Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

[vetteguy53081]

Has anyone noticed dinos appearing after dosing trace elements. This is the second time in a year I end up with dinos. This time I have dinos and cyano together. So it's something I'm doing wrong. The first time I got dinos was July 2022 I was in Dallas Texas on a vacation and I noticed my PH was super high. 8.6 at first I thought that was a good thing. When I got back home I did a water test. My alkalinity was 6.6ppm calcium 500 . Corals looked a little bleached sps corals. I had the raidons on acclamation mode the acclamation mode ended while I was away. Nitrates were at 3ppm phosphate was zero. .at the time I was dosing amino’s and red sea trace colors. So now fast forward to today. I added a 3rd xr15 put lights on acclamation mode again started dosing amino’s and trace . As the intensity of the lights rise I get more algae. Alkalinity drops Nitrates drop phosphate drops corals have a growth spert. And I have dinos again. I have a mixed reef with 30 acropora frags and a bunch of acans and torches. I can't seem to find a lighting balance for both. I screw myself over messing with lights aminos and I end up with dinos.

I dose regularly and no dino

 

[Bitcoin Reefer]

Has anyone noticed dinos appearing after dosing trace elements. This is the second time in a year I end up with dinos. This time I have dinos and cyano together. So it's something I'm doing wrong. The first time I got dinos was July 2022 I was in Dallas Texas on a vacation and I noticed my PH was super high. 8.6 at first I thought that was a good thing. When I got back home I did a water test. My alkalinity was 6.6ppm calcium 500 . Corals looked a little bleached sps corals. I had the raidons on acclamation mode the acclamation mode ended while I was away. Nitrates were at 3ppm phosphate was zero. .at the time I was dosing amino’s and red sea trace colors. So now fast forward to today. I added a 3rd xr15 put lights on acclamation mode again started dosing amino’s and trace . As the intensity of the lights rise I get more algae. Alkalinity drops Nitrates drop phosphate drops corals have a growth spert. And I have dinos again. I have a mixed reef with 30 acropora frags and a bunch of acans and torches. I can't seem to find a lighting balance for both. I screw myself over messing with lights aminos and I end up with dinos.

In general with lighting, if you're having trouble finding right balance. Less is usually better I think? I'm no lighting expert, and my corals I'd say have grown generally slow, but slow is better than killing things

 

[ELChingonsReef]

I dose regularly and no dino

I'm doing something wrong. Eather lighting or adding something to the tank that it doesn't need. Do you have any advice for me? Or any idea as to what I could be doing wrong?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm doing something wrong. Eather lighting or adding something to the tank that it doesn't need. Do you have any advice for me? Or any idea as to what I could be doing wrong?

Pretty corals there- This is cyano bacteria and Not dino. Opposed to dino, cyano occurs when water nutrient concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

 

[ELChingonsReef]

Pretty corals there- This is cyano bacteria and Not dino. Opposed to dino, cyano occurs when water nutrient concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

Thanks man. I appreciate your advice. I added microbacter 7 last night and h202 . I dosed phosphate. I've been dosing neo nitro from brightwell. My nitrates are back up to 10ppm as of last night. I tested with hanna checker. I changed out my activated carbon. My skimmer is questionable. It probably needs a good cleaning. It's been a year since I've taken it apart and cleaned it. I turned down the lights to 50% intensity from 75% . I run a modified lps soft program on mobius at high intensity for acropora and lps corals I have. That program is very blue as it is so I just lowered the intensity. My phosphates are a concern with adding that chemi pure elite. They are at 0.03 according to hanna checker. Will the chemi pure lower them more? I have trouble keeping phosphate up . I have to dose twice a week to keep them at 0.03 I'm thinking of putting phosphate on a doser. I also thought of changing my RO membrane. It hasn't been changed in a year. But I only make 30 gallons every 2 weeks so I didn't think of that until now. This is a 3ft red sea tank about a year and a half old now. Do you think this tank is still immature? That could be another reason for these problems? It was started with dry rock .I've been running UV 24 hrs a day since I started this tank. It's a 15 watt aqua ultraviolet from brs.

 

[DarkReefer]

On about day 2ish now of the h202 method.
Dosing about 6ml (maybe slight over) of h202 at night and MB7 in the morning (tank is Waterbox 70.2 so about 69ish gallon system).
Certainly noticed a decrease of dinos on the sand yesterday after the lights had been on (at close to 10% of their standard) for the day. That was quite motivating to see some progress there and I hope it continues to get better.

I tested this morning about an hour or so after dosing MB7 and was a little concerned but I'm not sure if it was just a bad reading or if something to watch for.

Temp 24.8
pH - 7.7 - dropped a bit, usually sits at 8.1ish but can sometimes drop down over night I think, usually test during the day/evening. Windows are opened today so should give it a boost as it usually does.
Nitrate - 15 - certainly a drop from what it was previously.
Salinity - 1.025
Alk - 7.9
Calc - 430
Mag - 1320

Phosphate - 0.356 (This is the concern as first test showed 0, 2nd test came in with the 0.356). It could be that perhaps I didn't put in enough of the powder in the first test, OR it could be that after seeing 0 I kind of panicked and chucked in a bunch of pellets (about double what I usually feed for the morning) as I remember reading that @Bitcoin Reefer fed heavy to counter the drop and the phosphates were coming off of the freshly dumped food, despite taking water a couple inches below the surface where some of the food was floating.

I'll have to continue monitoring this one I think just in case.

 

[vetteguy53081]

On about day 2ish now of the h202 method.
Dosing about 6ml (maybe slight over) of h202 at night and MB7 in the morning (tank is Waterbox 70.2 so about 69ish gallon system).
Certainly noticed a decrease of dinos on the sand yesterday after the lights had been on (at close to 10% of their standard) for the day. That was quite motivating to see some progress there and I hope it continues to get better.

I tested this morning about an hour or so after dosing MB7 and was a little concerned but I'm not sure if it was just a bad reading or if something to watch for.

Temp 24.8
pH - 7.7 - dropped a bit, usually sits at 8.1ish but can sometimes drop down over night I think, usually test during the day/evening. Windows are opened today so should give it a boost as it usually does.
Nitrate - 15 - certainly a drop from what it was previously.
Salinity - 1.025
Alk - 7.9
Calc - 430
Mag - 1320

Phosphate - 0.356 (This is the concern as first test showed 0, 2nd test came in with the 0.356). It could be that perhaps I didn't put in enough of the powder in the first test, OR it could be that after seeing 0 I kind of panicked and chucked in a bunch of pellets (about double what I usually feed for the morning) as I remember reading that @Bitcoin Reefer fed heavy to counter the drop and the phosphates were coming off of the freshly dumped food, despite taking water a couple inches below the surface where some of the food was floating.

I'll have to continue monitoring this one I think just in case.

Go no more than 4ml on the peroxide. While mainly of water - you dont want to oxidize too quickly

 

[Mikuchar]

Tried everything under the sun even methods that worked in the past. Sorry best pics and video I could muster up. Any suggestions would be great

 

[Mikuchar]

A better video of what I'm dealing with. Can anyone identify and have any plan of action going forward. Ty

 

[ELChingonsReef]

Go no more than 4ml on the peroxide. While mainly of water - you dont want to oxidize too quickly

I'm doing 8mls in my 88gall system. Is that too much. That's about 1ml per 10 gallons right?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm doing 8mls in my 88gall system. Is that too much. That's about 1ml per 10 gallons right?

Yes

 

[ELChingonsReef]

Yes

So I should dose only 4ml?

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I should dose only 4ml?

What day are you on with dosing?

 

[ELChingonsReef]

What day are you on with dosing?

This is day 3 since I read your reply. I haven't dosed h202 today yet. I usually do it before I go to bed. So I've dosed 8ml twice so far

 

[vetteguy53081]

Do three more doses of the

This is day 3 since I read your reply. I haven't dosed h202 today yet. I usually do it before I go to bed. So I've dosed 8ml twice so far

8ml then go with 4 ml another 3-5 days to assure the flagellates are out of the sand bed

 

[ELChingonsReef]

Do three more doses of the

8ml then go with 4 ml another 3-5 days to assure the flagellates are out of the sand bed

Okay cool ill do that. Should the skimmer be on or off when I dose it? Will this help with the cyano? How should I treat the cyano? Or should I just use chemiclean?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Okay cool ill do that. Should the skimmer be on or off when I dose it? Will this help with the cyano? How should I treat the cyano? Or should I just use chemiclean?

Help with cyano - yes and run skimmer as normal. Just empty cup daily during treatment

 

[ELChingonsReef]

Help with cyano - yes and run skimmer as normal. Just empty cup daily during treatment

Just so I'm clear. Dose 3 more times at 8ml of hydrogen peroxide. Then 3-5 days of 4ml. As for cyano dose chemiclean with skimmer on . Empty collection cup daily during treatment. ?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Just so I'm clear. Dose 3 more times at 8ml of hydrogen peroxide. Then 3-5 days of 4ml. As for cyano dose chemiclean with skimmer on . Empty collection cup daily during treatment. ?

Yes

 

[bobssecrtsn]

I’m hitting myself on the head. My tank was free of chrysophytes and once I added a dry rock to the display they are now back. And attaching themselves to other rocks now. SMH