A sad day for ReefQueen

WilRams · May 23, 2016

I have had them once. I did a total complete blackout and not a single bit of light or peeking for what ended up (due to work) being almost 4 days. Not a hint of Dino's when I uncovered. All fish and corals did just fine but I did make sure to take it easy with the light the first few days. Some don't get off as easy but it worked for me.

Russ265 · May 23, 2016

that box is nothing....

and it still came back...

Wiz · May 23, 2016

I fought dinos for months. Tried to black out a couple of times. Effective but came right back. Tried multiple other recommended methods. Nothing worked. Eventually just could not deal with them being in there and so started a siphon from the top tank to the sump running through a Filter sock filled with different micron filter pads. I used every spare second I had to siphon the dinos out of the main tank through the sock and into the sump. Day by day they returned slower and slower.after a week or two of doing this constantly they never came back.

I gave this method to another reefer on this site who was dealing with it. He tried the same method and was also successful. I'm not sure if it will work for everyone but I think it will.

After months of dealing with it and a ridiculous amount of research Not to mention a few occurrences that helped me come to the decision. I am 90% sure that dinos are present in almost every tank And only get exacerbated when certain conditions are there. I do not believe that the dinos are gone from my tank. I just believe that I have got them in a position where they cannot Explode.I have not seen them in a long time nor has anybody who bought my algaes or frags complained of having them. Including a few close friends. But I am willing to bet that they are still in the water column.
Persistance and perseverance are key!
Good luck

FL_Reefer · May 23, 2016

I've delt with Dino on a couple of different tanks. 3 day black out will not harm any of your livestock at all. But I also feel that just a black out a dosing H2O2 will most likely not cure them. Good luck a keep us posted

twilliard · May 23, 2016

Positive identification is key to making a good plan and avoiding harsh methods when not needed.

ReefQueen · May 23, 2016

Salty1962 said:
There's a golden reef at the end of the rainbow, soon you'll have yours. Sorry to hear, I also had something for the first time in 20+ years of reefing, AEFW:mad:

Oh man I'm sorry about that. AEFW is a much larger battle then a little dinos. Hopefully we will both have our rainbow soon

cnseekatz · May 23, 2016

Never had luck with blackouts. In my experience, your tank will look lovely when you pull the cover off in the morning, and by that afternoon, it'll all be back with a vengeance. Get yourself a good UV Sterilizer and don't look back. Dinos propagate in the water column, so siphon everything off the sand, blast it off the rocks, and nuke anything in the water with UV, and you'll fix it for good.

ReefQueen · May 23, 2016

twilliard said:
Positive identification is key to making a good plan and avoiding harsh methods when not needed.

So you are not thinking dinos? I was sure that is what it is because of the stringy,bubbley snot I was getting. If it is spirulina what is my course of action? I was kicking around the idea of adding a UV sterilizer, but after reading so many mixed views I decided not to. If that is the best option I will order one from work today.

Russ265 · May 23, 2016

cnseekatz said:
Never had luck with blackouts. In my experience, your tank will look lovely when you pull the cover off in the morning, and by that afternoon, it'll all be back with a vengeance. Get yourself a good UV Sterilizer and don't look back. Dinos propagate in the water column, so siphon everything off the sand, blast it off the rocks, and nuke anything in the water with UV, and you'll fix it for good.

i tried uv and it kept them in check for a little while, but they came crawling back until i dosed peroxide.

CodyRVA · May 23, 2016

I've had dinos before and nuked them with a simple blackout & no dosing of anything, never used a UV sterilizer, not to say they don't work, just saying they're by no means a necessity.

brandon429 · May 23, 2016

don't forget amazon rental, it works exactly like this

order 300xx sterilizer, install it on a perfectly clean system, blackout for 3 days and send the unit back less 15% stocking fee (check your seller) within a month. The reason I have no problem recommending amarental is because the neotherm I just got from them was open, someone elses weekend rental, and it works fine lol. play the game. if it works fantastic, you'll keep, heart of the amarental program. whatever you buy, do not buy the correct sized model for your tank. buy the largest most expensive one you are willing to use to win, if that means taking a chance on it not being strong enough and using a correctly sized model, then give it a try and you have a smaller chance of it working. Use a pond sterilizer if you want to win and not play around, it will be bulky but temporary, this doesn't have to be ran constantly its to win something

remove target from a tank via zapping, then go back to normal workings is the heart of using UV as a tool for pelagic invaders.

ReefQueen · May 23, 2016

brandon429 said:
don't forget amazon rental, it works exactly like this

order 300xx sterilizer, install it on a perfectly clean system, blackout for 3 days and send the unit back less 15% stocking fee (check your seller) within a month. The reason I have no problem recommending amarental is because the neotherm I just got from them was open, someone elses weekend rental, and it works fine lol. play the game. if it works fantastic, you'll keep, heart of the amarental program. whatever you buy, do not buy the correct sized model for your tank. buy the largest most expensive one you are willing to use to win, if that means taking a chance on it not being strong enough and using a correctly sized model, then give it a try and you have a smaller chance of it working. Use a pond sterilizer if you want to win and not play around, it will be bulky but temporary, this doesn't have to be ran constantly its to win something

remove target from a tank via zapping, then go back to normal workings is the heart of using UV as a tool for pelagic invaders.

Good to know

but I tend to keep stuff around as a "just incase". About 40% of my basement is fish tank related junk lol. And I see what you mean about running it only when you need it, that seems like a no Brainer, which is why I didn't think of it haha. I assumed the people using UV were using it 24/7.

twilliard · May 23, 2016

ReefQueen said:
So you are not thinking dinos? I was sure that is what it is because of the stringy,bubbley snot I was getting. If it is spirulina what is my course of action? I was kicking around the idea of adding a UV sterilizer, but after reading so many mixed views I decided not to. If that is the best option I will order one from work today.

From the pictures provided most of what I am seeing may not be dinoflagellates
Ship some to me and I can tell you what you have the day it arrives

It's an easy process to send out and gets to me in most cases 3 days

ReefQueen · May 23, 2016

twilliard said:
From the pictures provided most of what I am seeing may not be dinoflagellates
Ship some to me and I can tell you what you have the day it arrives
It's an easy process to send out and gets to me in most cases 3 days

Thank you, that would be great! Can you PM me your address and the best way to ship it? Are you referring to the hairy brown algae surrounding the dinos in the pics? I have not been able to get a positive ID on that for weeks, but it stays in the sand and just looks ugly, I didn't feel the need to pull out the big guns until I saw the dinos lol.

MoneyMike1987 · May 23, 2016

Algae scrubber... Cough cough

ReefQueen · May 23, 2016

MoneyMike1987 said:
Algae scrubber... Cough cough

Believe me I would if I had the room in my stand and a larger sump.

saltyfilmfolks · May 23, 2016

FWIW both twillard and brandon429 are usually correct in thier not a dino Id's. actually seem pretty rare. and oddly the most I see are in the south east.

How old is that tank reefqueen? all of my tanks have gone through a post first uglies phase.

FL_Reefer · May 23, 2016

IMO it does not look like Dino to me.

ReefQueen · May 23, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
FWIW both twillard and brandon429 are usually correct in thier not a dino Id's. actually seem pretty rare. and oddly the most I see are in the south east.

How old is that tank reefqueen? all of my tanks have gone through a post first uglies phase.

Oh yes, I know they know their stuff

this tank has been up for 6 or 7 months now. I have never had issues like this on any of my previous tanks and I swear it is because I am trying too hard with this one lol. My last tank was a 75 with no filtration other then live rock, and only the very occasional water change, and I did not have these issues.