ZeoBak, AF Pro BioS, ProdiBio Biodigest, Dr. Tim's WasteAway all use similar strains to do the job. But do not dose any carbon sources like NOPOX, NP Minus, ZeoStart, ...... Ostreopsis are thecate and make a lot of glycosylated molecules to build their theca and the carbon-rich slime they use to stick to surfaces and form protection during the day for photosynthesis - that's a lot of carbon sources being taken up or made to supply the need and it's always easier and energetically more favorable to take up readily available amino acids and sugars than synthesizing them.
Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?
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Lowefx
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@Orione @McCarroll
Lowefx
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Ok, that's exactly what I was looking for. Thank you. Should I dose AF Pro BioS with my Zeobak? Also do I need to continue regular dosing of zeobak or dose more, more often?
I'm not sure if they are any different. However you can give AF Pro BioS a try. Regular dosage is fine. I actually dose less than recommended because they do take out NP fairly quickly even without carbon dosing.
update on by situation
Thanks to @taricha @mcarroll @reeferfoxx for helping out
Dino type - prorocentrum dinos
I have had my nitrates at about 15pmm and phosphate at .1 for the past week and i have seen a slow down on how quick they cover the glass and rocks. It seems the Dinos are mostly in the sand bed, tonight i added a UV sterilizer, it is the Pentair smart UV 25 watt and a RIO 2100 plus pump. Currently i have the pump sitting in the tank, I'm not sure now how fast it works or even if it will work but I'll update in a couple of days
Thanks to @taricha @mcarroll @reeferfoxx for helping out
Dino type - prorocentrum dinos
I have had my nitrates at about 15pmm and phosphate at .1 for the past week and i have seen a slow down on how quick they cover the glass and rocks. It seems the Dinos are mostly in the sand bed, tonight i added a UV sterilizer, it is the Pentair smart UV 25 watt and a RIO 2100 plus pump. Currently i have the pump sitting in the tank, I'm not sure now how fast it works or even if it will work but I'll update in a couple of days
m0jjen
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So after 2-3 weeks of dosing kh2po4 and kno3 it seems like things have "balanced out". I have been messuring every night for 4 days now and get 10 ppm no3 and 0.12 ppm po4. These 4 nights i've dosed 0.005 po4 and 0.15 no3 just because pretty much. So now what, just wait and see?
I believe that the dino is on its way to back off. I see less dino and more green cyano / algae on the rock atleast.
I believe that the dino is on its way to back off. I see less dino and more green cyano / algae on the rock atleast.
OP
OP
mcarroll
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That's it! Just keep it there and keep up with any other efforts as well.....gravel vacuuming, for example. Don't plan on letting up on the NO3 and PO4 levels until this is a distant memory and all should be well.
And here we go again.....
Over a week ago i removed 99% of my sand bed. The tank without the sand has looked great! No algae issues at all.
Slowly I started introducing new sand back into the system little by little. 25% of the bottom covered and no issues with osteropsis. Couple days later i covered ~50% of the bottom with new sand. The next day the dreaded dino bubbles and strings are starting to appear....!!
It seems like there is no hope with this dreaded algae. Ive maintain measurable levels of N&P and have only been feeding frozen food.
I guess i will need to settle on a BB system since sand seems to be out of the question with ostreopsis.;Shifty
Over a week ago i removed 99% of my sand bed. The tank without the sand has looked great! No algae issues at all.
Slowly I started introducing new sand back into the system little by little. 25% of the bottom covered and no issues with osteropsis. Couple days later i covered ~50% of the bottom with new sand. The next day the dreaded dino bubbles and strings are starting to appear....!!
It seems like there is no hope with this dreaded algae. Ive maintain measurable levels of N&P and have only been feeding frozen food.
I guess i will need to settle on a BB system since sand seems to be out of the question with ostreopsis.;Shifty
K. Steven
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I didn't remove sand for my Ostreopsis sp. and only dosed phosphate. No signs of the mucus since.
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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If dosing a nutrient such as nitrate or phosphate reduces dinos, that can only be because:
1. the spurred growth of other organisms is depleting something that the dinos need . Since many folks find water changes also spur dinos, it seems logical to conclude that spurring algae or cyano depletes something (like a trace metal, or less likely, the level of organics).
2. The green algae or cyano spurred by extra nutrients simply competes with the dinos for a space to grow.
3. The Growth of algae spurs a predator that can also consume dinos.
I really can't see any other options. Just having more nutrients in the water cannot directly deter the growth of a pest such as dinos.
1. the spurred growth of other organisms is depleting something that the dinos need . Since many folks find water changes also spur dinos, it seems logical to conclude that spurring algae or cyano depletes something (like a trace metal, or less likely, the level of organics).
2. The green algae or cyano spurred by extra nutrients simply competes with the dinos for a space to grow.
3. The Growth of algae spurs a predator that can also consume dinos.
I really can't see any other options. Just having more nutrients in the water cannot directly deter the growth of a pest such as dinos.
rockstarta78
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Looks like my dinos are trying to stay with me. As much as I want them gone, it seems like they find pleasure in hanging around on my sand. Now that bryopsis made a come back both my PO4 and NO3 dipped down to 0 while I was out for the weekend. I have dino all over my sand and bryopsis on the rock. They are tag teaming my tank. I have dosed Fluconazole to cure bryopsis while I am dosing NO3 and PO4 again, which I believe will feed the bryopsis. Any idea which one I should tackle first? Or can I fight both at the same time?
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I might be mistaken but i believe that the whole purpous of dosing nutrients is to encourage compedetors i different forms which should outcompete for something
Yes, but I've seen lots of people say that it is the lack of nutrients or the ratio (or imbalance) of nutrients that"causes" certain pests, which just isn't sensible. There has to be a more complex mechanism, such as competition.
One reason that this is important is that many folks dose trace elements. Without knowing what (if anything) is limiting dino growth, one can't really know what can be safely dosed and what can't.
m0jjen
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Well, I can pinpoint my outbreak to overusing GFO and dripping kalkwasser and litterly zeroing out phosphate (have two tritontests showing it aswell). So the lack of competition due to lack of nutrients might be a leading cause for the outbreaks to start with.
After the outbreak has taken place on the other hand nutrients might not be as relevant
Randy Holmes-Farley
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The problem with interpreting many such anecdotes is many of the things we do cause multiple changes. GFO adds soluble iron, for example, so it could be iron "dosing" and not low phosphate.
m0jjen
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The problem with interpreting many such anecdotes is many of the things we do cause multiple changes. GFO adds soluble iron, for example, so it could be iron "dosing" and not low phosphate.
While thats true i did not use gfo actually, I used triton AL99 which adds aluminum
m0jjen
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I found something pretty neat when i was lurking in my microscope this evening, its a **** microscope so ill go ahead and buy a better one soon. Anyway! I've been getting quite some hairalgae and green cyano (not unmanagable) which i decided to look at in a microscope. In this sample i found dino sells getting shreded and eaten/tangled into the cyano strings. It looked as if the dinocells were wittering away. I also saw alot of worms or something, quite some pods and what i believe was bacteria? Almost like dino cells but round in shape and fast, alot smaller then the dino sells.
These small cells were pretty aggresive and attacking dino/cyano cells, even moving dino sells when they swarmed it.
Any idea what these small things can be? "good" bacteria?
These small cells were pretty aggresive and attacking dino/cyano cells, even moving dino sells when they swarmed it.
Any idea what these small things can be? "good" bacteria?
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