Dynoflagellates

[MadReefer]

Well had the wife take a peek and we both feel it is prorocentrum dinos.

 

[MadReefer]

I just found this article by Randy Holmes.
Problem Dinoflagellates and pH by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[David]

Visually, to me it looks like Dino’s too. Hopefully the macro in the refuge does the trick. I feel my tank should be further along for being 6 months old. I never see anything moving around when I shine a flashlight in the sump at night. My last tank, I could see pods little worms, and little stars scurrying around by this point. I used to rescue pods and worms from my filter sock befor I rinsed it. This tank I don’t see any signs of anything.

 

[diana a]

I ordered chaeto from AlgaeBarn. I can't keep it alive in my refuge. I have a shipment coming from BRS of Brightwell Neophos, and Neonitro. I will be dosing since one is at 0 and the other is .01.

 

[David]

I ordered chaeto from AlgaeBarn. I can't keep it alive in my refuge. I have a shipment coming from BRS of Brightwell Neophos, and Neonitro. I will be dosing since one is at 0 and the other is .01.

I’m giving it a try. From what I understand, chaeto is pretty hearty. Hopefully it will grow.

 

[diana a]

There just isn't enough nitrates and phosphate in my water to keep in alive

 

[David]

In that case, you might not need it. I might end up with the same result. Time will tell.

 

[DangerDave]

If you guys struggle with Cheato, you can try sea lettuce. From what I've read on r2r it grows faster, takes up more, and is heartier than chaeto.

 

[Mrx7899x]

Try feeding reef roids a couple time a week that will help with your low nutrients. My tank is always around 1 to 2 nitrates and 0 phosphates and I feed 5 times a day.

 

[MadReefer]

Try feeding reef roids a couple time a week that will help with your low nutrients. My tank is always around 1 to 2 nitrates and 0 phosphates and I feed 5 times a day.

I was considering Microbacter7 to up nutrients.

 

[diana a]

@MadReefer You have high nitrate and phosphate? If yes, then you can use Micorbacter7. I used it two years ago for about 2-3 months and it worked well.

 

[jgraz]

Im not even sure where this thread is going anymore. I was trying to follow it but seems to have gone off track.
Dinos and nutrients are two things that don't go well together. If you have dinos it is most likely consuming any nutrients that you have which is why macro wont grow. adding anything to increase the nutrients is only going to make the problem worse.

 

[David]

Doing a light blackout doesn’t work. It just grows back when the lights are back on. Removing nutrients doesn’t work. The live stock make more, and it starts to grow again. Adding macro won’t work. The Dino’s outcompetes the macro. Adding cuc doesn’t work. Nothing eats the stuff. It seems there no known solution once this gets in your system.

 

[MadReefer]

Well R2R thread has many solutions. I have tried most and will continue. Microbacter is suppose to help the bacteria eat up nutrients so dinos starve. Also read raising PH to 8.5 helps, UV, etc. Will not dose bleach as some threads stated. If all else fails its tear down and start over. Not sure if I will start back if I have to break it down.

 

[David]

Hmm. I’ll be curious to see how that works. Keep me posted. I have been looking for a way to safely raise ph, but it seems to always buffer back to 8.2. I definitely don’t want to tear it down. I definitely don’t want to give up.

 

[diana a]

I am reading from my bottle that Microbacter7 will rapidly decrease nitrite, nitrate and phosphate. Will desolve uneaten food and detritus.... This will effectively decrease the concentration of available nutrients and waste in all marine aquaria.

This is something I wouldn't use with Dino

 

[Mrx7899x]

Hmm. I’ll be curious to see how that works. Keep me posted. I have been looking for a way to safely raise ph, but it seems to always buffer back to 8.2. I definitely don’t want to tear it down. I definitely don’t want to give up.

If you want to raise your ph a co2 scrubber works very well

 

[David]

If you want to raise your ph a co2 scrubber works very well

I’d have to see more evidence, before I invest in a co2 scrubber. There is no guarantee that raising ph beyond 8.5 will actually cause Dino’s to die.

 

[jgraz]

Doing a light blackout doesn’t work. It just grows back when the lights are back on. Removing nutrients doesn’t work. .

Absolutely not true, but you need to be willing to see it through to get the desired outcome.
I'm sure I posted this before but I'll do it again.
Years ago I experienced this in my sons 45g cube. It was horrible, for weeks I would suction them out daily through a filter sock and made no headway. All the while I was feeding fish as it was getting worse. So I did some reading and came across a lot of different things that all led to the same 4 treatments to resolve, the key is to do them all together otherwise you will not be successful.
1st: COMPLETE blackout. This must be total as is no visible light in the tank........anywhere. This keeps the dinos in the water stream vs attached to rocks, walls, corals..... This blackout will be for a long time. I went 2 weeks, then skipped a day, noticed a small trace left and immediately went another week.
2nd: Hydrogen Peroxide. This will indeed kill the dinos, and pretty much any other algae you have so toss that too. You'll have to do some research about dosages as I don't remember that. It will not harm any fish or inverts.
3rd: NO FEEDING..........ANYTHING. Nothing, don't feed corals, don't feed fish, don't feed anything. Go for as long as you possibly can, then go another day. The fish will be fine, I skipped 4days then fed about 1/4normal amount(in the dark) then did another 4 days, rinse/repeat.....
4th: No water changes for a long time. I waited almost 2 months after I stopped seeing dinos before I did a change.

After following this I never saw a single remnant leftover for the remaining life of the tank which was about 2 more years.
Takes work, but it can be done

 

[David]

I like your upfront approach. The blackout I was referring to was 3 day, not 3 week. I guess with an aggressive pest, you need aggressive treatment. I’ll get some cardboard and wrap the tank.