. You will need to discontinue the use of carbon, protein skimming, and ozone during the treatment period. The best time to start treatment is in the morning, when lighting first comes on. Do not dose in the evenings when lighting is turned off. Also, be sure to perform a 25% water change after each dose. 24 hours after completing treatment, perform a 25% water change and turn your protein skimmer back ON. Also, resume use of carbon and ozone, although you may notice extra foam being produced by your skimmer. If Cyano bacteria is still visible 48 hours after treatment, perform a 25% water change and repeat dosage."

Sounds like they are cautioning about pH and oxygen drop.
Antibiotic? Antibiotic cocktail? Could it be something else?

 

[Jolanta]

[QUOTE="Jolanta]Im trying a product red cyano rx that my friends from spain used and it seems to kill ostreopsis So I tried it yesterday and thats what ostreopsis looks today, what do you think?

What did the ostis look like before? Any noticeable changes?

Regarding Red Cyano rx, what does this sound like to y'all?
"Directions for use
For best results, siphon out as much Cyano bacteria as possible from your aquarium. Remove 1 cup of water from your aquarium. Mix 1 level scoop of Blue Life Red Cyano Rx in the cup for every 10 gallons (37.9 liters) of water in your aquarium. Dissolve thoroughly and pour solution into the aquarium. Note: The pH in your aquarium should be greater than 8.0 before you begin adding Blue Life Red Cyano Rx. You will need to discontinue the use of carbon, protein skimming, and ozone during the treatment period. The best time to start treatment is in the morning, when lighting first comes on. Do not dose in the evenings when lighting is turned off. Also, be sure to perform a 25% water change after each dose. 24 hours after completing treatment, perform a 25% water change and turn your protein skimmer back ON. Also, resume use of carbon and ozone, although you may notice extra foam being produced by your skimmer. If Cyano bacteria is still visible 48 hours after treatment, perform a 25% water change and repeat dosage."

Sounds like they are cautioning about pH and oxygen drop.
Antibiotic? Antibiotic cocktail? Could it be something else?[/QUOTE]It didnt say anything whats in but some friends from spain used it so I wanted to givr it a try. Before the treatment dinos was active and moving, now they dont anymore but I dont see any changes in the tank yet. There are two youtubers who tried it with succes also

 

[reeferfoxx]

Ok, I shut the LARS shop down this afternoon and got to work on the tank. I siphoned out the remaining cyano off the sand bed, cleaned the glass, turkey basted the rocks and turned over 30% of the sandbed. I turned off the skimmer and UV. Dosed a cap full of Dr. Tims One and Only bacteria. Fed the fish. Mixed half a tablespoon of Fiji Mud in some water and dumped that into the tank with the return pump off. I'll let everything settle and see what she looks like in about an hour.

 

[mcarroll]

A LFS in my area recommended Fluconozale to battle Dino.............anyone tried this? I'm skeptical.

Stick with your skepticism.

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

Update on my large cell amphidiniun.

Still can't get PO4 up to 0.10 ppm even with 20 mL doses in my 39 gallon total system each day. Plenty of red and green film algae on the glass now instead of brown. Amphipods and copepods and increasing in population. GHA is still everywhere, although it was before the dinos. Definitely have to change out GAC every week to keep snail activity from slowing down. I siphoned them off the rocks and GHA yesterday and added more fresh water to top off the tank. More fresh water than usual. Today they have recoated nearly everything I just cleaned off. Guess I will be adding top off water more slowly in the future... It is RO water by the way.

I get the impression that some people are thinking they need to increase biodiversity in their tank. I'd like to remind them that I have one pound of live per gallon in my DT with a four inch deep sand bed with tons of amphipods, copepods, GHA and who knows what else but I still got dinos to take over the tank and they aren't letting go easily. Adding biodiversity won't cure this. We are talking about changing the climate or environment to be better suited for something NOT dinos to dominate. Adding biodiversity while they still dominate will result in wasted money, effort, and the micro fauna's lives more than likely.

I am also willing to bet that everyone's tank already has hundreds of different algae present. But due to the exact environmental conditions, only a few at a time are ever visually present.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Update on my large cell amphidiniun.

Still can't get PO4 up to 0.10 ppm even with 20 mL doses in my 39 gallon total system each day. Plenty of red and green film algae on the glass now instead of brown. Amphipods and copepods and increasing in population. GHA is still everywhere, although it was before the dinos. Definitely have to change out GAC every week to keep snail activity from slowing down. I siphoned them off the rocks and GHA yesterday and added more fresh water to top off the tank. More fresh water than usual. Today they have recoated nearly everything I just cleaned off. Guess I will be adding top off water more slowly in the future... It is RO water by the way.

I get the impression that some people are thinking they need to increase biodiversity in their tank. I'd like to remind them that I have one pound of live per gallon in my DT with a four inch deep sand bed with tons of amphipods, copepods, GHA and who knows what else but I still got dinos to take over the tank and they aren't letting go easily. Adding biodiversity won't cure this. We are talking about changing the climate or environment to be better suited for something NOT dinos to dominate. Adding biodiversity while they still dominate will result in wasted money, effort, and the micro fauna's lives more than likely.

I am also willing to bet that everyone's tank already has hundreds of different algae present. But due to the exact environmental conditions, only a few at a time are ever visually present.

Can you check to see if it could be a different dino?

Did you add pods?

 

[reeferfoxx]

I have 1 lbs live rock per gallon and a 4 inch sand bed. Tank size is 29 gallons with a 10 gallon refugium with no rock and a 5 inch sand bed. And I have dinos and cyano like crazy. :mad: I was running an ULNS but reading everyone's experiences has convinced me to add phosphates and nitrates. Need to get good test equipment first though.

Did you add pods?

I think your sandbed is a nutrient sink. Meaning that it's absorbing everything you put into the water. If possible, I would reduce your sandbed from 5" to 1.5". In addition, you stated you were running ULN system and therefore limited any dino predators and making the perfect environment for dino. Also I believe your quote answered my question as far as pods go. But, ultimately pods aren't the soul source for dino predation. Merely a sign of positive direction.

 

[bh750]

Not really. I'd say the small ones are more closely associated with toxins. They are faster & better swimmers and so they in some systems have been reduced by UV.
That's why I distinguish between the two.
Most of your discoloration is due to the large cell ones, but I'd still run UV on tank to work against the Small-Cell while pursuing other methods to deal with the "main culprit" the Large Cell.

Hmmm, had no idea. Ok plan is to get a kick a** UV sterilizer this week and hopefully have it in service by the end of the week or weekend. Right now plan is to continue to stir the sand daily and siphon it every few days when the cyano mats are big enough. Also doing some WCs to help control the cyano (hopefully)

Also, thanks for the tip on the pictures. I think I'll have it figured out for my next post

 

[bh750]

Not really. I'd say the small ones are more closely associated with toxins. They are faster & better swimmers and so they in some systems have been reduced by UV.
That's why I distinguish between the two.
Most of your discoloration is due to the large cell ones, but I'd still run UV on tank to work against the Small-Cell while pursuing other methods to deal with the "main culprit" the Large Cell.

Hmmm, had no idea. Ok plan is to get a kick a** UV sterilizer this week and hopefully have it in service by the end of the week or weekend. Right now plan is to continue to stir the sand daily and siphon it every few days when the cyano mats are big enough. Also doing some WCs to help control the cyano (hopefully)

Also, thanks for the tip on the pictures. I think I'll have it figured out for my next post

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

I think your sandbed is a nutrient sink. Meaning that it's absorbing everything you put into the water. If possible, I would reduce your sandbed from 5" to 1.5". In addition, you stated you were running ULN system and therefore limited any dino predators and making the perfect environment for dino. Also I believe your quote answered my question as far as pods go. But, ultimately pods aren't the soul source for dino predation. Merely a sign of positive direction.

My sand and my rocks are both huge sinks for PO4. But I am going to keep them both because I am planning to get a wrasse at some point and love that even three years after I get my rocks I still get cool stuff that comes out of them. But neither is the cause of my dinos. They didn't come until I added an over size amount of PhosGuard to my fuge. So my thinking is that I can eventually get my system back to a dino suppressed state with the DSB like it was previously. I think it's going to be time consuming and hard but I think it will be worth it and I like to experiment anyways.

I did add pods because I wasn't sure I had any more for a while. Before the dinos I had two types. I only see one type now. I new they wouldn't eat the dinos into submission but I wanted to add more to the tank and figured if they started to take off, then it would be a sign that things are getting better.

I agree with you, I do think I have an additional type of dino. It seems to collect on the sand bed during the day and then almost completely vanish at night. This the second night I have noticed this. I will try to take a look at them later this week.

 

[Paullawr]

[QUOTE="Jolanta]Im trying a product red cyano rx that my friends from spain used and it seems to kill ostreopsis So I tried it yesterday and thats what ostreopsis looks today, what do you think?

What did the ostis look like before? Any noticeable changes?

Regarding Red Cyano rx, what does this sound like to y'all?
"Directions for use
For best results, siphon out as much Cyano bacteria as possible from your aquarium. Remove 1 cup of water from your aquarium. Mix 1 level scoop of Blue Life Red Cyano Rx in the cup for every 10 gallons (37.9 liters) of water in your aquarium. Dissolve thoroughly and pour solution into the aquarium. Note: The pH in your aquarium should be greater than 8.0 before you begin adding Blue Life Red Cyano Rx. You will need to discontinue the use of carbon, protein skimming, and ozone during the treatment period. The best time to start treatment is in the morning, when lighting first comes on. Do not dose in the evenings when lighting is turned off. Also, be sure to perform a 25% water change after each dose. 24 hours after completing treatment, perform a 25% water change and turn your protein skimmer back ON. Also, resume use of carbon and ozone, although you may notice extra foam being produced by your skimmer. If Cyano bacteria is still visible 48 hours after treatment, perform a 25% water change and repeat dosage."

Sounds like they are cautioning about pH and oxygen drop.
Antibiotic? Antibiotic cocktail? Could it be something else?[/QUOTE]
Chemiclean seems to hint at such a thing as the advice is to ensure you are running an air stone or similar.

Its been bounced around that Chemiclean is an oxerdiser rather than antibiotic.

If. This had similar results elsewhere it could play a role as an overnight dip for corals and livestock....

Worth a trial @taricha

 

[Paullawr]

'Sounds like they are cautioning about pH and oxygen drop.
Antibiotic? Antibiotic cocktail? Could it be something else?'

Unlikely to be an antibiotic. Only a few types work on protists and they are pretty much specific to protists which would have little effect on cyano.

I still think it's a redox but then why does chemicean not produce the same effects. Or maybe it does cannot say I've looked under a scope at it after treatment. When I've used chemicean in the past and I know dinos were present it made no difference from looking at them. Under a scope maybe different.

Very odd.

 

[Javamahn]

Is there a recommended lps coral dip? I have an orange fungia sitting on the sand bed that is losing the battle. Tissue loss is progressing but coloration looks good after I got PO4 off zeros

 

[Paullawr]

Is there a recommended lps coral dip? I have an orange fungia sitting on the sand bed that is losing the battle. Tissue loss is progressing but coloration looks good after I got PO4 off zeros

Coral rx or an iodine dip maybe. That may help stop necrosis.

 

[Paullawr]

'Sounds like they are cautioning about pH and oxygen drop.
Antibiotic? Antibiotic cocktail? Could it be something else?'

Unlikely to be an antibiotic. Only a few types work on protists and they are pretty much specific to protists which would have little effect on cyano.

I still think it's a redox but then why does chemicean not produce the same effects. Or maybe it does cannot say I've looked under a scope at it after treatment. When I've used chemicean in the past and I know dinos were present it made no difference from looking at them. Under a scope maybe different.

Very odd.

Correction it seems some broad spectrum antibiotics work Ie doxycycline.

@Jolanta how is tank looking. If its looking good you might want to consider a second and third dose. If any cells survive they can build resistance in under 9 months which will then form a new super colony.

Keep us posted though.

 

[Paullawr]

Ok, I shut the LARS shop down this afternoon and got to work on the tank. I siphoned out the remaining cyano off the sand bed, cleaned the glass, turkey basted the rocks and turned over 30% of the sandbed. I turned off the skimmer and UV. Dosed a cap full of Dr. Tims One and Only bacteria. Fed the fish. Mixed half a tablespoon of Fiji Mud in some water and dumped that into the tank with the return pump off. I'll let everything settle and see what she looks like in about an hour.

Hows it looking?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Hows it looking?

I'll get a picture this evening. I will say the mud particles or dust was all over the rocks this morning. Definitely looked too natural for my taste but I'll get a picture this evening. Though the corals looks very healthy this morning with polyp extension etc, there were cyano strands peaking with the lights off lol.... If it grows back with vengeance, i might attribute that with my disrupting the sandbed. Mostly speculation at this point. I haven't been home all day.

 

[Jolanta]

Correction it seems some broad spectrum antibiotics work Ie doxycycline.

@Jolanta how is tank looking. If its looking good you might want to consider a second and third dose. If any cells survive they can build resistance in under 9 months which will then form a new super colony.

Keep us posted though.

When I get home from work I will check the tank and let you know. Hope it really works.

 

[Paullawr]

It could be a result of moving the sandbed and unlocking some nutrients or carbon source.

Yeah I can imagine the mud probably looks very authentic but a bit away from our perception of the perfect reef. Still I'm sure if you were to ask seasoned reefers they would say this how it should be.

 

[reeferfoxx]

It could be a result of moving the sandbed and unlocking some nutrients or carbon source.

Yeah I can imagine the mud probably looks very authentic but a bit away from our perception of the perfect reef. Still I'm sure if you were to ask seasoned reefers they would say this how it should be.

I agree. My only concern and I didn't pay attention, are snails not wanting to do their job with it littered on the rocks. Maybe I should leave it there and see what happens?

 

[Pete Paschall]

First post here, but no better time than now to chime in...

Got back into the hobby this past August with an IM Lagoon 25 gallon tank. When I was previously in the hobby, zero PO4 and low NO3 were targets for a "healthy" tank. So I used dry rock, did QT, did very frequent water changes, etc. etc. to go for a super clean system. I was pretty pumped about a month ago when I finally got my PO4 down to 0 on the Hannah ULR checker. Then things got bad. Got the snot strings almost overnight, and have spent the last few weeks researching what to do.

I'm so glad I found this thread, because I was able to diagnose Ostreopsis and at least get a plan together. Started dosing PO4 per the recommendations on this thread, added more pods and snails, did lots of siphoning, lots of cussing, and added a Coralife 12X Turbo Twist UV sterilizer yesterday. My wife kept sending me texts while I was at work today about how great the tank was looking. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I got home to a SIGNIFICANT improvement. I still don't want to get my hopes up, and know that the war is not over. But I am seriously excited about the progress made in the last 24 hours.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed - I was on the brink of giving up. Now, I'm almost ready to start shopping for frags again...

Pete