OM’s 260 gallon SPS dominant build

[Om84]

It’s April, 2023. Everything had been going smoothly for the most part until suddenly almost within a few days I started noticing dinoflagellate rear its ugly head. I checked my parameters and sure enough nitrates was undetectable while phosphates were near zero.

 

[Om84]

I tried many methods to eradicate dinoflagellates. Here I am suctioning Dinos. This helped but they would always return within a few days.

 

[Om84]

I tried dosing Brightwell’s Microbacter, hydrogen peroxide, suctioning dinos, and turning lights off. I also tried feeding more and dosing nitrates. Turning lights off for 3 days at a time helped the most. All dinos would disappear but eventually within 3 weeks they would be back covering every rock. Luckily the type of dinos I had was not toxic to the fish. Dinos would get on sps and I did lose some sps because of this. This battle lasted about 6 months but I didn’t give up. The tank looked ugly but corals continued to grow.

Ultimately, one day I had a mishap where my auto feeder (Avast Plank) some how failed and dosed for a few hours. Apex some how left the Plank on. I still don’t know how this happened. My nitrates were at 30 and Phos went to 0.75. Dinoflagellates disappeared within days and have not appeared since. I was keeping nitrates 5-10 and phos about 0.1 but this did not rid the dinos.

Fortunately the only thing I lost because of this mishap were dinos!

 

[Om84]

 

[Reef-Engineer]

I tried dosing Brightwell’s Microbacter, hydrogen peroxide, suctioning dinos, and turning lights off. I also tried feeding more and dosing nitrates. Turning lights off for 3 days at a time helped the most. All dinos would disappear but eventually within 3 weeks they would be back covering every rock. Luckily the type of dinos I had was not toxic to the fish. Dinos would get on sps and I did lose some sps because of this. This battle lasted about 6 months but I didn’t give up. The tank looked ugly but corals continued to grow.

Ultimately, one day I had a mishap where my auto feeder (Avast Plank) some how failed and dosed for a few hours. Apex some how left the Plank on. I still don’t know how this happened. My nitrates were at 30 and Phos went to 0.75. Dinoflagellates disappeared within days and have not appeared since. I was keeping nitrates 5-10 and phos about 0.1 but this did not rid the dinos.

Fortunately the only thing I lost because of this mishap were dinos!

Your phos went to .75?? Not .075? Wow thats up there! Glad the dinos were defeated. A little heavy feeding did the trick! Wild.

 

[Om84]

Your phos went to .75?? Not .075? Wow thats up there! Glad the dinos were defeated. A little heavy feeding did the trick! Wild.

yep, 0.75! I keep phos 0.15 - 0.2 now and nitrates 10-20 ppm.

 

[Jimbo327]

Need an update on this awesome tank.

 

[Om84]

I wanted to be able to watch my tank closely when I’m away. I installed a couple Eufy security cameras by sticking them on either side of the reef. This has been a relative inexpensive way to keep eyes on the reef!

 

[legalizedreefer]

Incredible aquascape!

 

[Om84]

Here is an updated picture from today from the left side of the reef.

 

[alxjrz]

Goals!!! I love the flexibility of having such a large tank. I had an acrylic tank built in early 2000's a little over 300 gallons for the complete system. stability was great but what a HOG they are! haha

 

[Om84]

Goals!!! I love the flexibility of having such a large tank. I had an acrylic tank built in early 2000's a little over 300 gallons for the complete system. stability was great but what a HOG they are! haha

Thanks! lol
This is the biggest reef I have ran and you are too right!

 

[REEFRIED!]

Great build thread. You tank looks beautiful. I too have fought Dinos and I am currently fighting GHA. I beat the Dino’s by removing my sand. They still pop up occasionally but not bad. The GHA has proven much harder to fight! I set my tank up with dry Marco rocks as well. I wouldn’t do it again

 

[Om84]

Great build thread. You tank looks beautiful. I too have fought Dinos and I am currently fighting GHA. I beat the Dino’s by removing my sand. They still pop up occasionally but not bad. The GHA has proven much harder to fight! I set my tank up with dry Marco rocks as well. I wouldn’t do it again

Thank you!
If you have beat dinos then GHA will be easy. You need an army of turbo snails. I don't know the size of your tank but for perspective in this tank I must have put in 75 turbos. I also lowered the light and kept phosphates in check as much as possible. Problem is dry rock takes a while and you have to go through the mandatory ugly phase. I honestly agree with the opinion that if you are going to start with all dry rock then you better give it a year before putting in corals. This way you can turn down the lights and let the leaching and the uglies disappear. Hope you get that GHA under control!