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Dinoflagellates: Who has beat them?

grizfyrfyter said:
I do t know what species I have. They are still in the tanks. There are pics in my tank journals. The combo of microbacter clean, pods and live phyto worked well for me.
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Yes, thank you. These are good things to do, the version I have needs also the silicate as it is apparently a harder type to beat. Thanks again!
 
phatduckk said:
I’ve beat them twice. I don’t know what worked as I tried everything.

The one anecdote that does seem to be a pattern (sample size of 2, grain of salt) is that right before they started going away I had a massive increase in pod population: ie never saw one then all of a sudden the glass is covered 24/7. In both instances they “went away” within a week of noticing the pod explosion.

Take it for what it’s worth but, like the folks above said, try phyto …
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Interesting, thanks for sharing. I will watch out if I notice the same.
 
Flagg37 said:
I’ll be a counter case then. I never saw any pods in my tank. It’s possible they were there but they must have been hiding.

I did remember in addition to the UV and phyto, I also got three 5 micron socks and stirred everything up each day for 3 days (one sock/day). After that it was fairly minimal and I just let the UV and phyto run its course. I think it took about 2 weeks before I couldn’t see any evidence of them anymore.
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Will try the 5 micron (seems hard to get them quickly though). Thank you for sharing.
 
I went to a friend's house to help him identify the dinos he's dealing with.

Am I right that these aren't dinos but crysophytes?
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Alexander1312 said:
Thank you. Yes, I am a member of this FB group since I had Dinos previously due to low nutrients and was able to beat them in 5 days with their instructions. Apparently, the prorocentrums are harder to beat (e.g., no UV lights work for them), as I have and had higher nutrients since the last Dinos and still got them (immediately after dosing AB+ again!).
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Trying to force a cyano bloom or diatom bloom is the quickest way for sure. Be sure to run carbon through the whole thing too.
 
I've always had luck with a combination of dosing sodium metasilicate, which I like to dose in reef tanks anyway, making sure there is measurable NO3/PO4, turkey basting rocks and sand daily, and just waiting it out.
 
I had a nasty bout with dino last spring because my nutrients bottomed out, I had a cyano outbreak and used chemiclean. Don't do that haha. First, i identified which type of dinos i had using some crappy kids microscope off amazon (you can use it and return it right after). I beat them with UV (the green machine ones work well), raising my nutrients by overfeeding and dosing microbacter7. The UV was my last measure and it was by far the most effective.
 
Never understood why people don’t seed their new tanks with pods right off the bat! Every tank I’ve started I always ad pods, and feed phyto off the bat, I put coral in right away, even with dry rock starts! If there is no competition for nutrients, then ya you will get the nuisance shit. This is why my cycling process of tanks is different than the “standard” or “norm”. Give that tank life right away! I don’t use magic turbo starts or any of those cycling products,i don’t believe in them at all, that’s why I don’t sell them. I don’t want to dump raw ammonia and phosphates and crap in my tank, I add life!! Life will out compete the ugly nuisance shit in most cases. My 150 at the shop is a great example of starting a tank with dry rock and avoiding the uglies! That’s why I did that experiment tank at the shop, so I can show people and help break this old methodology of starting a new tank.
 
I have so many newbies that want to get into reefing, I have about a handful of people that recently set up their first reef tanks! Pods annd phyto off the bat, End of week 1 they have coral in their tank, week 2 more coral. Week 3-4 fish and inverts. All of these people, no ugly stage, and they are new inexperienced reefers. With the right fundamentals of tank start up, you can avoid the uglies!! Most of the time, not always but a very high percentage
 
I am convinced that biodiversity is the key. I've always run my tank with dry rock and if I use sand, it's live sand but I always have had uglies.

With the 100g, I added microbacter start, several species of pods and live phyto during the ugly stage and it cleared up quickly.

I didn't have luck with coral but considering they were probably sitting under 900 par, no surprise.
 
under_water_ninja said:
Never understood why people don’t seed their new tanks with pods right off the bat! Every tank I’ve started I always ad pods, and feed phyto off the bat, I put coral in right away, even with dry rock starts! If there is no competition for nutrients, then ya you will get the nuisance shit. This is why my cycling process of tanks is different than the “standard” or “norm”. Give that tank life right away! I don’t use magic turbo starts or any of those cycling products,i don’t believe in them at all, that’s why I don’t sell them. I don’t want to dump raw ammonia and phosphates and crap in my tank, I add life!! Life will out compete the ugly nuisance shit in most cases. My 150 at the shop is a great example of starting a tank with dry rock and avoiding the uglies! That’s why I did that experiment tank at the shop, so I can show people and help break this old methodology of starting a new tank.
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I’d would agree and do the same. I also throw chaeto in there right from the start too. There is a big “but” though. I’d only do this for reefers that have some experience or are ready to be anal about testing. The problem with a noob doing this is that problems can and will arise and then they try to throw everything under the kitchen sink to fix a problem that arises instead of taking a more measured approach.

It’s like the old adage, you gotta learn to walk before you run. Starting off a newbie running, is potential for making their reefing experience miserable as they trip over their feet and fall on their face. I personally recommend complete noobs starting off real slow and simple. Plus, a little pain of the uglies helps them learn too. ;)
 
RandyC said:
I’d would agree and do the same. I also throw chaeto in there right from the start too. There is a big “but” though. I’d only do this for reefers that have some experience or are ready to be anal about testing. The problem with a noob doing this is that problems can and will arise and then they try to throw everything under the kitchen sink to fix a problem that arises instead of taking a more measured approach.

It’s like the old adage, you gotta learn to walk before you run. Starting off a newbie running, is potential for making their reefing experience miserable as they trip over their feet and fall on their face. I personally recommend complete noobs starting off real slow and simple. Plus, a little pain of the uglies helps them learn too. ;)
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I avoid adding macro algae because it can absorb ammonia faster than the bacteria colonies you're trying to feed. It keeps the water clean faster but I'd rather have a more robust bacteria population before adding algae.
 
grizfyrfyter said:
I avoid adding macro algae because it can absorb ammonia faster than the bacteria colonies you're trying to feed. It keeps the water clean faster but I'd rather have a more robust bacteria population before adding algae.
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Shouldn’t be a huge problem unless you’re throwing in 50 fish at once. ;)
 
Are there any reef tours? I would love to:
  1. Actually see what is and isn't working (and see all those bottles of 'stuff' that have dust and 'stuff' that is actively used).
  2. Find others with like setups or find out if my setup is 'way off the yellow brick road'. (Nano tanks with no fish, for instance).
  3. Get some directed feedback (oh, I see you have your heater in the same compartment as your return pump....best practice is to have the heater in a sump compartment that cannot empty...).
 
Prestondeeply said:
Are there any reef tours? I would love to:
  1. Actually see what is and isn't working (and see all those bottles of 'stuff' that have dust and 'stuff' that is actively used).
  2. Find others with like setups or find out if my setup is 'way off the yellow brick road'. (Nano tanks with no fish, for instance).
  3. Get some directed feedback (oh, I see you have your heater in the same compartment as your return pump....best practice is to have the heater in a sump compartment that cannot empty...).
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Sorry, I was reading this thread and thought....jeese it seems obvious to some people what to do and when to do it....and you all are pretty much in agreement....how do we get that to a broader group :)
 
RandyC said:
I’d would agree and do the same. I also throw chaeto in there right from the start too. There is a big “but” though. I’d only do this for reefers that have some experience or are ready to be anal about testing. The problem with a noob doing this is that problems can and will arise and then they try to throw everything under the kitchen sink to fix a problem that arises instead of taking a more measured approach.

It’s like the old adage, you gotta learn to walk before you run. Starting off a newbie running, is potential for making their reefing experience miserable as they trip over their feet and fall on their face. I personally recommend complete noobs starting off real slow and simple. Plus, a little pain of the uglies helps them learn too. ;)
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With the right education which I am trying to provide to beginning reefers they can avoid throwing the kitchen sink at the tank and fix the problems the right way. I am really trying to provide education! There is a reason I don’t sell and magic potions to fix problems.
 
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