Idoc
Getting lazier and lazier with upkeep!
The Bad News: Microscope finally arrived and confirmed my Coral QT junk is Dinos! But, I am having a hard time determining exactly what type of Dinos I have! Please see attached photo...
This Coral QT has been a royal pain in the hind-end since starting it. I am really starting to wonder if quarantining corals for 76 days really is worth the trouble! But, I have been able to catch and clear out a couple aptasia and bubble algae formations on frags The system by design is basically zero nutrients since snails in there aren't really producing much waste...and the photosynthetic corals don't need to really be fed! So, I've been battling zero nutrients...started dosing sodium nitrate to give around 1-2ppm nitrates and this seemed to perk up the euphyllia corals and plays. Then, I started attempting to dose Seachem Phosphorous to around .02ppm (never able to maintain over zero, though). Well, once starting the phosphorous dosing, the dino bloom went berserk!
The Good News: My DT isn't showing signs of Dinos at this time...even though my nitrates and phosphates have tested zero for over 6 months!! (tested with Salifert and Hanna LR Checker) I do have GHA growing like crazy on the powerheads, powerhead electrical cords, and back wall (which I clean off weekly before it gets bushy). I've been attempting to overfeed my 4 fish for a couple of months now...no increase. I cut my skimmer off during daylight hours for several weeks...no increase. Finally turned my skimmer off completely for the past couple of weeks...no increase in nutrients! The only thing I have noticed non-skimming is a little bit of cyano on a couple spots on rocks AND cyano in my sump. I guess my system is just balanced correctly using the nitrates/phosphates that are produced in order to keep dinos out?
So,
1. What type of dinos are in my picture?
2. Are the corals in the QT useless now? Will they spread dinos to my DT if I move them over to the DT?
3. I have a fire shrimp in the coral QT. He has molted and can be moved to the DT, but will he spread the dinos to my DT? Will he be harmed staying in the coral QT with the dinos?
This Coral QT has been a royal pain in the hind-end since starting it. I am really starting to wonder if quarantining corals for 76 days really is worth the trouble! But, I have been able to catch and clear out a couple aptasia and bubble algae formations on frags The system by design is basically zero nutrients since snails in there aren't really producing much waste...and the photosynthetic corals don't need to really be fed! So, I've been battling zero nutrients...started dosing sodium nitrate to give around 1-2ppm nitrates and this seemed to perk up the euphyllia corals and plays. Then, I started attempting to dose Seachem Phosphorous to around .02ppm (never able to maintain over zero, though). Well, once starting the phosphorous dosing, the dino bloom went berserk!
The Good News: My DT isn't showing signs of Dinos at this time...even though my nitrates and phosphates have tested zero for over 6 months!! (tested with Salifert and Hanna LR Checker) I do have GHA growing like crazy on the powerheads, powerhead electrical cords, and back wall (which I clean off weekly before it gets bushy). I've been attempting to overfeed my 4 fish for a couple of months now...no increase. I cut my skimmer off during daylight hours for several weeks...no increase. Finally turned my skimmer off completely for the past couple of weeks...no increase in nutrients! The only thing I have noticed non-skimming is a little bit of cyano on a couple spots on rocks AND cyano in my sump. I guess my system is just balanced correctly using the nitrates/phosphates that are produced in order to keep dinos out?
So,
1. What type of dinos are in my picture?
2. Are the corals in the QT useless now? Will they spread dinos to my DT if I move them over to the DT?
3. I have a fire shrimp in the coral QT. He has molted and can be moved to the DT, but will he spread the dinos to my DT? Will he be harmed staying in the coral QT with the dinos?
