TheWackyWiz
Active Member
Hi All,
I am just shy of two years with my current 20g reef tank and seem to have never quite gotten through the "ugly" phase. I am currently dealing with an outbreak of what I believe are Dino's. They disappear at night and come back every day when the lights are on.
And at the same time GHA
I do consistent bi-weekly water changes (~20%-25%), I feed frozen mysis/brine, and dose Microbacter 7. Parameters have been extremely consistent over the past two years:
NB: I user the hanna ULR Phosphate checker and the Salifert Nitrate test
I am kind of stuck in an no win situation, when I double down on lowering nutrients my coral growth slows and dino's go crazy. When I am more negligent the corals love it but the algae and dino's also appear to go crazy. The other thing that is strange to me is that in the first year coralline algae grew really well but in the last 6ish months it has really stopped colonizing anything. Reading through the pinned threads it seems the cure for GHA and Dino's are diametrically opposed so maybe I need to just pick one and try to knock that out before going after the other?
I do have a bag of Aquaclear activated carbon and Phosguard in my sump and run filter floss but I honestly not sure either has made a difference.
I am definitely at a loss with what I should do next and would gladly welcome any advice!
I am just shy of two years with my current 20g reef tank and seem to have never quite gotten through the "ugly" phase. I am currently dealing with an outbreak of what I believe are Dino's. They disappear at night and come back every day when the lights are on.
And at the same time GHA
I do consistent bi-weekly water changes (~20%-25%), I feed frozen mysis/brine, and dose Microbacter 7. Parameters have been extremely consistent over the past two years:
| PH/HRPH | Salinity | Calcium (Ca2+) | kH | Phosphate | Nitrate |
| 8.2 - 8.4 | 1.025 - 1.027 | 450 | 9 | 0.025 | 5.00 |
I am kind of stuck in an no win situation, when I double down on lowering nutrients my coral growth slows and dino's go crazy. When I am more negligent the corals love it but the algae and dino's also appear to go crazy. The other thing that is strange to me is that in the first year coralline algae grew really well but in the last 6ish months it has really stopped colonizing anything. Reading through the pinned threads it seems the cure for GHA and Dino's are diametrically opposed so maybe I need to just pick one and try to knock that out before going after the other?
I do have a bag of Aquaclear activated carbon and Phosguard in my sump and run filter floss but I honestly not sure either has made a difference.
I am definitely at a loss with what I should do next and would gladly welcome any advice!
