Hi all! I have a 29 gallon biocube that's been running for over 10 years. Sadly, the tanks been overrun with dinos (ID'd with microscope as ostreopsis).
Tank: Coralife Biocube 29
Livestock: Clownfish, royal gramma, midas blenny, snails, crabs, shrimp, conch.
Lighting: Red sea reef LED 50 - have been running the standard 18k schedule.
Watermovement: Upgraded pump and two powerheads - I can grab specifics but GPH should be plenty. I've debated a wavemaker for deadspots however
Heating: BRS titanium heater with ink bird controller - Set to 78 F
Filtration: Filter floss, bag of matrix. UV sterilizer (green killing machine 9W)
I recently bought a new bulb for the UV sterilizer and set up a refugium in the back with a hydroponic light. Main focus here was to add a home for pods and such, add biodiversity, and help balance my PH - dips below 80 occasionally.
From what I've read, I should be thankful I have Ostreopsis of all species, yet I can't get rid of them. Not for long at least.
Where things get tricky are my nutrient levels and other algae present (GHA). My nitrates recently dipped to 14, but for months I've had nitrates of 20 and phosphates of .20 (hanna checkers for both).
I understand beating dinos is not clear cut and in some cases requires a cocktail of various methods, but I'm not sure where to go next. I'll try to keep the rest of this brief:
Raising nutrients: I used neophos and neonitrate to raise nutrients which have remained elevated.
Adding Biodiversity: Dosing phyto and pods - starting to dose phyto daily and added a small refugium where I dosed two bottles of pods and rotifers. I've also previously dosed microbacteria 7 and silicates.
Raising Temp: typically kept around 78 but I've debated raising this to 82.
Blackouts: Blackouts obsiously help. I've done up to a week, but as we all know this is just a bandaid.
Dino X: Did not work for me, along with vibrant. I'm not a fan of these and would like to avoid these products.
Dr. Tim's waste away/refresh: Haven't tried as I have some inverts I'd hate to lose, but I am considering this as a last resort over dino X/vibrant.
ChemiPure: Interesting threads on this. Sadly, another bandaid and since I don't have a protein skimmer, I worry I'd sufficate my livestock. Could always buy an airstone..
A quick summary but here we are - my tank is overrun with dinos and... green hair algae. Doesn't grow very well, but it's there and I've let it grow substantially.
I'm hoping to find some insight here as I'm not sure what to try next, and my experience seems to challenge the prevailing narative of sustaining detectable nutrients while adding biodersity.
Happy to provide pictures, details, and more specifics. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!!
Tank: Coralife Biocube 29
Livestock: Clownfish, royal gramma, midas blenny, snails, crabs, shrimp, conch.
Lighting: Red sea reef LED 50 - have been running the standard 18k schedule.
Watermovement: Upgraded pump and two powerheads - I can grab specifics but GPH should be plenty. I've debated a wavemaker for deadspots however
Heating: BRS titanium heater with ink bird controller - Set to 78 F
Filtration: Filter floss, bag of matrix. UV sterilizer (green killing machine 9W)
I recently bought a new bulb for the UV sterilizer and set up a refugium in the back with a hydroponic light. Main focus here was to add a home for pods and such, add biodiversity, and help balance my PH - dips below 80 occasionally.
From what I've read, I should be thankful I have Ostreopsis of all species, yet I can't get rid of them. Not for long at least.
Where things get tricky are my nutrient levels and other algae present (GHA). My nitrates recently dipped to 14, but for months I've had nitrates of 20 and phosphates of .20 (hanna checkers for both).
I understand beating dinos is not clear cut and in some cases requires a cocktail of various methods, but I'm not sure where to go next. I'll try to keep the rest of this brief:
Raising nutrients: I used neophos and neonitrate to raise nutrients which have remained elevated.
Adding Biodiversity: Dosing phyto and pods - starting to dose phyto daily and added a small refugium where I dosed two bottles of pods and rotifers. I've also previously dosed microbacteria 7 and silicates.
Raising Temp: typically kept around 78 but I've debated raising this to 82.
Blackouts: Blackouts obsiously help. I've done up to a week, but as we all know this is just a bandaid.
Dino X: Did not work for me, along with vibrant. I'm not a fan of these and would like to avoid these products.
Dr. Tim's waste away/refresh: Haven't tried as I have some inverts I'd hate to lose, but I am considering this as a last resort over dino X/vibrant.
ChemiPure: Interesting threads on this. Sadly, another bandaid and since I don't have a protein skimmer, I worry I'd sufficate my livestock. Could always buy an airstone..
A quick summary but here we are - my tank is overrun with dinos and... green hair algae. Doesn't grow very well, but it's there and I've let it grow substantially.
I'm hoping to find some insight here as I'm not sure what to try next, and my experience seems to challenge the prevailing narative of sustaining detectable nutrients while adding biodersity.
Happy to provide pictures, details, and more specifics. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!!
