Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[rog2961]

something something about UV not being able to be ran all the time due to the UV interacting with the plastic. Jebao does have a stainless one out, dont know if it ever touches water

 

[Velcro]

something something about UV not being able to be ran all the time due to the UV interacting with the plastic. Jebao does have a stainless one out, dont know if it ever touches water

Where'd you read that?

 

[rog2961]

google

 

[Velcro]

For s**ts and giggles, you should simulate a bad UV bulb and let it run for a month without the UV. Just curious if it's even necessary to keep running it? Personally, I like low maintenance setups, so this would be a good experiment.

I will likely switch to 12 hours at night only and possible keep reducing until none to see what the effect is. Maybe even just a day a week or something.

 

[Velcro]

google

Ah I see what you're talking about. I'll do a little research on the stainless one as I might exchange for it on amazon assuming it doesn't touch water, though it might!

 

[rog2961]

Do you know how your current one is setup? I imagine the quartz is separating the water/outer plastic housing. I imagine this stainless version is only the outer portion to the quartz sleeve.

 

[Velcro]

Do you know how your current one is setup? I imagine the quartz is separating the water/outer plastic housing. I imagine this stainless version is only the outer portion to the quartz sleeve.

I'm planning on taking it apart today to check on the quartz sleeve so I'll take some pictures.

 

[rog2961]

I found some pic of the plastic one online, it looks like the quartz tube separates the plastic and bulb. I imagine the stainless one will be seutp the same. That one might be better long term as the UV wont degrade stainless if you plan on running it all the time.

 

[rog2961]

Im curious if anyone has any of these dino issues during the fall/winter. I believe after dosing no3 and po4 the bloom did occur, but at the same time I noticed my tank temp went up to 83. I believe there is some correlation between temperatures and blooms. In nature they occur when a given temperature is reached.

 

[mcarroll]

Been watching this thread and learning.

Thanks for following and posting!!!

What I did was raise my nitrates and phosphates and keep them above 3ppm and 0.02ppm, respectively, at all times -- testing every day and dosing SeaChem flourish nitrogen and Brightwell NeoPhos as needed to keep levels up.

Great! I wouldn't hesitate pulling PO4 up to ≥0.10 ppm and NO3 up to ≥ 5 ppm effective immediately. The difference between 0.03 and 0.10 ppm PO4 has been distinct.

For s**ts and giggles, you should simulate a bad UV bulb and let it run for a month without the UV. Just curious if it's even necessary to keep running it? Personally, I like low maintenance setups, so this would be a good experiment.

Agreed – that would be interesting to see. UV "should" only be needed to let the tank get a leg up during dosing and keeping everything fed.

 

[mwilk19]

Agreed – that would be interesting to see. UV "should" only be needed to let the tank get a leg up during dosing and keeping everything fed.

That's what I'm trying to do. I want to try to beat this back enough to let the NO3 and PO4 do its thing. If I don't do something, there will be no corals left to save by the time the dinos subside.

 

[mcarroll]

Im curious if anyone has any of these dino issues during the fall/winter. I believe after dosing no3 and po4 the bloom did occur, but at the same time I noticed my tank temp went up to 83. I believe there is some correlation between temperatures and blooms. In nature they occur when a given temperature is reached.

Different dino's seem to have different triggers, but often they are nutrient related.

Just to be different, and because Dino's are the king of variety, Ostreopsis is apparently temperature and salinity related. Still seasonal, but they like good nutrient levels so they get going at the start of the season vs waiting for N and/or P to crash like some others.

 

[mcarroll]

google

Who can argue with that?

But I am aware of plastic AquaUV systems that have been in continuous operation for >10-15 years. Some of the plastics do wear out, but that's true of plastic parts in general...it seemed like regular wear and tear to me. And it was the mechanical parts that you use for service that wore out, not the housings. It's a T5 system at heart, so it has the same kinds of wear and tear problems...bulb clips sometimes break, etc over a long period of time.

 

[mcarroll]

I am still feeding to keep bacteria going and corals happy but I will manage nutrients through dosing.

I knew I saw you over here already!

Did you get a steady dose of N and P going into the tank yet?

 

[drawman]

I knew I saw you over here already!

Did you get a steady dose of N and P going into the tank yet?

Yes trying to keep up the good fight! Thankfully I haven't needed to dose N yet but I have a stock solution of NaNO3 ready to go when needed. I'll have to take another PO4 test tonight to confirm I'm at or around 0.1ppm so I will update tonight hopefully.

 

[drawman]

Apparently I need to get more serious about dosing PO4. I've been adding 0.5mL of Brightwell NeoPhos every couple of days. Last night, I added 0.5mL (which should add .02ppm) to this 30 gallon and just got a reading of 1 (0ppm) from my Hanna ULR Phosphate Checker. Other than a few snails there are no grazers and very little algae so I can only assume the Siporax (and some of the dinos) is sucking PO4 out of the water quickly.

 

[mcarroll]

@drawman I would probably pull the siporax, but that's on general principle. You (presumably) have a load of live rock that should be totally sufficient for the tank's denitrification needs.

Dino's can be P-fiends in particular, but everything in the tank uses it for growth and repair of cells.

Dose P up to ≥0.10 ppm for dino suppression, but you'll need to keep an eye on N when you do as it will have a tendency to be used up fast! Keep NO3 up to ≥ 5 ppm.

 

[drawman]

@drawman I would probably pull the siporax, but that's on general principle. You (presumably) have a load of live rock that should be totally sufficient for the tank's denitrification needs.

Dino's can be P-fiends in particular, but everything in the tank uses it for growth and repair of cells.

Dose P up to ≥0.10 ppm for dino suppression, but you'll need to keep an eye on N when you do as it will have a tendency to be used up fast! Keep NO3 up to ≥ 5 ppm.

Unfortunately, Siporax is the only bio filtration in this tank I set it up that way purposefully (and more for my own interest). I think it's a great way to run a tank (especially a frag tank) but dinos are throwing a big fat monkey wrench my way! I wouldn't doubt that my NO3 is dropping so I'm going to watch that very closely

 

[mcarroll]

@drawman so you're saying you have no live rock?? Pic!!!

 

[Velcro]

I thought it was fairly common for people with frag tanks to seed ceramic media with live rock then remove.