Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[rockstarta78]

I've never found h202 dips to ever give any kind of stress relief. In fact, I've lost coral doing that.
You could try microbubbling to trigger a more natural slim coat. That would help the coral alleviate anything stuck to it.

Sorry off topic.

@reeferfoxx I started micro bubbling couple of days ago. The only issue I'm having, my bubbles are staying towards the top half of the tank. Any idea how to get them to cover the entire tank?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Sorry off topic.

@reeferfoxx I started micro bubbling couple of days ago. The only issue I'm having, my bubbles are staying towards the top half of the tank. Any idea how to get them to cover the entire tank?

Powerhead placement and flow contribute to that.

 

[taricha]

My problem has been the fluctuation of NO3 and PO4. I haven't been able to hit 0.10ppm PO4 yet. NO3 goes from 10ppm to 2.5ppm in day than next day it will hold at 10ppm. There is no consistency with either of these params.

Could be testing error but I experienced similar effects. Dinos or algae were really sucking up nutrients. For the first three days of adamant dosing, I dosed 0.10 ppm worth of phosphorus. Or at least it took 3 days of that to reach 0.07ppm. Then I was able to maintain 0.10 with daily 0.05 dosings. Don't skip a dose or it will go back down.

I can tell things are changing in the tank

Wanted to confirm and call attention here. Y'all aren't imagining things, nor is it testing error. This is to be expected, and it's very common. N&P used to be limiting everything, and the dinos were happy the way things were.
Now N & P aren't limiting factors, things will shift rapidly. Other elements become limiting, sometimes changing multiple times through different limiting elements. On top of that, organisms aren't N & P limited anymore, totally different groups of organisms will start growing, in turn supporting and competing with countless others. There will be rapid unpredictable changes during this time. Watch your tested parameters more often than normal - what and how much the tank uses up will change day to day. Our test kits see the changes in our system before our eyes do.

...as cyano is really cohabitating with my dinos. Turkey basting doesn't dislodge all dinos and I've let the cyano go for now. Need to retest PO4 tonight.

My two cents, I don't trust Cyano. (Especially around sandbed dinos) I kill it with fire. It makes and captures too many things dinos need, and they just hang out together too happily and too often.
I'd siphon out cyano mats (and take a bunch of dinos with them too)

 

[mwilk19]

Update number two. It's been 1 week since I put the UV sterilizer online. There are no traces of dinos anywhere. Nothing on the sand, coral or on the rocks. Even the hair algae that had brown on it is now just green. I'm sure they're still lurking somewhere so I will continue to run the UV.
This leather and pocillapora last week would have dino strings even after multiple siphonings per day. The other leather would be the same way and these Zoas were closed up for weeks.

 

[Lowefx]

Update number two. It's been 1 week since I put the UV sterilizer online. There are no traces of dinos anywhere. Nothing on the sand, coral or on the rocks. Even the hair algae that had brown on it is now just green. I'm sure they're still lurking somewhere so I will continue to run the UV.
This leather and pocillapora last week would have dino strings even after multiple siphonings per day. The other leather would be the same way and these Zoas were closed up for weeks.

It can't be that easy........can it????

 

[rockstarta78]

So I tested po4 and no3 today, my po4 is at 0.27ppm and no3 is at 10ppm. So I've decided not to dose today. I still see dino. It hasn't improved. Should I still dose? I think I should skip today. What do you think @mcarroll

 

[reeferfoxx]

So I tested po4 and no3 today, my po4 is at 0.27ppm and no3 is at 10ppm. So I've decided not to dose today. I still see dino. It hasn't improved. Should I still dose? I think I should skip today. What do you think @mcarroll

Reaching a specific or over reaching a specific po4 or no3 number isnt the cure here.

 

[mwilk19]

It can't be that easy........can it????

I'm not claiming that it's a cure. All I know is what happened in my tank and in another member's tank. @Velcro This is my second go around with dinos and I've tried some of the fixes, Vibrant and H2O2. Neither was effective in eliminating them. I wasn't going to go the bleach route and didn't try the Metro dosing because of inconsistent results. I thought I'd try this as a last resort. The next step was probably going to be a total tear down and a restart. Will this be the answer? God, I hope so but right now, everything in my tank is reacting very favorably. In addition to the corals in the pictures, my anemones that were obviously reacting to the dinos are now back out in their full glory. I'm also keeping my nutrients higher than before. My NO3 is at 5ppm and my PO4 is at .06. I'll need to dose some NeoPhos but I'd also like to get the hair algae to die off a little. It's all a work in progress.

 

[Velcro]

I'm not claiming that it's a cure. All I know is what happened in my tank and in another member's tank. @Velcro This is my second go around with dinos and I've tried some of the fixes, Vibrant and H2O2. Neither was effective in eliminating them. I wasn't going to go the bleach route and didn't try the Metro dosing because of inconsistent results. I thought I'd try this as a last resort. The next step was probably going to be a total tear down and a restart. Will this be the answer? God, I hope so but right now, everything in my tank is reacting very favorably. In addition to the corals in the pictures, my anemones that were obviously reacting to the dinos are now back out in their full glory. I'm also keeping my nutrients higher than before. My NO3 is at 5ppm and my PO4 is at .06. I'll need to dose some NeoPhos but I'd also like to get the hair algae to die off a little. It's all a work in progress.

+2 I'm still dino free. I'm sure it won't work on all types of dino, but it's undeniable that I couldn't find a single sign of them after 48 hours of SLOW FLOW, OVERSIZED UV.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I've been dino free for two weeks now. No UV purchased or needed.

 

[rockstarta78]

Reaching a specific or over reaching a specific po4 or no3 number isnt the cure here.

So you suggest I keep dosing?

 

[reeferfoxx]

So you suggest I keep dosing?

Is suggest you keep consistent N and P. 0.20 is high but a consistent 0.10 po4 and 5-10 N is what you want. Too much can cause other issues. In simple terms we are building an environment of beneficial bacteria and organisms that will grow to help keep dinos from taking over. This method is for long term stability. For me it took 3 weeks to a month for my tank to evolve into this fashion. Overnight cures may work but long term, you may not have the right environment to keep them from coming back.

 

[rockstarta78]

Is suggest you keep consistent N and P. 0.20 is high but a consistent 0.10 po4 and 5-10 N is what you want. Too much can cause other issues. In simple terms we are building an environment of beneficial bacteria and organisms that will grow to help keep dinos from taking over. This method is for long term stability. For me it took 3 weeks to a month for my tank to evolve into this fashion. Overnight cures may work but long term, you may not have the right environment to keep them from coming back.

That's my understanding as well. So since both nutrients are high, I figured I'd skip dosing today and test tomorrow and dose.

 

[reeferfoxx]

That's my understanding as well. So since both nutrients are high, I figured I'd skip dosing today and test tomorrow and dose.

Yes I would say that is fine. Fwiw I'm also doing some other experimental options to get rid of the hair algae and cyano that I aquired during this method. So far I'm seeing positive results.

 

[rockstarta78]

Let me know what you figure out. I'm seeing some green hair algae and cyano as well. I'm hoping dino will start dying in a week or 2. Once dino is gone i will have to fight cyano and gha.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Let me know what you figure out. I'm seeing some green hair algae and cyano as well. I'm hoping dino will start dying in a week or 2. Once dino is gone i will have to fight cyano and gha.

Ive been fighting cyano off and on for a year so my first goal is hair algae. This is actually the first time my tank has seen hair algae and normally I would welcome it if only cyano wasnt present. Im writing it off as a ugly stage/phase but its not something I can just siphon out lol... cyano on the other hand is a little easier to manage in my experience.

 

[leocom2000]

I don't see Dino's in my tank anymore, but the sample showed they are still there in some sort of a dormant form. The shape and movement are different from what I saw before.
I did not treat with anything. Adding no3 with po4 just made it worse. I added gracilaria algae to the aquarium and let the po4 drop while still adding no3 until the test barely detects it. I see more cyano now, but no brown carpet on my send.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Adding no3 with po4 just made it worse.

Same for me. Just like a cold or flu, things get worse before it gets better. I just let the dinos flourish while maintaining n and p dosing. Eventually they went away.

 

[Beardo]

I'm in my third week now of dosing Phosphate and thought I would give an update on the progress.
It took pretty heavy dosing of the Seachem Flourish Phosphorus to be able to maintain phosphate levels while nitrates stayed consistent at around 5. Started seeing hair algae on the rocks relatively quickly but this was just as quickly covered by dinos. Tank definitely got UGLY. I was having a lot of people over on Sunday and was too embarrassed to allow everyone to see the tank in the condition it was in so did a short lights out (Saturday and part of the day Sunday) just to knock dinos back, not that I expected much. I have to say for such a short lights out period the tank is looking pretty good, even today. Green algae on the rocks is going strong with just minimal dinos covering it. I have also seen a big change in phosphate and nitrate consumption since I began. Phosphate consumption has dropped dramatically and nitrates have dropped for the first time in months. I am dosing sodium nitrate again to maintain nitrate levels.

Other things I have changed: I returned pH to normal levels. I had been dosing a kalk slurry on a separate dosing pump to maintain elevated pH levels. This helped some but seemed to be losing it's effectiveness, besides I got tired of cleaning pumps every week or 2. I am still adding kalk with my top off though.
I have also been feeding phyto on a daily basis.

I see some are having good luck with running a UV sterilizer. I have been running slow flow UV, a AquaUV 57 watt classic, for over 2 years (just changed the bulb for a second time) and still have dinos. It is nice to see it working for others but for me I never had success. I do believe it helped keep the population down at times but never to the levels others here have been reporting. I wish you all continued success with this.

All in all I feel pretty positive with the direction things are going. Plan on continuing this direction and see where it takes me. Starting to get hopeful about not having to do a teardown and restart of the tank.

 

[rockstarta78]

I'm in my third week now of dosing Phosphate and thought I would give an update on the progress.
It took pretty heavy dosing of the Seachem Flourish Phosphorus to be able to maintain phosphate levels while nitrates stayed consistent at around 5. Started seeing hair algae on the rocks relatively quickly but this was just as quickly covered by dinos. Tank definitely got UGLY. I was having a lot of people over on Sunday and was too embarrassed to allow everyone to see the tank in the condition it was in so did a short lights out (Saturday and part of the day Sunday) just to knock dinos back, not that I expected much. I have to say for such a short lights out period the tank is looking pretty good, even today. Green algae on the rocks is going strong with just minimal dinos covering it. I have also seen a big change in phosphate and nitrate consumption since I began. Phosphate consumption has dropped dramatically and nitrates have dropped for the first time in months. I am dosing sodium nitrate again to maintain nitrate levels.

Other things I have changed: I returned pH to normal levels. I had been dosing a kalk slurry on a separate dosing pump to maintain elevated pH levels. This helped some but seemed to be losing it's effectiveness, besides I got tired of cleaning pumps every week or 2. I am still adding kalk with my top off though.
I have also been feeding phyto on a daily basis.

I see some are having good luck with running a UV sterilizer. I have been running slow flow UV, a AquaUV 57 watt classic, for over 2 years (just changed the bulb for a second time) and still have dinos. It is nice to see it working for others but for me I never had success. I do believe it helped keep the population down at times but never to the levels others here have been reporting. I wish you all continued success with this.

All in all I feel pretty positive with the direction things are going. Plan on continuing this direction and see where it takes me. Starting to get hopeful about not having to do a teardown and restart of the tank.

I'm with you on this. I hope it works out. For both of us.