URGENT! Fish/corals dying after UV killed dino’s.

[BeanAnimal]

Yea the thing is, the plan was to run in on a hour on hour off schedule. But as the UV didn’t raise my temperature, I thought “a great, I can keep it on and get rid of it quicker” not thinking about the toxins… I still have some dino’s left. What do you recommend? Turn it on for 2-3 hours a night?

I would keep the skimmer online and keep carbon in place. I would possibly not run it all this evening and see how things look. I would run it for 1/2 hour the first evening, see how things look and adjust from there, etc. Gaining ground is gaining ground.

 

[RickvDam]

I would keep the skimmer online and keep carbon in place. I would possibly not run it all this evening and see how things look. I would run it for 1/2 hour the first evening, see how things look and adjust from there, etc. Gaining ground is gaining ground.

Alright I won’t touch the skimmer or carbon. Just as I did before the dino’s. I’m definitely not running the UV tonight. I’m going to give my fish some rest. Tomorrow I will do another small waterchange just to be safe. Then I will start with 1/2 hour and work up from there until I find the sweet spot that will kill the dino’s, but won’t hurt the rest.

 

[Lavey29]

Alright I won’t touch the skimmer or carbon. Just as I did before the dino’s. I’m definitely not running the UV tonight. I’m going to give my fish some rest. Tomorrow I will do another small waterchange just to be safe. Then I will start with 1/2 hour and work up from there until I find the sweet spot that will kill the dino’s, but won’t hurt the rest.

You should probably research the pros and cons of UV use and particularly why they are seldom used on nano tanks.

 

[RickvDam]

You should probably research the pros and cons of UV use and particularly why they are seldom used on nano tanks.

I only got it to get rid of the extremely fast growing dino’s. The UV is temporary and will be removed after.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Alright I won’t touch the skimmer or carbon. Just as I did before the dino’s. I’m definitely not running the UV tonight. I’m going to give my fish some rest. Tomorrow I will do another small waterchange just to be safe. Then I will start with 1/2 hour and work up from there until I find the sweet spot that will kill the dino’s, but won’t hurt the rest.

I am sure there will be others with experience chime in.

Note: I don't mean to embroil you in the back and forth that can happen with Brandon. He means well and does certainly have good and well intentioned information, and following the rip-clean steps are certainly a valid method. So do go read through some of that thread, but keep an open mind and concentrate on cleaning this up short term first before you make any long term decisions.

 

[dave001]

Hello!

I had a massive Dino (Ostreopsis) outbreak and yesterday I installed a UV. The smallest ond I could get in less then a month (gotta love the Netherlands) was a 18W one (15G tank). Today after the UV running for a day, almost all my dino’s are gone. However my fish were laying on their sides breathing fast. I had a hour before work so I quickly had to act and decided to unplug the UV, and do a 30% water change. I also put back my skimmer and carbon.



As I didn’t have enough time to heat the water conpletely, it dropped from 26° to 22°. I’m very happy to say that I received a video of the clowns swimming and acting much better. However I have a few questions.

1. Leakage

The UV is new, doesn’t leak on the floor and works as I can see the light turn on. Putting my hands in the tank doesn’t feel weird, and my hammer was the only coral completely closed up. After work I can test for a voltage leak, but how big is the chance of a new, fully working UV to electrocute the tank?

1. Dino Poisening

As my UV is quite large, and dino’s are harmfull. Could this many dead dino’s be the cause? My tank had a LOT of dino’s, and now I really have to search to find some.

1. Corals not opening

My hammer is starting to open again, so are most of my zoa’s, but a few species aren’t… Is it possible that a week of dino irritation, then a few hours of bad water, then a temp drop, will make some stay closed longer? They are some of my first zoa’s, and I would really hate to lose them. I know it’s only been a few hours since the dino’s are mostly gone, but as some are fully open I’d rather be safe then sorry.



I need to run my UV at least a few more days to make sure the dino’s are all gone, but I don’t want to lose my fish or corals…

You say you turned skimmer back on? Did you have a thick biofilm on surface? Sounds like low oxygen/high CO2 maybe? Skimmer off.....much less aeration.......just a thought

 

[BeanAnimal]

You say you turned skimmer back on? Did you have a thick biofilm on surface? Sounds like low oxygen/high CO2 maybe? Skimmer off.....much less aeration.......just a thought

I think it is a combo of skimmer off, lower evening O2 anyway and a massive kill off, depleting more oxygen, releasing toxins from the dino's and a possible ammonia spike. The skimmer being off and no carbon, fueling the issue to begin with and then its absence doing nothing to abate it.

 

[RickvDam]

I don't mean to embroil you in the back and forth that can happen with Brandon. He means well and does certainly have good and well intentioned information, and following the rip-clean steps are certainly a valid method. So do go read through some of that thread, but keep an open mind and concentrate on cleaning this up short term first before you make any long term decisions.

I will definitely read all his words after work. I just have to focus to understand it, and that isn’t possible at work.

You say you turned skimmer back on? Did you have a thick biofilm on surface? Sounds like low oxygen/high CO2 maybe? Skimmer off.....much less aeration.......just a thought

Uhm I had nothing on the surface actually… my return nozzle is slightly upwards so I always have surface movement.

I think it is a combo of skimmer off, lower evening O2 anyway and a massive kill off, depleting more oxygen, releasing toxins from the dino's and a possible ammonia spike. The skimmer being off and no carbon, fueling the issue to begin with and then its absence doing nothing to abate it.

Yup… me turning everything off just made it worse. Everything is back and on, and from now on I will take it very slowly. Dino’s can’t be safely removed in a day haha. I will give the tank some rest and I will continu tomorrow, and with all the tips I got from all of you, I’m sure this won’t happen again!

 

[Reefer Matt]

I too get ostreo occasionally. And I also use a uv sterilizer for it. It usually takes 3-5 days to get rid of it with lights coming on during the day for me. In my situation, I get it even with my higher nutrients, 25 ppm nitrate and .06 ppm phosphate. So I am not convinced this particular dino is nutrient driven. Looks like you have a good path forward. Good luck!

 

[RickvDam]

I too get ostreo occasionally. And I also use a uv sterilizer for it. It usually takes 3-5 days to get rid of it with lights coming on during the day for me. In my situation, I get it even with my higher nutrients, 25 ppm nitrate and .06 ppm phosphate. So I am not convinced this particular dino is nutrient driven. Looks like you have a good path forward. Good luck!

Yea It can’t be my nutrients cause I dose Phosphates daily to keep them detectable. Tested them today and yesterday and they are fine. Will keep using the UV for a few days untill its gone.

 

[Lavey29]

I too get ostreo occasionally. And I also use a uv sterilizer for it. It usually takes 3-5 days to get rid of it with lights coming on during the day for me. In my situation, I get it even with my higher nutrients, 25 ppm nitrate and .06 ppm phosphate. So I am not convinced this particular dino is nutrient driven. Looks like you have a good path forward. Good luck!

Dinos are in every tank. Most are good dinos but a few types are bad. Although bottomed out nutrients seem to be a common denomitor to trigger a bad outbreak it is not absolute as you referenced. I have high nutrients levels too and get occasional patches on my sand here and there. Pods seem to slowly get rid of them over time though along with PNS probio weekly dosing.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agree- toxin release why I do not recommend UV until after you have reduced or conquered the dino issue. Too many view a UV unit as an eraser for issues

 

[MnFish1]

don't read the whole thread rather just pick ten or so random work links and study those, skip several pages each time/that's a perfect pattern set to pick up.


this is truly the age cheat of the millennia for nano reefs, old tank syndrome is a storage syndrome, a plant/moneran-dominant syndrome, and rip cleaning is the opposite: oligotrophic state, so that the tank is so clean you can easily up your feed rates and the corals and fish will love it. moneran mats, algae, ciliate groups of invaders are directly selected against in the rip clean process.

our downfall is tank size: nobody wants to rip clean a 200 gallon setup for a minor invasion (however they do it for home moves we show so they can move the tank safely)

it's a good thing that's a nano reef. you can literally just cheat it into old age. My nano would have never made year 18 without rip clean cheats, I'm ok with that he he.

I believe he will get the same results by using his gravel cleaner and water changes. I would probably leave the UV running - since you bought it. At least until a 24/48 hour cycle (light cycle) has passed to make sure you're not going to have the same problem a week from now. Good, though, that your fish seem to be improving (and your corals) - I would continue the carbon, skimming, etc watching for any issues with the fish. Additionally, I would siphon waste out of your sand as you were doing. I would not 'overdo' water changes. Do you happen to have a nitrate/Phosphate/ammonia test kits handy

 

[BeanAnimal]

I would probably leave the UV running - since you bought it. At least until a 24/48 hour cycle (light cycle) has passed to make sure you're not going to have the same problem a week from now.

The UV is oversized for the tank. I don't agree that this is a good course of action, given the near tank crash already. Reducing the UV cycle to a half or or an hour and checking the results is a much safer course of action at this point. He can ramp up over a few days or a week to get ahead of and defeat them.

 

[MnFish1]

The UV is oversized for the tank. I don't agree that this is a good course of action, given the near tank crash already. Reducing the UV cycle to a half or or an hour and checking the results is a much safer course of action at this point. He can ramp up over a few days or a week to get ahead of and defeat them.

Agree - it was the size of the UV relative to the tank that suggested (to me) - that much of the damage that can be done is done. However, it is never a bad idea to go slower

 

[RickvDam]

I believe he will get the same results by using his gravel cleaner and water changes. I would probably leave the UV running - since you bought it. At least until a 24/48 hour cycle (light cycle) has passed to make sure you're not going to have the same problem a week from now. Good, though, that your fish seem to be improving (and your corals) - I would continue the carbon, skimming, etc watching for any issues with the fish. Additionally, I would siphon waste out of your sand as you were doing. I would not 'overdo' water changes. Do you happen to have a nitrate/Phosphate/ammonia test kits handy

I have Salifert kits and Hanna Phosphorus ULR. So tomorrow a smaller waterchange to be sure, and then continu the normal schedule is what you recommend?

Agree - it was the size of the UV relative to the tank that suggested (to me) - that much of the damage that can be done is done. However, it is never a bad idea to go slower

Yea now that most of the dino’s are gone. I won’t mind taking it a little bit slower just to be sure. As this is my second time dealing with dino’s, I’m thinking about ordering a smaller 5W UV. I can get one in the Netherlands it will just take a month or so to get here from the states.

 

[blecki]

Ouch. Yeah removing the carbon was a big no-no for dinos.

 

[Idoc]

Water change quickly! Possible Ostreopsis dinos can be toxic in such a large quantity die off.

 

[brandon429]

there is no better combo for dinos control in reefing than a rip clean first and UV after, along with less overall light power for 2 mos. nothing can touch it so far.

putting in UV in the zero invasion condition, to handle a few leftover invader cells vs the onslaught of the full invasion is the best move, it's the safest move.

 

[RickvDam]

Water change quickly! Possible Ostreopsis dinos can be toxic in such a large quantity die off.

Already did a 30% and fish are doing better.

Ouch. Yeah removing the carbon was a big no-no for dinos.

My dummy thought “dinos hate dirty water, lets remove all filtration”…. Lesson learned for sure.