Need Some Help...

[Hallowhead]

Howdy,

I've been struggling with copious issues with my two tanks.

I am battling dino's in my main tank for probably around 6 months. I unfortunately let the nutrients bottom out and I've not been able to stabilize them again. I replace my filter media daily to help remove dino's, I have added a UV sterilizer and most recently I have begun dosing dinoX. I have discontinued my UV sterilizer per the directions as well as some other stuff mentioned. I continue to dose nitrates and phosphates daily, using trisodium phosphate and sodium nitrate mixed to slurries that Randy Holmes has generated - I dose 10 mL of each solution which raised the nitrates ~ 10ppm and phosphate by .1. Obviously phosphates bind to the rocks and such so it's not directly related to the levels in the water column. The nitrates on the other hand don't stick around long and by the next day they're bottomed out again. I don't know if I should be dosing more nitrates ? more phosphates? I am on my second round of DinoX and hoping that the slime goes away. If I was to beat it... I am not sure if I should continue to dose nitrates and phosphates afterwards.

My frag tank is having another algae issue... I am battling red cyanobacteria (red slime) I have used chemi clean with great success and my tank was booming again however, it's again getting overrun and I can't keep up. I am losing frags daily as the slime is covering and suffocating the corals. I continue to dose nitrates and phosphate to readable levels. This tank is a bare bottom and has swallowed up several fish unfortunately - I keep after it daily replacing filter media etc etc. The tank is a 34 gallon with a 15 gallon sump and roughly 5 pounds of live rock in display and marinepure bioballs.


I can state some parameters that are the same for both tanks:
Alk: 9.0
Calcium: 450
Mg: 1350
salinity: 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5

I am wondering if I should be getting a Triton ICP test... could something be leaching my water from my RO system?

Any additional information you may find helpful just ask.

 

[diana a]

What temp are you keeping the dino tank?

 

[Hallowhead]

What temp are you keeping the dino tank?

I keep both tanks at 78.6

 

[diana a]

I had moved my tank from inside the house to the garage last August. Around April the tank developed Dino. I dosed nitrate and phosphate. Summer came and I was having a hard time keeping the tank in normal temperature range. Tank would go up to 80-83 all summer. I noticed Dino’s disappearing with the warming temperature. But with the warmer water, cyan will develop. I haven’t had Dino since July. Tank temp has been 77 since Sept and no dino or cyan

 

[mnat]

Reef builders ran an article that is saying elevated temps can help with dinos. Very new theory so be cautious. We just went with the 2 week blackout with the algae barn dino kit and that worked for us.

 

[Hallowhead]

Reef builders ran an article that is saying elevated temps can help with dinos. Very new theory so be cautious. We just went with the 2 week blackout with the algae barn dino kit and that worked for us.

Did you lose any corals ? That's my biggest fear - I was reccomended a 5 day black out hydrogen peroxide dose at night and baxter dose in the morning ... Thoughts ?

 

[Paulie 069]

Hope you beat this outbreak of algae, much luck

 

[Hallowhead]

I'm reducing my skimmer from 24 hours to 12 hours in hopes of keeping water a little dirtier.

I don't wanna dose anything or do anything until my dinox is complete but I just wanna be done with it

 

[MadReefer]

Did you lose any corals ? That's my biggest fear - I was recommended a 5 day black out hydrogen peroxide dose at night and baxter dose in the morning ... Thoughts ?

I dosed peroxide daily and a 7 day blackout which did work. I lost some frags and 1 fish. I expected to lose the coral but the fish as a surprise.
Good luck.

 

[DEL]

did you try a blackout yet? if so, how long. full blackout wrapped ?

 

[diana a]

You need to ID the dino strain you have to know the coarse of action you need to take

 

[MadReefer]

did you try a blackout yet? if so, how long. full blackout wrapped ?

I used black poster board taped all over and wrapped a sheet around the tank.

 

[mnat]

Yes we lost corals but we did a short one, like a week, then when they came back two weeks later we did the longer one. We lost sps, our lps and clams were just fine. Some sps made it and look better than ever

 

[Hallowhead]

I used black poster board taped all over and wrapped a sheet around the tank.

I really don't wanna lose anything - after getting home from work today the dinos were very minimal... The dinox is doing well this round. I think my downfall after last treatment was I didn't get a water change quick enough.

I'm going to give this a go and a solid water change followed by maybe a solid 2 day blackout to kill any remainders.

My think with blackouts.. should I continue to feed / dose phos and nitrate ?

 

[MadReefer]

I didn't dose. Wouldn't the dying Dinos increase phos and nitrate?

 

[Foxchase]

Is it possible to remove the corals into a temporary holding tank, do a blackout and add back when done?

 

[Hallowhead]

I also ordered an ati ICP test... I have some hoaxes to debunk / confirm.

Yes I'd agree dying dinos would make nitrate and phos

 

[Hallowhead]

Some updates !!

My main 30 AIO is clean of dinos!! I've not seen a single strand in existence for over a week now. I've done two water changes to ensure I've cycled the sand bed properly. I'm dealing with a little cyano which I'm manually removing daily and introduced more CUC. My phosphates are sitting HIGH, higher than I'd have liked, must be due to so much absorbed into rocks ~ .25. I'm no longer dosing nitrate or phosphate just feeding one cube of frozen a day. I'm bringing down parameters naturally. Tank is turning around very well and I couldn't be happier... I just need to keep it up now.

Frag system has been doing much better too! Corals are showing themselves again and I scrub daily. Tonight I removed rocks and scrubbed with a tooth brush for the first time - looks amazing ! The nutrients are still low so I'm feeding more and dosing a little. The cyano is slowly going away. I also added more CUC and will continue to add more as I find snails.

My husbandry right now is through the roof to get them back on track