Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?
- Thread starter mcarroll
- Start date
- Tagged users None
can you load this to youtube? 72mb will take forever to download from here.
i did a lot of things
dinoxal + dinox (one day dinoxal, one day dinox), plus reduced lights (6 hours, 60%) plus rowaphos , no UV.
now i have UV always on, lights 75% 9 hours, no rowaphos, no dinoxal , no dinox.
which one worked? i don't know.
bishoptf
Valuable Member
@ScottB @taricha Looking for any additional suggestions, I just can't finish these guys off. I have small cell a long time ago and finally got over that hump but did a chemi clean treatment a few weeks ago and I know that was a mistake which made ostreo peak back up. They are not terrible but they are there and I'd like to figure out how to kick them out once and for all. I'm running UV in my DT but so far not sure what else to try, I have phosphate and nitrate, phosphate is not as high as it normally is since I think the Dino's are locking it up.
Seems to be a combination of symbondium and ostreo, just not sure if I should try a blackout or what my best course is at this point. Like I said they are not covering everything up etc, but can't get them to recede either, such a pain. Any suggestions welcome.
Here are some pics:
Most of the growth is underneath things where there is no light...
Seems to be a combination of symbondium and ostreo, just not sure if I should try a blackout or what my best course is at this point. Like I said they are not covering everything up etc, but can't get them to recede either, such a pain. Any suggestions welcome.
Here are some pics:
Most of the growth is underneath things where there is no light...
Definitely not ostreopsis. Can't be certain as the slide is very thick and can't see the front of them well enough to be certain but I would say those are prorocentrum.
@ScottB @taricha Looking for any additional suggestions, I just can't finish these guys off. I have small cell a long time ago and finally got over that hump but did a chemi clean treatment a few weeks ago and I know that was a mistake which made ostreo peak back up. They are not terrible but they are there and I'd like to figure out how to kick them out once and for all. I'm running UV in my DT but so far not sure what else to try, I have phosphate and nitrate, phosphate is not as high as it normally is since I think the Dino's are locking it up.
Seems to be a combination of symbondium and ostreo, just not sure if I should try a blackout or what my best course is at this point. Like I said they are not covering everything up etc, but can't get them to recede either, such a pain. Any suggestions welcome.
Here are some pics:
Most of the growth is underneath things where there is no light...
Are you running UV? I would take care of the ostreopsis before worrying about the other stuff. If you have corals I would not do a black out. I know that's popular and it might speed up the process a little. However, the toxins from the ostreopsis plus the blackout could be disastrous with already stressed corals. You should also be running carbon and changing it frequently to help combat the toxicity if you aren't already.
Look at you! It took me years to acquire that list of nuisances and you've done it in just a couple months. Overachiever.@ScottB @taricha Looking for any additional suggestions, I just can't finish these guys off. I have small cell a long time ago and finally got over that hump but did a chemi clean treatment a few weeks ago and I know that was a mistake which made ostreo peak back up. They are not terrible but they are there and I'd like to figure out how to kick them out once and for all. I'm running UV in my DT but so far not sure what else to try, I have phosphate and nitrate, phosphate is not as high as it normally is since I think the Dino's are locking it up.
Seems to be a combination of symbondium and ostreo, just not sure if I should try a blackout or what my best course is at this point. Like I said they are not covering everything up etc, but can't get them to recede either, such a pain. Any suggestions welcome.
Here are some pics:
Most of the growth is underneath things where there is no light...
Yes I see your ostreos and chrysos. I also think solving for the dinos first is best & IIRC you have the tools for it. That UV should clear them. I never had to black out to get them swimming but if they don't clear in a week or two then I would do that.
Once that is done, I suggest cautious use of Vibrant for the chrysos. It was the only thing that arrested them for me. Plus maybe the foxface.
bishoptf
Valuable Member
Look at you! It took me years to acquire that list of nuisances and you've done it in just a couple months. Overachiever.
Yes I see your ostreos and chrysos. I also think solving for the dinos first is best & IIRC you have the tools for it. That UV should clear them. I never had to black out to get them swimming but if they don't clear in a week or two then I would do that.
Once that is done, I suggest cautious use of Vibrant for the chrysos. It was the only thing that arrested them for me. Plus maybe the foxface.
Yeah its been at least a couple weeks since the chemiclean and doesn't appear to be getting any better, I will run a couple of days with the lights out, not a total black out but ambient only. It's in the basement so it stays pretty dim, will then run blues for a couple more days. UV is running 24/7 and carbon is in place.
I do have some live rock rubble from @AquaBiomics hopefully coming from this week and getting some more pods, trying to think of everything I can do to offset the balance and get the good guys to take over. Dosing a little bit of bacteria but not sure it really matters but what I am doing right now.
Thanks for the reply...
badIuck
Community Member
After I managed to fight my cyano by doing water changes, using bacteria etc. a few days later dinos took over my tank and I can't seem to get rid of them. Having a hard time taking pictures with my phone. Any chance of a quick ID with these pictures? Might UV help?
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
Nice pics!After I managed to fight my cyano by doing water changes, using bacteria etc. a few days later dinos took over my tank and I can't seem to get rid of them. Having a hard time taking pictures with my phone. Any chance of a quick ID with these pictures? Might UV help?
Thanks in advance!
Those are Prorocentrum.
Yes, a UV will help. I find these need some motivation to get moving into the water column. So once you get the UV properly deployed, a 48 hour blackout may be needed.
The full protocol is linked here. Sorry it is so long.
badIuck
Community Member
Thanks for the super fast reply/ID and the protocol. I'll read up on Prorocentrum and keep you guys updated. Probably plumbing a UV to my return pump tomorrow. If only I had more space in my cabinet...those UVs are huge.
I would just do a hang on back implementation. I have a link to an image of a UV "plumbed" this way. It is ugly, but temporary.
Certainly plausible. Try this next.Dinos?
Section 1: Do I have dinoflagellates or something else?
Each of the 5 species has a slightly different look in the tank. They can also look very different and meld into any of the other competitors mentioned above. They all form some kind of mucus. Some have long strands with bubbles while others do not. The mucus could be reddish, brown, gold, or in between. They can take over rock, sand, glass, plastics, even a refugium. They can be confused with diatoms, cyanobacteria, bacterial film and chrysophytes to name a common few. Good news: you don't need a microscope to find out if the gunk is dinoflagellates.
The coffee filter test:
a) Syphon out a good sample of the gunk along with some tank water.
b) Place in a container with a lid and shake very hard for 30 seconds or so. The gunk should be dissolved now.
c) Pour the solution through a coffee filter into a clear glass. The water should be largely clear now.
d) Place the jar under a light source for roughly an hour.
e) If the gunk coagulates back into a glob, well, welcome to the club nobody really wants to be in.
The hard part about using the return is about controlling flow through it to get enough contact time. The manufacturers flow ratings are totally wrong (too fast) to give dinoflagellates even a sunburn. These are not delicate little bacteria or microalgae. Or helpless little fish parasites.
Many dinos have protective shells. There is a trade off between flow rate and wattage (1 watt per 3 gallons). If you want to pay for a monster UV then pump away. Otherwise you need to increase contact time by slowing the flow. Down to like 1200 liters an hour.
badIuck
Community Member
In some other threads people were recommending higher flow rates compared to what is needed for treating parasites/diseases - something about bacterial reproduction rates if I remember correctly..?
I plumped a bypass to my return line (just replaced a small part between two unions) and connected an 18w uv for my 45g total tank. I will watch if it affects the dinos in any way. If not I will probably get a small dedicated pump so I can control the flow.
They are visibly going to the water column after lights out so I am quite hopeful.
When they are happy they do replicate like mad. But if the contact time does not even give them a suntan, what is the point?
Liters per hour guesstimate? That is a good size for that volume though so you might do just fine.
badIuck
Community Member
I am running a Maxspect Jump 6k at power set to level 10/15 so with back pressure taken into account should be putting out around 2000 L/H. If 35% of that amount is going through the bypass with the uv (huge guesstimate) it'd be about 700 l/h through the uv. Will update during the weekend.
Ah. Given that size that is plenty slow.
If you don't see much in a week, then maybe a 48 hour blackout to get them moving toward "the light".
Similar threads
