RockusDukakis33
Community Member
Before I go through what I did I want to say that this worked for me and if I learned anything during this process is that every Dyno is different and what worked for someone does not work for others. Also, this is simply my experience if you disagree with it that's okay. I took advice from my LFS, reef2reef threads, and from other sources online. I then developed the plan and stuck with it every day. Hopefully it's gone!
I tried a ton of stuff individually before I put a multiprong attack plan together. I highly recommend you buy a cheap microscope and try to ID your Dynos (search reef2reef). Some are cured by just adding a UV filter or another easy cure. Not one "EZ Fix" worked for me. I tried H2o2 dosing, UV, manual removal, 3 day black out and "waiting it out". None of it made a dent. This was over a 6 month period.
I was willing to try anything outside of hard chemicals and completely starting over (but I thought about it lol). The Dynos were killing my corals and I know a lost algae eating fish because of it. I was desperate so I looked to make a plan that could be tracked and one whose success or failure could be recorded. Below is what worked for me...
Tank
Reefer 170 Classic
43 Gallons Total
Temp 78F
Raise Temp to 83F
Dose Silicate to induce Diatom Bloom to out compete Dynos
Add Beneficial Bacteria
Clean Sand and Water Change
5 Day Black Out with UV running
Goal
No3= 15-20
Po4=.5-.1
What didn't work?
My first thought was to start over feeding. I went from feeding frozen mysis and flake food once every other day to feeding twice a day. I did this for 5 days and nothing changed. Both No3 and Po4 were still zero.
What worked?
Recommended dosing
Total Water Volume X PPM increase desired X .1261 = Dosage
I ended up dosing between 10-16ml a day for 4 days, maintaining No3 between 15-18ppm. After the four days I stopped dosing and noticed No3 leveled out and was staying from 14-16ppm with no dosing.
Po4 started going up with the Nitrate levels with no targeted dosing. I did notice Po4 would spike a day after feeding Reef Chili from BRS.
Overall it took me about 4-5 days for nutrients to stabilize. I tested every day and recorded results.
At the end of step 1 I didn't notice any change in the Dyno's but cured the cause of the outbreak.
Raise Temp to 83f
This one scared me. My gut told me that raising temps that high would have negative effects on corals and fish. After some research I found a lot of reefers had no negative effects on fish and coral when they did this, and that Dyno's were "burned off" after 3-4 days (research I read below). I raised my temp .5 degrees a day till it was hovering around the 83f.
Dose Silicate to induce Diatom Bloom to out compete Dynos, SpongExcel
I read in multiple threads on reef2reef about dosing silicates and my LFS also recommended it. It felt wrong to dose something to create more algae when all I wanted was to get rid of the algae but then I read up more on it. After some research it was clear the Dynos needed something to compete with it. Without something to fill it's spot when it was gone it was going to keep coming back. (better explanations below)
Recommended Dose
1 drop per Gallon of Water= +.01ppm
When I tested my silicate levels, they were close to 0. .01 a day wasn't going to cut it. I decided to do 7-10 drops a day till I noticed Diatoms start to form. After about 2-3 days I noticed Diatoms on the glass and also noticed a layer forming over the Dyno's on the sand bed. The Dyno's were no longer stringy and seemed to be weakening. Also the Dyno's appeared to not grow back as strong on the rocks after blasting them off.
Add Beneficial Bacteria, MicroBacter7
I dosed bacteria twice. I did 5ml once in the sump in my small refug that had bio blocks in it and once in the display. I did this 3 days apart. I'm not sure how beneficial this was but my nutrients appeared to stabilize after this.
Alright the Dyno's were there but they looked weak. It wasn't as thick and it didn't appear to be growing anything new, if anything it was starting to thin out. It was like a fighter in the late rounds who was just getting pummeled over and over. It was time to go for the knock out!
I knew I wanted to do a water change and clean the sand before the black out. I wanted to remove it while it was week then remove one of its fuels for growing back. That sand vacuuming resulted in the easiest removal I had every had. Before this I had vacuumed the sand 30+ times and it was extremely hard to get the algae to even suck up. It was heavier then the sand and I couldn't get near as much as I wanted out without sucking up all the sand. This the sand would just cover the Dyno creating more issues. Not this time. Now the Dynos were weak and easily came up.
I had done a 3 day black out before and it had very little affect. I read that 5 days would have better results. I covered the sides and top with thick black plastic and only removed the top plastic 1x a day to feed the fish. I ran a UV Filter during the blackout. During my research of Dynos I read that some Dynos will not leave the sand bed enough for a UV light to make a difference. You have to get it into the water column in order for UV to have an effect. This checked out as UV had zero effect as the only tool to fight my Dynos. I decided to use it during the black out as the Dynos should now be in the water column.
Day 1 it was thinning out
Day 2 some white sand showing!
Day 3 more white spots with some thick areas
Day 4 Few spots of dyno left
*on day 4 I did a water change and vacuumed sand
Day 5 Gone.
As you can see the Dyno's are gone and I'm left with a lot of green algae on my rocks. This is what I wanted! I beefed up my cleanup crew and the green algae will be much easier to deal with then the Dyno's.
Once I turn my lights back on, I will update everyone on the effect of the 5-day black out on my corals. The Dynos were starting to kill them, I was willing to take a chance on the 5-day black out if it meant no more Dyno's and being able to get my tank back.
Do your research, make a plan, and have patience. You have to be able to track and record results. If you don't know what's working or not working, you won't be able to repeat it.
I dealt with Dynos for ~6 months. I executed this plan over 45 days and tracked every step. I learned a ton about algae and the biology of my reef tank. Even though it was ugly and sucked.... I'm now a better reef keeper because of it! If this thread helps one person then it was worth the time I spent to write it down.
This is what worked for me! I hope it works for you!
I tried a ton of stuff individually before I put a multiprong attack plan together. I highly recommend you buy a cheap microscope and try to ID your Dynos (search reef2reef). Some are cured by just adding a UV filter or another easy cure. Not one "EZ Fix" worked for me. I tried H2o2 dosing, UV, manual removal, 3 day black out and "waiting it out". None of it made a dent. This was over a 6 month period.
I was willing to try anything outside of hard chemicals and completely starting over (but I thought about it lol). The Dynos were killing my corals and I know a lost algae eating fish because of it. I was desperate so I looked to make a plan that could be tracked and one whose success or failure could be recorded. Below is what worked for me...
Tank
Reefer 170 Classic
43 Gallons Total
Temp 78F
How did this happen?!
My Nitrates and Phosphates crashed... This is my first reef tank and I kept reading how you want your nutrients to be low. I also love gadgets so I bought a skimmer, changed out the filter sock for a redsea reef mat, and feed once every other day. I was chasing low numbers and it ended up killing me. Both bottomed out to almost zero and were undetectable by Hannah Checkers.How bad did it get?
I regret not taking a picture of it at his worse (who wants to take a phot of a ugly tank), below is a video of what it looked like 15 min after I cleaned the sand during a water change. It completely covered the sand bed, rocks, and would take over all sides of the tank. It was thick and it grew long snot about 2-4 inches long. I would blow it off the rock and it would be back on the rock 10-15 min later. Imagine what you see in the video but everywhere and much thicker.
What was the plan?
Raise No3 and Po4Raise Temp to 83F
Dose Silicate to induce Diatom Bloom to out compete Dynos
Add Beneficial Bacteria
Clean Sand and Water Change
5 Day Black Out with UV running
Step1
Raise Nutrients and PhosphatesGoal
No3= 15-20
Po4=.5-.1
What didn't work?
My first thought was to start over feeding. I went from feeding frozen mysis and flake food once every other day to feeding twice a day. I did this for 5 days and nothing changed. Both No3 and Po4 were still zero.
What worked?
- Dosing Brightwell NeoNitro
- Turning off Skimmer
- Unhooded Reefmat
- Continue Feeding 2x a day
- Feeding Reef Chili 1 a day
Recommended dosing
Total Water Volume X PPM increase desired X .1261 = Dosage
I ended up dosing between 10-16ml a day for 4 days, maintaining No3 between 15-18ppm. After the four days I stopped dosing and noticed No3 leveled out and was staying from 14-16ppm with no dosing.
Po4 started going up with the Nitrate levels with no targeted dosing. I did notice Po4 would spike a day after feeding Reef Chili from BRS.
Overall it took me about 4-5 days for nutrients to stabilize. I tested every day and recorded results.
At the end of step 1 I didn't notice any change in the Dyno's but cured the cause of the outbreak.
Step 2
- Raise Temp to 83f
- Dose Silicate to induce Diatom Bloom to out compete Dynos, SpongExcel
- Add Beneficial Bacteria, MicroBacter7
- Dosed Phyto Plankton 1x a day
Raise Temp to 83f
This one scared me. My gut told me that raising temps that high would have negative effects on corals and fish. After some research I found a lot of reefers had no negative effects on fish and coral when they did this, and that Dyno's were "burned off" after 3-4 days (research I read below). I raised my temp .5 degrees a day till it was hovering around the 83f.
Dose Silicate to induce Diatom Bloom to out compete Dynos, SpongExcel
I read in multiple threads on reef2reef about dosing silicates and my LFS also recommended it. It felt wrong to dose something to create more algae when all I wanted was to get rid of the algae but then I read up more on it. After some research it was clear the Dynos needed something to compete with it. Without something to fill it's spot when it was gone it was going to keep coming back. (better explanations below)
Recommended Dose
1 drop per Gallon of Water= +.01ppm
When I tested my silicate levels, they were close to 0. .01 a day wasn't going to cut it. I decided to do 7-10 drops a day till I noticed Diatoms start to form. After about 2-3 days I noticed Diatoms on the glass and also noticed a layer forming over the Dyno's on the sand bed. The Dyno's were no longer stringy and seemed to be weakening. Also the Dyno's appeared to not grow back as strong on the rocks after blasting them off.
Add Beneficial Bacteria, MicroBacter7
I dosed bacteria twice. I did 5ml once in the sump in my small refug that had bio blocks in it and once in the display. I did this 3 days apart. I'm not sure how beneficial this was but my nutrients appeared to stabilize after this.
Step 3
- Clean Sand and Water Change
- 5 Day Black Out with UV running
Alright the Dyno's were there but they looked weak. It wasn't as thick and it didn't appear to be growing anything new, if anything it was starting to thin out. It was like a fighter in the late rounds who was just getting pummeled over and over. It was time to go for the knock out!
I knew I wanted to do a water change and clean the sand before the black out. I wanted to remove it while it was week then remove one of its fuels for growing back. That sand vacuuming resulted in the easiest removal I had every had. Before this I had vacuumed the sand 30+ times and it was extremely hard to get the algae to even suck up. It was heavier then the sand and I couldn't get near as much as I wanted out without sucking up all the sand. This the sand would just cover the Dyno creating more issues. Not this time. Now the Dynos were weak and easily came up.
I had done a 3 day black out before and it had very little affect. I read that 5 days would have better results. I covered the sides and top with thick black plastic and only removed the top plastic 1x a day to feed the fish. I ran a UV Filter during the blackout. During my research of Dynos I read that some Dynos will not leave the sand bed enough for a UV light to make a difference. You have to get it into the water column in order for UV to have an effect. This checked out as UV had zero effect as the only tool to fight my Dynos. I decided to use it during the black out as the Dynos should now be in the water column.
Day 1 it was thinning out
Day 2 some white sand showing!
Day 3 more white spots with some thick areas
Day 4 Few spots of dyno left
*on day 4 I did a water change and vacuumed sand
Day 5 Gone.
As you can see the Dyno's are gone and I'm left with a lot of green algae on my rocks. This is what I wanted! I beefed up my cleanup crew and the green algae will be much easier to deal with then the Dyno's.
Once I turn my lights back on, I will update everyone on the effect of the 5-day black out on my corals. The Dynos were starting to kill them, I was willing to take a chance on the 5-day black out if it meant no more Dyno's and being able to get my tank back.
What I learned?
Maintaining stable nutrients is more important than low nutrients. Find what works for your tank and don't chase the low numbers. I heard people say that a lot but I didn't follow it and had to learn the hard way.Do your research, make a plan, and have patience. You have to be able to track and record results. If you don't know what's working or not working, you won't be able to repeat it.
I dealt with Dynos for ~6 months. I executed this plan over 45 days and tracked every step. I learned a ton about algae and the biology of my reef tank. Even though it was ugly and sucked.... I'm now a better reef keeper because of it! If this thread helps one person then it was worth the time I spent to write it down.
Research
I will include more sources I found later, but I started with the below video then looked deeper into each item and how/why it effected Dynos.This is what worked for me! I hope it works for you!
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