Dinoflagellates my experience......h2o2 reefing tool!!!!!

[Pants]

I don't think the stabilizers would cause any problems (they they may be less reef safe). Since the dino samples I've looked at have all fallen into the 3 groups i previously mentioned I really think there is a good chance that the inconsistency in methods of extermination is related to the species you are dealing with.

Tiggy any changes in your tank?

 

[Tiggy]

The h2o2 didn't get rid of them but helpt a bit to what I know ... dosing h2o2 + 3 days of total darkness and po4 remover afterwards did the trick for me.
All the algea isn't gone but I have no more dynos

 

[AquariumID]

Great Quality Information! Thanks!

 

[cagdason]

I start the war too

Hi all,

Thanks for all the nice info so I id mine too and need confirmation. I start H2O2 (1ml per 10 gal twice a day) yesterday and it seams they were much happeir, I will get a new bottle incase the one I start using was not good. Can someone tell me if H2O2 is effective on Prorocentrum sp.

This is what I have:

 

[cagdason]

Not looking too good; this morning I was happy there was not too much on the sand I add regular dose in the morning and left for work come back and they were there smiling at me. I dose another shot, and left. This is around 140 gal tank and I am dosing 15ml in the morning and another 15 at night. This noon I add 10 ml more. I am at day 3 may be it is early to conclude but might not be very lucky. The rock start looking bad there are some macro alge trying to grow but all covered with red. Tank looks like harbor bottom. I want to see my rocks again

Is there a simple way to test the H2O2 I know you can put it on the skin and watch for fizz but I want a more objective mesure. I both another bottle from an other store but it is the same brand and same expration date.

 

[Tiggy]

H2o2 didn't work for me and I don't think your h2o2 is to blame ... i got my dynos removed by agressively filter over phosphate/no3 remover and change that as soon as vales getting out start to climb again. Look for some phosphate spounge .. could help ... if changed regularly (like every 12-24h) in the beginning.

 

[Pants]

Lovely photos. That is Prorocentrum (a dino). In your second photo you can see a bit of the nucleus. It is that streaky whiter spacer to the left of that central circle. Prorocentrum have enormous genomes. This one could be 100x bigger than your genome. This group is known for producing diarrhetic shellfish poisoning toxins. They do not form cysts like many dinos so I suspect once you get rid of them they will be gone for good.

 

[cagdason]

Thanks for the advice Tiggy I already start seachem phosguard will replace it everyday. Also start a 72 hr dark period we will see how that works. Pants I took the photos at my lab. I am a biochemist and shame that my reef chemistry is this bad. Can you give me little more info. about this sp. Is it sensitive to pH, salinity, temp anything I can use to make them unconfortable. I found a webpage Information about Prorocentrum lima - Encyclopedia of Life claims that this sp is sensitive to temp over 20 C but my tank is at 25 and they are very happy. Also it says oxygen levels above 7.7 ml/L might be good and I was thinking this might be how H2O2 is acting but at 24-25 C and 1.025 salinity it is quite hard to achive this oxygen level so I drop my temp to 24 and salinity to 1.023 and keep adding H2O2. Any other suggestions?

 

[cagdason]

What about UV is it good bad for this sp. I read that it is armored what ever that means I remember by SCII game I need to upgrade my wapons against armored units to kill them .

 

[Pants]

Growth conditions like those you cited are going to be very species specific and I can only identify your algae down to genus by the LM photos (I'd need SEM or DNA to go further). Rapid changes in salinity will be deadly, so freshwater dips are a good way to prevent introduction of the pest, but it won't really help now that they are in your tank. They are not known to be mixotrophic (like other dinos) and they don't form cysts so extended lights out will eventually get rid of them, but they are likely to tolerate a long dark period (longer than a week) than you would want to subject your corals to. I don't know how susceptible they are to H2O2 dosing but that really should work for any algae. UV should kill them the trouble will be that they are benthic and your UV sterilizer will be working on the water column. I think it would help a little because they do occasionally wander into the water column, but its not going to eliminate them.

By armored we mean that there are vesicles beneath the cell membrane that contain cellulosic plates. In this group (Prorocentrum) 2 plates make up the majority of the surface area like a couple of hands in prayer, where each hand is a plate. Prior to molecular systematics the arrangements of these plates is how taxonomy was done for dinoflagellates, so saying it is armored to a biologist is a bit like saying "hey we can actually classify this one!" This makes this group very difficult to break open. I have to use methods developed for bacterial spores to open these cells. They are tough little bugs.

 

[Pants]

I should add that what Tiggy suggests will work for any algae and really seems like the best approach as it attacks the underlying issue (excess nutrients).

 

[cagdason]

Thanks for the help,
It would be hard to keep the dark for a week, I am at day 2 and still see them on the sand. About the nutrition I am not sure how it got this high. I feed once and see all consumed by the fish. I only have two fish in 130 gal tank. I beleive the liverock is releasing lots of stuf. I just tested nitrit nitrate and phosphate where all showed undetectable levels which is hard to beleive seeing all that is growing in the tank. I will try to keep updating in couple of days.

 

[sirevans reef]

:bump: This is a great thread to read. This topic pops up all the time and H2O2 dosing works wonders!! It worked really well for my tank!!

 

[Tiggy]

Thanks for the help,
It would be hard to keep the dark for a week, I am at day 2 and still see them on the sand. About the nutrition I am not sure how it got this high. I feed once and see all consumed by the fish. I only have two fish in 130 gal tank. I beleive the liverock is releasing lots of stuf. I just tested nitrit nitrate and phosphate where all showed undetectable levels which is hard to beleive seeing all that is growing in the tank. I will try to keep updating in couple of days.

I did 3 days; kept adding h2o2 once a days but did also heavily filter over a phosphate spounge which I changed every 12h max until values dropped.

 

[Tiggy]

Also test no2, n03, po4 with another kit ... I used SEra kit and po4 showed 0; but after testing with a hanna kit it showed I had po4 and alot more than the acceptable 0,03

 

[cagdason]

After 3 days of dark I opened the top and suck out the remains on the sand. Left the top open for the day next day they slowly grow on the sand. I closed the top again will let it go another couple days. H2O2 doesn't seam to do much.:tongue::cry:

 

[Pants]

I put together a survey for people experiencing a dino bloom. It can be found Here. Please feel free to share this on other forums/places. I have a couple questions specific to people who sent me samples but you don't need to have sent me anything to fill out the survey.


I also just want to reiterate that I am still looking for more samples.

 

[Orange bam bams]

I am having trouble I.d ing my problem algae should I send u a pic or sample ?

 

[Pants]

A pic to start would be good. Also describe it a bit. color, where did it start?, when you pull it out is it gelatinous blobs or strings?

 

[Orange bam bams]

Green/brown and snotty mixed with other algaes the shot was taken from what used to be my sump/fuge ! It has chocked out all my macro algae and killed every last snail also pasteled my acros quite a bit there tissue is very thin ! I think I have more than one algae issue but think Dino has been the killing snails fueling the algae cycle

More info on my system and system pictures can be found here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-discussion/89057-i-d-stubborn-pest-5.html