Need some help with dino's please

Reef2317 · Apr 4, 2023

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for anything to give me some help in my dino battle. I'll attach some pictures so please correct me if i am wrong, but I believe it's dino.

Been battling to keep it under control but the new lights seem to have really set it off.

I run a AIO Fluval marine 123L aquarium with customised filtration as there is no sump. Setup 12 months ago fully cycled

Filtration chambers include
Fine filter floss to help accumulate nitrates
Aquaforest brand Carbon pellets
And a combined almost 1ltr of seachem matrix split between the two chambers.
Dalua great white return pump 3000lph with dual RFG nozzles
ATO to reduce salinity swings
I also have a redstarfish DCSQ70 Mini Skimmer which does a remarkable job as well.

I have a deep sandbed of fine grain Oolitic aragonite to aid in nitrogen cycle completion.
There is rough 6 to 8 kg of live rock which have been in my past aquariums for the past 3 years
There are 12 bioballs in the sand bed as well.

Tank inhabitants include:
Green bubble tip Anemone and my pair of clowns.
Firework clove polyp colony
Acan Lord
2 mushrooms
Bright pink gonipora
3 Trochus snails
6 Nassarius snails
1 Sand sifting starfish
1 peppermint shrimp
100 turbo snails lol they bred and ka boom! Of those 6 are adult size.
1 strombus snail.
A sizeable population of copepods and amphipods.

Lighting was recently upgraded to a kessil AP700, which I am acclimating and its only ramping to 40% maximum at the moment but its a flipping fantastic light so far im super impressed by it!

It's running a 12 hour cycle
1030 -1130am: 20% intensity between 3rd and 4th bluest setting
1130 -730pm: 40% intensity between 3rd and 4th bluest setting
730 - 830pm: 20% intensity between 3rd and 4th bluest setting
830pm-1030am: 0%

I need advice because I have been considering buying a cheap uv sterilizer to be placed in the rear chamber something to help with the neutralising the ability of the bacteria to multiply.

I am aware an in line sterilizer would work more efficiently but I simply am trying to keep it as AIO as I can.

Do you all think this would be a viable option for me, would it have the desired effect?

I am cleaning dino's out and supplementing nitrates and phosphates as needed when tested, have turned skimmer off and am feeding more frequently but the the problem is the multiplication rate obviously its still going while im sleeping so I thought a Uv sterilizer might help me get the upper hand.

I have considered a black out period but my corals were strugging under the previous light so they need the new one too much at the moment to justify depriving them just to make life hard for the dino's.

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Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for SUNSUN 14W Pond Aquarium Fish Tank UV Light Sterilizer With Timer And Cover at the best online prices at eBay!

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Thanks in advance

brandon429 · Apr 4, 2023

Consider this:

You have a chance to diverge from what the masses do or you can stay in line with them and get the clear repeating results you can already see from the giant dual dinos threads stickied here. Flip through the entrants right at the very top of the forum, six hundred page threads showing patterns on file

Notice how you don't see many actual cures? You see some, perhaps 10% of the entrants, but what do you see 90% of? (Dosing nitrate and phosphate turning into massive gha and cyano issues, then dosing for those, and circling back to dinos)

If you are determined to follow the masses you already have their roadmap its been running for five years

If you want to be different than the masses: look at your sandbed cross section

It's already primed with waste + algae and cyano. Your light duration is 4 hours too long + you'd clean out the entire system as a rip clean, this puts back all your rocks AND sand as 100% cleaned and no dinos, yet your tank is still potentiated for dinos because even a rip clean doesn't remove every cell. But you've removed 99% of all visible mass in the rip clean, which is opposite of what the masses do (they treat fully infected tanks and hope for a win)

Once your tank is visibly free of dinos then you install that uv, it's a great idea. The masses have you install uv in the invaded full mass condition. It can't burn all the targets that way

Then, in the clean condition, reduce your photoperiod to 8-9 hours and drop light intensity down lower than it is now and sustain this for two months before reevaluating

You may dose nitrate and phosphate as a last ditch option (the masses do it first go, hence the constant tradeoff invasions)

The masses treat a fully wrecked tank and see what happens, they get lucky sometimes but not often you can plainly see

The rare few do rip cleans, they don't have an invaded reef tank ever because they don't physically allow the tank to be taken over, and all the moves they make are designed for - growback- prevention, not mass removal. Rip clean threads are numerous and have stellar outcomes you can see if you search any of them

So which path do you want to take

Wanna see some rip clean before and after pics

Reef2317 · Apr 5, 2023

brandon429 said:
Consider this:

You have a chance to diverge from what the masses do or you can stay in line with them and get the clear repeating results you can already see from the giant dual dinos threads stickied here. Flip through the entrants right at the very top of the forum, six hundred page threads showing patterns on file

Notice how you don't see many actual cures? You see some, perhaps 10% of the entrants, but what do you see 90% of? (Dosing nitrate and phosphate turning into massive gha and cyano issues, then dosing for those, and circling back to dinos)

If you are determined to follow the masses you already have their roadmap its been running for five years

If you want to be different than the masses: look at your sandbed cross section

It's already primed with waste + algae and cyano. Your light duration is 4 hours too long + you'd clean out the entire system as a rip clean, this puts back all your rocks AND sand as 100% cleaned and no dinos, yet your tank is still potentiated for dinos because even a rip clean doesn't remove every cell. But you've removed 99% of all visible mass in the rip clean, which is opposite of what the masses do (they treat fully infected tanks and hope for a win)

Once your tank is visibly free of dinos then you install that uv, it's a great idea. The masses have you install uv in the invaded full mass condition. It can't burn all the targets that way

Then, in the clean condition, reduce your photoperiod to 8-9 hours and drop light intensity down lower than it is now and sustain this for two months before reevaluating

You may dose nitrate and phosphate as a last ditch option (the masses do it first go, hence the constant tradeoff invasions)

The masses treat a fully wrecked tank and see what happens, they get lucky sometimes but not often you can plainly see

The rare few do rip cleans, they don't have an invaded reef tank ever because they don't physically allow the tank to be taken over, and all the moves they make are designed for - growback- prevention, not mass removal. Rip clean threads are numerous and have stellar outcomes you can see if you search any of them

So which path do you want to take

Wanna see some rip clean before and after pics

Hi thanks for the reply.

I've been doing some checks on rip cleaning and I'm Intrigued by it so I'm going to do some more reading but if I decide to venture down that way can you assist in advising me?

Thanks again

MischiefReef · Apr 5, 2023

Reef2317 said:
Hey everyone,

I'm looking for anything to give me some help in my dino battle. I'll attach some pictures so please correct me if i am wrong, but I believe it's dino.

Been battling to keep it under control but the new lights seem to have really set it off.

I run a AIO Fluval marine 123L aquarium with customised filtration as there is no sump. Setup 12 months ago fully cycled

Filtration chambers include
Fine filter floss to help accumulate nitrates
Aquaforest brand Carbon pellets
And a combined almost 1ltr of seachem matrix split between the two chambers.
Dalua great white return pump 3000lph with dual RFG nozzles
ATO to reduce salinity swings
I also have a redstarfish DCSQ70 Mini Skimmer which does a remarkable job as well.

I have a deep sandbed of fine grain Oolitic aragonite to aid in nitrogen cycle completion.
There is rough 6 to 8 kg of live rock which have been in my past aquariums for the past 3 years
There are 12 bioballs in the sand bed as well.

Tank inhabitants include:
Green bubble tip Anemone and my pair of clowns.
Firework clove polyp colony
Acan Lord
2 mushrooms
Bright pink gonipora
3 Trochus snails
6 Nassarius snails
1 Sand sifting starfish
1 peppermint shrimp
100 turbo snails lol they bred and ka boom! Of those 6 are adult size.
1 strombus snail.
A sizeable population of copepods and amphipods.

Lighting was recently upgraded to a kessil AP700, which I am acclimating and its only ramping to 40% maximum at the moment but its a flipping fantastic light so far im super impressed by it!

It's running a 12 hour cycle
1030 -1130am: 20% intensity between 3rd and 4th bluest setting
1130 -730pm: 40% intensity between 3rd and 4th bluest setting
730 - 830pm: 20% intensity between 3rd and 4th bluest setting
830pm-1030am: 0%

I need advice because I have been considering buying a cheap uv sterilizer to be placed in the rear chamber something to help with the neutralising the ability of the bacteria to multiply.

I am aware an in line sterilizer would work more efficiently but I simply am trying to keep it as AIO as I can.

Do you all think this would be a viable option for me, would it have the desired effect?

I am cleaning dino's out and supplementing nitrates and phosphates as needed when tested, have turned skimmer off and am feeding more frequently but the the problem is the multiplication rate obviously its still going while im sleeping so I thought a Uv sterilizer might help me get the upper hand.

I have considered a black out period but my corals were strugging under the previous light so they need the new one too much at the moment to justify depriving them just to make life hard for the dino's.

SUNSUN 14W Pond Aquarium Fish Tank UV Light Sterilizer With Timer And Cover | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for SUNSUN 14W Pond Aquarium Fish Tank UV Light Sterilizer With Timer And Cover at the best online prices at eBay!

www.ebay.com.au

Thanks in advance

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+1 for rip clean to break the Dino algae cycle

also that UV sterilizer should work fine. One of the LFS near me uses pond UV sterilizers hooked in line for their system. And I copied the setup on my 300gal and plan to do it again for my 230gal build.

MischiefReef · Apr 5, 2023

Reef2317 said:
Hi thanks for the reply.

I've been doing some checks on rip cleaning and I'm Intrigued by it so I'm going to do some more reading but if I decide to venture down that way can you assist in advising me?

Thanks again

Of course you’ll be assisted! And also there’s plenty of guidance available in terms of previous and ongoing threads that you can delve into at your own pace!

Reef2317 · Apr 5, 2023

MischiefReef said:
+1 for rip clean to break the Dino algae cycle

also that UV sterilizer should work fine. One of the LFS near me uses pond UV sterilizers hooked in line for their system. And I copied the setup on my 300gal and plan to do it again for my 230gal build.

MischiefReef said:
Of course you’ll be assisted! And also there’s plenty of guidance available in terms of previous and ongoing threads that you can delve into at your own pace!

Thank you so much!

In terms of rock work I'd really prefer not to move it so I was considering the following would it be efficient enough?

Scoop up CUC and fish hold in bucket
Siphon out sand
Wash and rinse thoroughly till clean
Use a scrubbing brush to remove as much build up from rocks as possible then siphon dirty water out and rinse and replace with fresh saltwater.
Repeat the process of scrubbing and rinsing and replace fresh again.
Clean tank walls and filter area thoroughly
Rinse sand in Ro water until washed through
Place sand in tank and fill with fresh Saltwater
Place uv sterilizer and then place CUC/fish in tank

Would that work effectively enough or not i dont want to chance it, its just the anemone, mushrooms and clove polyps are all directly attached to the rockwork.

Thanks for replying

MischiefReef · Apr 5, 2023

Reef2317 said:
Thank you so much!

In terms of rock work I'd really prefer not to move it so I was considering the following would it be efficient enough?

Scoop up CUC and fish hold in bucket
Siphon out sand
Wash and rinse thoroughly till clean
Use a scrubbing brush to remove as much build up from rocks as possible then siphon dirty water out and rinse and replace with fresh saltwater.
Repeat the process of scrubbing and rinsing and replace fresh again.
Clean tank walls and filter area thoroughly
Rinse sand in Ro water until washed through
Place sand in tank and fill with fresh Saltwater
Place uv sterilizer and then place CUC/fish in tank

Would that work effectively enough or not i dont want to chance it, its just the anemone, mushrooms and clove polyps are all directly attached to the rockwork.

Thanks for replying

Yes that would work, but don’t clean your rocks (beyond a scrub) you don’t want to do anything drastic like freshwater dips on your rock at the same time as a rip sand bed clean. Otherwise, it will be unnecessary overkill and you will lose your good bacteria too. Another detail is wash sand bed in regular tap water till water runs absolutely clean. Final rinse in RO. That’s the proper way.

Reef2317 · Apr 5, 2023

MischiefReef said:
Yes that would work, but don’t clean your rocks (beyond a scrub) you don’t want to do anything drastic like freshwater dips on your rock at the same time as a rip sand bed clean. Otherwise, it will be unnecessary overkill and you will lose your good bacteria too. Another detail is wash sand bed in regular tap water till water runs absolutely clean. Final rinse in RO. That’s the proper way.

Ok sweet i will do that thank you

Should the UV sterilizer run continuously or intermittently?

I truly appreciate your help!

MischiefReef · Apr 5, 2023

Reef2317 said:
Ok sweet i will do that thank you

Should the UV sterilizer run continuously or intermittently?

I truly appreciate your help!

Depends on the sterilizer and your tank needs. Typically, I run mine intermittently 12 on 12 off. but you can run it either way. I would run slightly reduced time after a deep clean to help beneficial bacteria in repopulating. Some people are adamant that you should run it 24/7 but I think that is due to typically not sizing the right sterilizer or flow rate. I find that over sizing and then running 12on/12off has the benefit of I can increase my lights on period if needed, gives me extra leeway as a buffer if I notice any issues or add new livestock. Another plus is that I find it makes the bulb last longer.
I also have a friend who used two smaller sterilizers of the same model plumbed in series rather than one bigger unit. He did this both due to equipment layout constraints as well as being able to swap out bulbs alternatingly so he always theoretically had more stable sterilizing capacity.

Reef2317 · Apr 5, 2023

MischiefReef said:
Depends on the sterilizer and your tank needs. Typically, I run mine intermittently 12 on 12 off. but you can run it either way. I would run slightly reduced time after a deep clean to help beneficial bacteria in repopulating. Some people are adamant that you should run it 24/7 but I think that is due to typically not sizing the right sterilizer or flow rate. I find that over sizing and then running 12on/12off has the benefit of I can increase my lights on period if needed, gives me extra leeway as a buffer if I notice any issues or add new livestock. Another plus is that I find it makes the bulb last longer.
I also have a friend who used two smaller sterilizers of the same model plumbed in series rather than one bigger unit. He did this both due to equipment layout constraints as well as being able to swap out bulbs alternatingly so he always theoretically had more stable sterilizing capacity.

Lots of research in my near future call me crazy but i actually love the science and investigation behind the beautiful reef face

Aqua Man · Apr 5, 2023

Reef2317 said:
I'm looking for anything to give me some help in my dino battle. I'll attach some pictures so please correct me if i am wrong, but I believe it's dino.

Have you done the coffee filter test or looked at it under a microscope?