I have Dinoflagellates. Please help!
- Thread starter Purgo25
- Start date
jepoy
Guest
Judging by your photos, it looks very much like the strain of dino that i've been battling for about a year now. Just going by my experience, thats most likely dino if:
1. It goes away or decrease when the lights are off but comes back when lights go on.
2. When it gets really bad on your sand, it also goes on your rocks.
3. Corals are irritated.
4. Some of your CUC dies.
5. It comes back even after siphoning
Its a very annoying strain. Ive done a treatment very similar to that of BRS.. which is trying to outcompete the dino with bacteria. This works for me but the white clean sand only lasts for a week or two before the dino comes back. I've literally treated my tank half a dozen times and my corals are getting pissed. So my desperation solution is to remove the sand completely. Every water change i would syphon out a little bit of sand. Ive got about 25% of my sand left and im hoping removing it all will finally beat dino for me. Good luck!
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
1. It goes away or decrease when the lights are off but comes back when lights go on.
2. When it gets really bad on your sand, it also goes on your rocks.
3. Corals are irritated.
4. Some of your CUC dies.
5. It comes back even after siphoning
Its a very annoying strain. Ive done a treatment very similar to that of BRS.. which is trying to outcompete the dino with bacteria. This works for me but the white clean sand only lasts for a week or two before the dino comes back. I've literally treated my tank half a dozen times and my corals are getting pissed. So my desperation solution is to remove the sand completely. Every water change i would syphon out a little bit of sand. Ive got about 25% of my sand left and im hoping removing it all will finally beat dino for me. Good luck!
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
jepoy
Guest
Lol i did not even see this post and i pretty much posted the exact same symptoms you have almost word for word. Yup, you got dinos my friend. Good luck!
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
EBJ
Supporting Member
Those don't look like dinos. Look at it under a microscope then post pictures.
The water change adds trace elements like iron that algae feed off of. You may also be adding silica if your DI resin is exhausted.
Coral reefer
Past President
Yes. Diatoms love silica.
rygh
Guest
Given how little is in your tank, you might consider a blackout treatment.
Low impact on tank, helps with both Diatoms and Dino.
Agree with above - water changes making it worse do not prove dinos.
But the clean up crew dying and not touching it is a good indicator.
If you put a hungry snail on the sand, with diatoms you should see feeding tracks very quickly.
Low impact on tank, helps with both Diatoms and Dino.
Agree with above - water changes making it worse do not prove dinos.
But the clean up crew dying and not touching it is a good indicator.
If you put a hungry snail on the sand, with diatoms you should see feeding tracks very quickly.
Coral reefer
Past President
In my experience Dino’s come back in like a day not closer to a week. Diatoms take more like a week to come back.
Purgo25
Guest
Hi All,
Wanted to provide an update! Looks like a majority of the conversation was going between diatoms and dinos, it ended up being both. Majority diatoms with a trace of dinos. They have begun to diminish but my snails still won’t touch the reef bed (so confused). I have began to “dirty” my tank about two weeks ago and am starting to see higher nitrates.
I’ve realized that my Zoas have most likely been closing up due to a shock in nitrate levels (very high to very low super fast) and a lack of nutrients. Some of the colonies are starting to open up again. I am aiming to balance nutrients as best I can. Any suggestions on correct nutrient levels to keep this going? Been over feeding and adding reef roids.
Unfortunately my candy cane coral was hit hard and is on its last leg. Some photo updates too.
If anyone has anymore suggestions on what to do next let me know!
Wanted to provide an update! Looks like a majority of the conversation was going between diatoms and dinos, it ended up being both. Majority diatoms with a trace of dinos. They have begun to diminish but my snails still won’t touch the reef bed (so confused). I have began to “dirty” my tank about two weeks ago and am starting to see higher nitrates.
I’ve realized that my Zoas have most likely been closing up due to a shock in nitrate levels (very high to very low super fast) and a lack of nutrients. Some of the colonies are starting to open up again. I am aiming to balance nutrients as best I can. Any suggestions on correct nutrient levels to keep this going? Been over feeding and adding reef roids.
Unfortunately my candy cane coral was hit hard and is on its last leg. Some photo updates too.
If anyone has anymore suggestions on what to do next let me know!
Attachments
Purgo25
Guest
I think when I was doing water changes and trying to remove the diatoms from the sand bed it was stirring up more silica hence the boost when I would do water changes.
Can confirm. Comes back daily!
Purgo25
Guest
I started by getting my nitrates and phosphates super high, almost dangerous high and then let all the algae in my tank grow like crazy.
After doing this for two weeks I started removing as much as I could physically and doing huge water changes of about 75% every week. When I would do a water change I would add dr.tims waste away which has “beneficial bacteria” in it. Also I would clean all of filtration and replace anything that could be replaced.
Did this three times in a row and now their is minimal to no dinos left and all my corals reopened! Going to continue to do smaller water changes (25%) each week and slowly reduce the changes till it is about once a month.
I think the game changer was the dr Tim’s with the water change. Didn’t give the dinos a chance to suck up the nitrate!
After doing this for two weeks I started removing as much as I could physically and doing huge water changes of about 75% every week. When I would do a water change I would add dr.tims waste away which has “beneficial bacteria” in it. Also I would clean all of filtration and replace anything that could be replaced.
Did this three times in a row and now their is minimal to no dinos left and all my corals reopened! Going to continue to do smaller water changes (25%) each week and slowly reduce the changes till it is about once a month.
I think the game changer was the dr Tim’s with the water change. Didn’t give the dinos a chance to suck up the nitrate!
Flagg37
Guest
You should do some detailed experiments on that waste away stuff and then post your results on r2r.
NanoCrazed
Supporting Member
I dumped hydrogen peroxide twice daily and lights out (except ambient room light)... all gone after 5 days.
Purgo25
Guest
If it wasn’t past prime research time I would have! But IMO it helped!You should do some detailed experiments on that waste away stuff and then post your results on r2r.