Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?
- Thread starter mcarroll
- Start date
- Tagged users None
GarrettT
Well-Known Member
If it makes you feel any better, I dose 0.067ppm or 22ppb every day. Have been for months now. I use Kalk for my corals though.
If I don’t dose po4, it bottoms out the next day. I’m convinced I’ve reached equilibrium already in my rocks and sand.
Which dino specie continues?
Assume you are goo for NO3 and PO4?
Yeah, diatoms are visually annoying, but really they are just food. I would not rush to resolve them. I have some today myself.
GarrettT
Well-Known Member
I have all of them. Past videos have confirmed. I think that would be wise. Likely just going to get a bunch of cerith snails.
chema
Active Member
This thread is getting so huge that it is almost imposible to find the answer to certain question. For those experienced with dinos and dinos+ciano I have two questions:
1. Any proof of relationship between low or high redox and dinos or dinos+ciano?
2. What is a good level of NO3 and PO4 to keep dinos and/or dinos+ciano at bay?
1. Any proof of relationship between low or high redox and dinos or dinos+ciano?
2. What is a good level of NO3 and PO4 to keep dinos and/or dinos+ciano at bay?
Yeah, the size of the thread was why I wrote this article. I worked hard to keep it brief and it is still a bit long.
A Dinoflagellate Treatment Guide
As the title suggests, this is intended as a short guide on what to do when you suspect dinoflagellates are trying to overtake your system. It is an attempt to boil down the protocols discussed across 11,000 posts in this "Are you Tired" thread along with thousands of other dino threads. I did...
www.reef2reef.com
As to your questions.
1) I am not familiar with a correlation between redox (oxidation reduction potential, right?) and dinos. That is a good question. Not sure how many people measure that. It is a standard probe within APEX world, so I measure mine. My guess would be lower ranges <300. I will start to look for that pattern though.
2) For a while, keeping 10/.1 NO3/PO4 is generally recommended. It is less about what dinos prefer; it is more about fostering growth in OTHER surface competitors. Bacterial films, film algae, coralline algae, diatoms, and yes, even cyano. It is VERY common to have cyano be the first surface competitor to show up.
Nature abhors a vacuum. Every surface needs a living surface on it. Each aquarium biome is different, but they have some combination of these (and other) microorganisms present on all surfaces eventually. Cyano is a tough one. I find them to be most competitive in two scenarios:
a) shifting nutrient levels. Can be moving in either direction
b) When one residual nutrient is in far higher concentrations than the other. Most of the time (for me) it is low nitrate with higher phosphate. So <2 for nitrates and >.15 for phosphates.
@ScottB i still have undetectable po4 but i'm getting a HUGE green film on glasses. the glass is getting full green in almost a day
visually, i think i have a reduction in dinos, but still po4 to 0 and no way to rise them
suggestions? should i keep dosing this much? (3 times a day, 0.05ppm each time)
visually, i think i have a reduction in dinos, but still po4 to 0 and no way to rise them
suggestions? should i keep dosing this much? (3 times a day, 0.05ppm each time)
chema
Active Member
Thank you very much for your answers. I have been dealing with a combined plague of dinos and ciano for almost a year. I have added most of the bacterial products in the marker, unsuccessfully. My nitrate levels are 5-15 ppm and phosphate 0,1-0,2. Therefore, at least in my case, the plague was not the result of a suden decrease in nutrient levels.Yeah, the size of the thread was why I wrote this article. I worked hard to keep it brief and it is still a bit long.
A Dinoflagellate Treatment Guide
As the title suggests, this is intended as a short guide on what to do when you suspect dinoflagellates are trying to overtake your system. It is an attempt to boil down the protocols discussed across 11,000 posts in this "Are you Tired" thread along with thousands of other dino threads. I did...
As to your questions.
1) I am not familiar with a correlation between redox (oxidation reduction potential, right?) and dinos. That is a good question. Not sure how many people measure that. It is a standard probe within APEX world, so I measure mine. My guess would be lower ranges <300. I will start to look for that pattern though.
2) For a while, keeping 10/.1 NO3/PO4 is generally recommended. It is less about what dinos prefer; it is more about fostering growth in OTHER surface competitors. Bacterial films, film algae, coralline algae, diatoms, and yes, even cyano. It is VERY common to have cyano be the first surface competitor to show up.
Nature abhors a vacuum. Every surface needs a living surface on it. Each aquarium biome is different, but they have some combination of these (and other) microorganisms present on all surfaces eventually. Cyano is a tough one. I find them to be most competitive in two scenarios:
a) shifting nutrient levels. Can be moving in either direction
b) When one residual nutrient is in far higher concentrations than the other. Most of the time (for me) it is low nitrate with higher phosphate. So <2 for nitrates and >.15 for phosphates.
Still, I'm very curious about a possible relationship with redox. There is not much information about that.
I would solve for dinos first. Then let the system settle. Then just tinker around the edges on nutrients to see how the cyano responds. I know it will be tempting to blast the cyano with Chemiclean (or equivalent) but I discourage that. It leaves the surfaces void and invites the dinos back to dominance.
chema
Active Member
Any suggestion on how to get rid of dinos? I Know that is the one million dollar question!
I have tried lots of things and the result is a combined plague of dinos and ciano. The only thing I can think of and have not tried is to keep a low amount pf phosphate (less than 0,05) and increase Si to promote diatoms.
My best answers are in the article I linked before. Confirm first of they actually ARE dinos. Then confirm the specie so you can tailor the treatment plan to the specie most effectively. And if you are dosing amino acids, STOP. There are several other tips in the document.
You right biggest thing is verification first
chema
Active Member
I confirmed they are Amphidiniun many months ago. I have dosed amino acids, stopped dosing them, no difference.
You will find in the document afew things then:
a) LC Amphids are most often found in combination with other specie
b) Over time, your specie can shift. This is common.
Amphids are the toughest to beat. But they are also the least damaging/toxic. They are just ugly.
Absolutely ostreos. Those two changes are solid moves, but now you need a UV. Running some GAC is also a good idea as those are fairly toxic (and they stink too).
Here are the proper specs, speed and positioning for the UV in Section 4:
A Dinoflagellate Treatment Guide
As the title suggests, this is intended as a short guide on what to do when you suspect dinoflagellates are trying to overtake your system. It is an attempt to boil down the protocols discussed across 11,000 posts in this "Are you Tired" thread...
www.reef2reef.com
r-nel
Community Member
Great! thanks for confirming. Im running Carbon right now and jimmy rigged a 25 watt uv straight to the DT for now. Just so happen my main 40 watt UV bulb burnt at the same time so waiting on new bulb to arrive. I'm also gonna plumb that straight to my DT as well.
echopiece
Active Member
I’m currently battling Dinos too. I’m trying to raise NO3 and PO4 by dosing brightwells neo-nitro and neo-phos. After a full week of dosing per directions, my numbers still remain 0. Directions suggest my system is carbon limited. Am I to dose a carbon source to try and get NO3 and PO4 to rise? Pardon my ignorance, but I always thought carbon dosing will reduce these numbers? Any suggestions on how to raise my nitrates?
If you want to do some manual removal while you await the 40 Watt, check out the "poor man's UV".
It is just clamping a bunch of filter floss in the tank.
Similar threads
