Dinos Again!?!?!?

[IndyReef78]

A few weeks ago, I had a serious issue with Dinos. I used all the suggestions here and finally got rid of them after adding a UV sterilizer. Everything was looking great until about 2 days ago. We had some fuzzy brown algae on the back wall and a little on the rocks, but my parameters were all good (Nitrates between 10-20, Phosphates 0.25, Alkalinity 9.4, Calcium 425, Magnesium 1320 - still trying to boost that, but it's taking forever and a ton of Magnesium [>2 liters so far].

Yesterday, my nitrates had fallen to around 2, which is too low, and we started noticing what looks like dinos again on the sand and rocks (just like before). I have been dosing NeoNitro the last 2 days, but why is my Nitrate falling like that? I didn't change anything, I am feeding heavily, UV sterilizer is still running, reef mat is running and the skimmer has been running at 15%. Is it too much filtration? We did turn the skimmer off again yesterday in the hopes of boosting the Nitrates again. I just don't want to keep battling the same issues and I can't believe we will have to dose Neonitrate all the time on a tank only a few months old.

Anyone see anything that I'm missing that you would change? Things were looking so good for the last few weeks and now this!

I forgot to add, we have added tons of copepods from Algae barn, with 4 more large bottles 2 days ago.

 

[stewy14]

Dinos are normal, some have it worse than others, how much are u feeding corals and fish? And what size tank?

 

[IndyReef78]

Hi Stewy. I suppose some dinos are normal, but we have had a huge problem with them. Pretty sure the issue is the nitrates. We are feeding heavily - we have maybe 11 very small fish (the largest is a 3-4 inch anthias) in a 210 gallon tank. I feed twice a day, probably 4-5 frozen cubes total. I still can't keep my nitrates from bottoming out without dosing. The corals have been getting Reef Fusion 1&2 when I remember and several times a week, one of the frozen cubes is a coral gumbo mix.

 

[Jimbo327]

How old is your tank? I find that older tanks are more stable and you don't see as much of these drops.

 

[stewy14]

Hi Stewy. I suppose some dinos are normal, but we have had a huge problem with them. Pretty sure the issue is the nitrates. We are feeding heavily - we have maybe 11 very small fish (the largest is a 3-4 inch anthias) in a 210 gallon tank. I feed twice a day, probably 4-5 frozen cubes total. I still can't keep my nitrates from bottoming out without dosing. The corals have been getting Reef Fusion 1&2 when I remember and several times a week, one of the frozen cubes is a coral gumbo mix.

bring down feeding

 

[IndyReef78]

The tank is 5-6 months old. As for feeding, I was under the impression that feeding more would help boost the nitrates? I know it's a lot.

 

[Tamberav]

I would turn off the reef mat before the skimmer. A skimmer does more than remove organics.

Could always swap with a sock then just slack on cleaning the sock, ha!

The tank is young and low nutrients are annoying if you started with dry rock. Usually the problem is PO4 though.

 

[IndyReef78]

I would turn off the reef mat before the skimmer. A skimmer does more than remove organics.

Could always swap with a sock then just slack on cleaning the sock, ha!

The tank is young and low nutrients are annoying if you started with dry rock. Usually the problem is PO4 though.

I appreciate your thoughts (as well as everyone who has responded). Currently both the skimmer and reef mat are off (just turned off the reef mat halfway through the day and reduced the lights to maybe 15% blue to try to get rid of this red yuck as fast as possible. We did start with dry rock, but we have some live rock in the refugium.

I have wondered if we have too much filtration in general. This is our first time with a reef mat. Before, we had a skimmer and a refugium. Now we have a skimmer, reef mat, and bioballs.

 

[MDAquatics]

A lot of people, myself included have a tendency to overpower the filtration. Lately I have been taking a more natural approach than I previously had and seeing good results. I use no chemical filtration, bio block, skimmer at night on a timer with CO2 scrubbing and a refugium lit on the opposite schedule of the skimmer. Theres a lot of great videos out there about the reefmat and its drawbacks. I just watched one on BRS.

 

[IndyReef78]

A lot of people, myself included have a tendency to overpower the filtration. Lately I have been taking a more natural approach than I previously had and seeing good results. I use no chemical filtration, bio block, skimmer at night on a timer with CO2 scrubbing and a refugium lit on the opposite schedule of the skimmer. Theres a lot of great videos out there about the reefmat and its drawbacks. I just watched one on BRS.

I want to try to keep things as simple as possible with this tank and don't like that I'm already having to dose Nitrates. I had heard the opposite suggestion, turning off the skimmer overnight, but I suppose it wouldn't matter, just that it's not running all the time. I appreciate your thoughts!

 

[Jimbo327]

You tank is still very new, so your sand and rocks are a huge sink for nutrients...but eventually, it'll get filled and you nutrients will rise. In the meantime, just add some liquid nitrate, this is the easiest way to keep up nitrates.

 

[Dan_P]

I appreciate your thoughts (as well as everyone who has responded). Currently both the skimmer and reef mat are off (just turned off the reef mat halfway through the day and reduced the lights to maybe 15% blue to try to get rid of this red yuck as fast as possible. We did start with dry rock, but we have some live rock in the refugium.

I have wondered if we have too much filtration in general. This is our first time with a reef mat. Before, we had a skimmer and a refugium. Now we have a skimmer, reef mat, and bioballs.

Can’t have too much filtration.

New aquaria can easily develop a bacteria and micro algae population that can deplete an aquarium of nitrogen (ammonia, nitrate). Also, new aquaria surfaces take quite awhile to develop a none offensive looking biofilm.

Dosing nitrate could help raise the nitrate level if reasonable feeding does not.

 

[IndyReef78]

You tank is still very new, so your sand and rocks are a huge sink for nutrients...but eventually, it'll get filled and you nutrients will rise. In the meantime, just add some liquid nitrate, this is the easiest way to keep up nitrates.

Thank you. I'm trying to be patient, but it looks so gross! I am dosing NeoNitro and my level is up again, but the dinos aren't going away this time. Planning a water change tonight I think. It's been a while and I don't think it can hurt, especially since the phosphates are a little too high.

 

[IndyReef78]

Can’t have too much filtration.

New aquaria can easily develop a bacteria and micro algae population that can deplete an aquarium of nitrogen (ammonia, nitrate). Also, new aquaria surfaces take quite awhile to develop a none offensive looking biofilm.

Dosing nitrate could help raise the nitrate level if reasonable feeding does not.

I appreciate your thoughts! I am dosing NeoNitro and my level is back up to a reasonable level and I'm going to do a water change tonight, since the only other parameter that is out of whack at all is my phosphate level and it's a little too high.