Hello Folks, I'm new to the forum but not new to reefing.
Here is the story:
I have this reef tank that is 1 year and 1 month old. I never had any major issues with it other than an outbreak of cyanobacteria last October 2022. Sadly, that all changed recently. I've been battling a bout of what looks to be dinoflagellates. They appeared in late January of 2023. I dosed my aquarium with Boyd ChemiClean to get rid of an outbreak of cyanobacteria in October 2022. While that did the trick, I ended up having an explosion of dinoflagellates once I dosed a second round of ChemiClean, in January of 2023. They've gone so far as to form mats all over my CaribSea Arag-Alive sand bed (!). Physically removing them (i.e. siphoning them / suctioning them up) or turning off the lights for a few days (which stressed out my upside down jellyfish) helped but was only a temporary solution. I purchased Dino X today as an option of last resort, but have read mixed reviews on its use. The solution is due to arrive in the mail within a few days but I am planning to hold off on using it if someone has a better option for me.
My plan is to use half of the minimum dose of Dino X in my 29-gallon aquarium, but to evacuate my jellyfish in a separate tank (not a refugium). However, the more I think about it, the more I am hesitant to use the Dino X, if these turn out to be dinoflagellates. My upside-down jellyfish's tentacles also contain zooxanthellae that form a symbiotic relationship with the jellyfish itself, and I am worried that killing off whatever is on my sandbed will also kill my jellyfish because zooxanthellae are also a form of dinoflagellate :-( . I have at least 40 upside-down jellyfish polyps on the way to maturing, that call this aquarium home, too, and am also worried about killing them in the process.
Does anyone have any advice on dinoflagellates and upside-down jellyfish?
Thank You in advance!
P.S.
My copepods seem to be unaffected at all and have in fact, seen an explosion in their population. I should note that I removed my live rock back in October of 2022, as an option of last resort to rid my tank of some very long (~ 8 inches in length!) bristle worms that killed two of my upside-down jellyfish. Sadly, the tank's diversity, in turn, became affected by the removal of the live rock as well. The reason I wasn't worrying too much is because my upside-down jellyfish seemed to favor the cyanobacteria, having been "born" during the time of the cyanobacteria bloom. My plan was to add a dose of Instant Ocean BIO-Spira Water Treatment, before going the Dino X route, to increase beneficial bacteria levels. This tank consists of only jellyfish, by the way, aside from copepods.
Picture: February 18, 2023
Here is the story:
I have this reef tank that is 1 year and 1 month old. I never had any major issues with it other than an outbreak of cyanobacteria last October 2022. Sadly, that all changed recently. I've been battling a bout of what looks to be dinoflagellates. They appeared in late January of 2023. I dosed my aquarium with Boyd ChemiClean to get rid of an outbreak of cyanobacteria in October 2022. While that did the trick, I ended up having an explosion of dinoflagellates once I dosed a second round of ChemiClean, in January of 2023. They've gone so far as to form mats all over my CaribSea Arag-Alive sand bed (!). Physically removing them (i.e. siphoning them / suctioning them up) or turning off the lights for a few days (which stressed out my upside down jellyfish) helped but was only a temporary solution. I purchased Dino X today as an option of last resort, but have read mixed reviews on its use. The solution is due to arrive in the mail within a few days but I am planning to hold off on using it if someone has a better option for me.
My plan is to use half of the minimum dose of Dino X in my 29-gallon aquarium, but to evacuate my jellyfish in a separate tank (not a refugium). However, the more I think about it, the more I am hesitant to use the Dino X, if these turn out to be dinoflagellates. My upside-down jellyfish's tentacles also contain zooxanthellae that form a symbiotic relationship with the jellyfish itself, and I am worried that killing off whatever is on my sandbed will also kill my jellyfish because zooxanthellae are also a form of dinoflagellate :-( . I have at least 40 upside-down jellyfish polyps on the way to maturing, that call this aquarium home, too, and am also worried about killing them in the process.
Does anyone have any advice on dinoflagellates and upside-down jellyfish?
Thank You in advance!
P.S.
My copepods seem to be unaffected at all and have in fact, seen an explosion in their population. I should note that I removed my live rock back in October of 2022, as an option of last resort to rid my tank of some very long (~ 8 inches in length!) bristle worms that killed two of my upside-down jellyfish. Sadly, the tank's diversity, in turn, became affected by the removal of the live rock as well. The reason I wasn't worrying too much is because my upside-down jellyfish seemed to favor the cyanobacteria, having been "born" during the time of the cyanobacteria bloom. My plan was to add a dose of Instant Ocean BIO-Spira Water Treatment, before going the Dino X route, to increase beneficial bacteria levels. This tank consists of only jellyfish, by the way, aside from copepods.
Picture: February 18, 2023
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