Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[johnsamm7]

So it would be seachem flourish nitrogen correct and this is safe in saltwater not just planted tanks correct

 

[bh750]

So it would be seachem flourish nitrogen correct and this is safe in saltwater not just planted tanks correct

That's correct I dose the sake product when I need to bring my po4 up.

 

[bh750]

How fast does the water go through the low micron socks? I was just afraid it would take forever to siphon my 72x24 tank with one of those?

I'll be trying it this week hopefully with my 72x24 tank. Ordered some 10 micron socks. Usually I use l8ke 3/4" T7 tubing to siphon too so will have to experiment with something smaller like airline. Ugh yep that will take some time.

 

[saltyhog]

I am siphoning with that size hose and the 5 micron socks do not flow enough to keep up with it. A 10 micron sock will but my dinos seem to mostly go through it. I let the siphoned water sit for about 30 minutes then slowly poor the bucket of water back into the tank. The dinos collect on the bottom of the bucket so I toss out the last bit of water with them. I have been thinking of using my air pump as a siphon to get the dinos out and have the outlet line go into my 5 micron sock, but I am not sure how long it would take. I will try next week and see how that technique works.

I had thought about doing that but I didn't know if the gunk at the bottom was truly the dinos or just the mucous secreted by them and/or irritated corals. Usually the water clears up really quick so I may try that. Just didn't want to put any dinos back in that I don't have to.

Interested to see how your planned alternative method works!

 

[Beardo]

I'll be trying it this week hopefully with my 72x24 tank. Ordered some 10 micron socks. Usually I use l8ke 3/4" T7 tubing to siphon too so will have to experiment with something smaller like airline. Ugh yep that will take some time.

I used 7" diameter x 16" long 1 micron socks and they were able to handle the flow from a 3/8" or 1/2' ID hose without overflowing.

 

[Beardo]

A quick question what is a good option to use for dosing nitrate I know people use spectracide stump remover is there any other options to use that people had success with thank you

Here is another option I have used.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B019...um+nitrate&dpPl=1&dpID=41nltanwxyL&ref=plSrch

 

[2Wheelsonly]

This thread makes my head hurt. So many conflicting thoughts... people say increase nutrients some say reduce. Some let it pass natural some say it kills fish some say it feeds corals and fish. lol

I just assume none of us know anything about dinos and we just throw sh** at the wall and hope it sticks. Some get lucky and some don’t.

Then there are people that wipe their tank at the very first sign of Dinos and those people make me crazy. Guys I’ll be right back, going to call a wrecker to take my car away because it has a scratch on the door. Lol this thread is frustrating.

 

[Lowefx]

That definitely doesn't look like dino's from that view, but we'll see if the new microscope pics say anything different than that.

If it's diatoms, then you need to look for the source of silicates they are using to grow. Often it's tap water and silicates are getting through a worn out or or malfunctioning RODI system.

Tested fresh 5g bucket of saltwater. My IO Reef Crystals were testing po4-.30 YES 0.30!!!! I must have gotten a bad batch. I have an email out to the company now. I also have replacement membrane and rodi equipment to lower any silicate that may be an issue.

 

[Zbryant]

Could I get help with an id? Best pictures I can get...

 

[Justin Ostafew]

Hi everyone. Thanks very much to mcarrol and the other steady contributers to this thread. I'm currently on page 101 of thus thread and intend to continue reading, but I have a question about something that came up and hasn't been fleshed out yet.

I'm currently dealing with Ostriopsis and have come across a couple mentions of "allowing N and P to drop to naturally lower levels" after a bloom as the Ostis seem to be different than other common vaireties in that they benefit from continually elevated levels (5-10ppm Nitrate, 0.1-0.2ppm Phosphate), but I have yet to see an actual number that would represent a new acceptable lower limit.

After after long periods of elevated nutrients and UV (slightly under the recommended 1w / 2gal) didn't progress beyond a certain point I'm currently in the 4th week of Vibrant (for reef) . Dinos are noticeably reduced at this point but I'm wondering if my continually elevated N and P levels are allowing them (and fairly heavy Cyano) to hang on even now. Perhaps this question will be answered further into the thread but impatience got the best of me. Thanks in advance.

 

[Jolanta]

Hi everyone. Thanks very much to mcarrol and the other steady contributers to this thread. I'm currently on page 101 of thus thread and intend to continue reading, but I have a question about something that came up and hasn't been fleshed out yet.

I'm currently dealing with Ostriopsis and have come across a couple mentions of "allowing N and P to drop to naturally lower levels" after a bloom as the Ostis seem to be different than other common vaireties in that they benefit from continually elevated levels (5-10ppm Nitrate, 0.1-0.2ppm Phosphate), but I have yet to see an actual number that would represent a new acceptable lower limit.

After after long periods of elevated nutrients and UV (slightly under the recommended 1w / 2gal) didn't progress beyond a certain point I'm currently in the 4th week of Vibrant (for reef) . Dinos are noticeably reduced at this point but I'm wondering if my continually elevated N and P levels are allowing them (and fairly heavy Cyano) to hang on even now. Perhaps this question will be answered further into the thread but impatience got the best of me. Thanks in advance.

I used Vibrant maybe about 4 months and it never helped with ostreopsis, it did kill my bubble algae and green algae and couse of the death of the algae I had a lot of ciano but dinos never died.

 

[reeferfoxx]

This thread makes my head hurt. So many conflicting thoughts... people say increase nutrients some say reduce. Some let it pass natural some say it kills fish some say it feeds corals and fish. lol

I just assume none of us know anything about dinos and we just throw sh** at the wall and hope it sticks. Some get lucky and some don’t.

Then there are people that wipe their tank at the very first sign of Dinos and those people make me crazy. Guys I’ll be right back, going to call a wrecker to take my car away because it has a scratch on the door. Lol this thread is frustrating.

Its funny how different strains of dino react to different types of treatment. Maybe you could give us some insight as to the best approach for each strain? Otherwise I have a feeling this post will get ignored or lost from now till the end.

 

[Justin Ostafew]

I used Vibrant maybe about 4 months and it never helped with ostreopsis, it did kill my bubble algae and green algae and couse of the death of the algae I had a lot of ciano but dinos never died.

Yes I remember your posts in the "cure" thread. I feel your pain, trying everything and buying equipment and eventually having to reset the tank. If there's anything i've learned from reading these massive threads is that reversing a Dino bloom must rely on a healthy ecosystem in the tank. For many people they have an established ecosystem that was recently depressed due to starvation, so simply providing some food (P and N), and possibly some selective control (UV, mechanical filtration) is enough for that system to reassert dominance over the Dinos. However I have seen mentioned a couple times that some systems are just too far gone as was the case with yours, and I suspect is the case with mine. I've been operating with undetectable Nitrates for years and have been striving for undectable Phosphates for nearly as long, and in that time have pretty much always been dealing with Dinos or some other unwanted pest. My tank has never flourished, and despite bacteria and fauna seeding I'm starting to believe it may just be too unbalanced (ecosystem wise). For me Vibrant is a last effort before a reset. I have my QT warming up to receive my livestock, the if it comes to it the DT will get a FW soak and bleach soak, followed by careful and deliberate seeding and feeding to create a healthy ecosystem before livestock (and the Dinos that will inevitably be reintroduced) go back in.

With all that being said, the tank looks terrible right now, but the Dinos are greatly reduced and the Cyano seems to be weakening... With any luck there may be salvation... I give it 50/50 chances at this point.

 

[Jolanta]

Yes I remember your posts in the "cure" thread. I feel your pain, trying everything and buying equipment and eventually having to reset the tank. If there's anything i've learned from reading these massive threads is that reversing a Dino bloom must rely on a healthy ecosystem in the tank. For many people they have an established ecosystem that was recently depressed due to starvation, so simply providing some food (P and N), and possibly some selective control (UV, mechanical filtration) is enough for that system to reassert dominance over the Dinos. However I have seen mentioned a couple times that some systems are just too far gone as was the case with yours, and I suspect is the case with mine. I've been operating with undetectable Nitrates for years and have been striving for undectable Phosphates for nearly as long, and in that time have pretty much always been dealing with Dinos or some other unwanted pest. My tank has never flourished, and despite bacteria and fauna seeding I'm starting to believe it may just be too unbalanced (ecosystem wise). For me Vibrant is a last effort before a reset. I have my QT warming up to receive my livestock, the if it comes to it the DT will get a FW soak and bleach soak, followed by careful and deliberate seeding and feeding to create a healthy ecosystem before livestock (and the Dinos that will inevitably be reintroduced) go back in.

With all that being said, the tank looks terrible right now, but the Dinos are greatly reduced and the Cyano seems to be weakening... With any luck there may be salvation... I give it 50/50 chances at this point.

In your place I would stop vibrant couse it kills all the green and we want green and buy stronge UV unit, if you have one you can buy another and keep them working together. My tank is ostreopsis free for now and UV worked as a charm. Dont restart couse you will end as I with the problem again. Good luck

 

[Justin Ostafew]

Hi Jolanta, I don't want to take this thread off topic so I'm going to continue this conversation via PM.

 

[Jolanta]

Hi Jolanta, I don't want to take this thread off topic so I'm going to continue this conversation via PM.

Ok

 

[saltyhog]

I'm currently dealing with Ostriopsis and have come across a couple mentions of "allowing N and P to drop to naturally lower levels" after a bloom as the Ostis seem to be different than other common vaireties in that they benefit from continually elevated levels (5-10ppm Nitrate, 0.1-0.2ppm Phosphate), but I have yet to see an actual number that would represent a new acceptable lower limit.

My understanding of what you read was that "after a bloom" meant when your problem seemed to be resolved"....no visible evidence of ostreopsis. I understood the advice was to let your nitrates and phosphates reduce naturally but not ever to zero!

My ostreopsis has responded great to elevating my PO4 and NO3 but I won't allow them to fall below their present levels until there is no visible problem. That's just my take. Interested to see what the experts say.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Anyone still dosing silicates with any updates? I might have found something interesting on that subject. It'll have to wait till this evening as I need to reread it. Till then any updates?

 

[Bebow]

Anyone still dosing silicates with any updates? I might have found something interesting on that subject. It'll have to wait till this evening as I need to reread it. Till then any updates?

IVe been dosing silicates for about 10 days now along keeping N and P up. Sand samples under a scope showed more diatoms than Dino’s. Saturday I siphoned out all the brown areas then recycled the water through a 1 micron filter. Last couple of days I have noted a dramatic decrease in amphidinium. In fact yesterday I reprogrammed the Apex with the Kessil’s up to 70% intensity at peak and 70% white, also put the T5s back in the mix. Today I see a few small areas with a light dusting of brown. Weird part is a have no algae and few diatoms even though silicate is at 3ppm, nitrate 8ppm and phosphate is almost 1ppm. I’m not calling it a victory yet but it is a significant improvement from the mess I had. LPS corals look fantastic, red Goniopora has come back with full extension and color. Frogspawn was slowly wasting away but now is looking much better.
Plan is to maintain current levels at least another week. I will do some more sand samples shortly to see what diatom, Dino mix I have then decide if I need to siphon the brown areas out again.

 

[AlanM]

I'm struggling with dino's. Reading this thread makes me believe it might be caused by overfiltration. I run a chaeto growing fuge which grows a huge amount, use mesh filter socks, use carbon/floss, have a full time 40W AquaUV going, and run a vastly oversized skimmer. I'm perpetually at 0 nitrates and 0.03 phosphate, but the rocks are covered with turf algae in the shady parts and sheets of cyano and dino, I think, in the lighted parts.

Here is some microscope video I've taken and some still photos. Anyone have an idea of an ID for what I'm seeing and how best to deal with them? I believe I'm seeing rotating round ones and some elongated ones that zip around sometimes.

To start taking a crack at the dirty method I've turned one of the two skimmer pumps off and am currently blowing/scrubbing off the dinos in the evening and putting in a mesh sock to catch them and changing the sock out in the morning.