Amphidinium Dinoflagellate Treatment Methods

[taricha]

Just wanted to report my results. Increased temperature to 83 degrees. Initially, no changes, but then after 5 days, I no longer saw any amphidinium via microscopy. This lasted a couple days. Now they are back and rapidly reproducing (temperature did not change).

Awesome. Favorite type of result . Not yes or no, but "requires further study".
Any idea what your pH is/was?
Any changes that might've modified the availability of trace elements/metals?

 

[andrewey]

Awesome. Favorite type of result . Not yes or no, but "requires further study".
Any idea what your pH is/was?
Any changes that might've modified the availability of trace elements/metals?

pH over the last two weeks was between 8.32 at night and 8.57 during the day with an average of 8.51.
Currently only inputs into the tank are microbacter 7, subsaturated kalk, reef roids, fish pellets, and DIY fish food (frozen clams, squid, tilapia, shrimp, mysis, dried nori, and reef chili).

 

[taricha]

pH over the last two weeks was between 8.32 at night and 8.57 during the day with an average of 8.51.
Currently only inputs into the tank are microbacter 7, subsaturated kalk, reef roids, fish pellets, and DIY fish food (frozen clams, squid, tilapia, shrimp, mysis, dried nori, and reef chili).

Great info. You ran high pH, while elevating temp. The reef chili and nori contain plenty of trace elements/metals. But it'd be hard to blame them for the resurgence, just based on this data.
Thanks again.

 

[CDavmd]

I won't repeat my summary as its posted in the other thread- see:

#9,126

The problem: Ostreopsis and Small cell Amphidinium

So essentially I've increased my temperature along with multiple other initiatives and it seems to be working well. I initially ran 82.7-83.5 for about a week and then dropped it to 82.5- 83.

I am dosing Sponge excel just a small amount daily (5 drops).

I dosed H202 10cc per night for 1 week followed by turning off skimmer and UV in the morning and dosing Bacteria (alternating ecobalance, Refresh, MB7, and MB clean). I stopped using MB7 , clean, and refresh as they were dangerously lowering my Nitrates.

I am seeing a marked decrease in Dino's. Today under the microscope (sampled an area of very brown sand) I see no small cell amphidinium, a rare 2-3 Ostreopsis per field, and maybe a large cell Amphidinium ( 1-2 per field). There has been a massive increase in diatoms and other very active planktonic species and pods.

Here are my pH and Temperature graphs. Pleas note the spike in pH was a recalibration. Also note the daily drop in pH is due to the skimmer being off for 6 hours after dosing bacteria. Prior to initiating all of this my pH ran 8.1-8.2, during all these maneuvers it has remained in the 7.8 range.

 

[Cooper 2020]

I won't repeat my summary as its posted in the other thread- see:

#9,126

The problem: Ostreopsis and Small cell Amphidinium

So essentially I've increased my temperature along with multiple other initiatives and it seems to be working well. I initially ran 82.7-83.5 for about a week and then dropped it to 82.5- 83.

I am dosing Sponge excel just a small amount daily (5 drops).

I dosed H202 10cc per night for 1 week followed by turning off skimmer and UV in the morning and dosing Bacteria (alternating ecobalance, Refresh, MB7, and MB clean). I stopped using MB7 , clean, and refresh as they were dangerously lowering my Nitrates.

I am seeing a marked decrease in Dino's. Today under the microscope (sampled an area of very brown sand) I see no small cell amphidinium, a rare 2-3 Ostreopsis per field, and maybe a large cell Amphidinium ( 1-2 per field). There has been a massive increase in diatoms and other very active planktonic species and pods.

Here are my pH and Temperature graphs. Pleas note the spike in pH was a recalibration. Also note the daily drop in pH is due to the skimmer being off for 6 hours after dosing bacteria. Prior to initiating all of this my pH ran 8.1-8.2, during all these maneuvers it has remained in the 7.8 range.

I found the same with the bacteria’s lowering nutrients but they also knocked my KH consumption down too.
How long did you dose Sponge Excel for ?

 

[CDavmd]

I found the same with the bacteria’s lowering nutrients but they also knocked my KH consumption down too.
How long did you dose Sponge Excel for ?

I still am...Ive been using it for at least 2 weeks now.

 

[Anchor]

I don't think this will work. But I have thought about soaking a small amount of aragonite sand in peroxide. Then sprinkle it over a problem area, with the hope that the porous grains could release it gradually.

Well, for 3 nights running, I have dosed 5 ml directly into the grave/sand under the problem. WIsh I had a scope to confirm what they were. Anyway, it is knocking back the orange each day. It is making me think I may have something else but it sure fits the description you all are referring to.. I will try to get a picture this evening at least.

 

[Thrassian Atoll]

Dang, I was hoping to hear the temperature increase to 83 would get rid of the amphidinium. Been seeing a few things on Facebook about 83 degrees getting rid of the persons Dino’s.

 

[FelipeCarv]

Hi everybody,

more than ever I think that our systems have all type of pests and the balance is the most important thing. After 3 weeks of dealing with Collia and the tank being well, I noticed a brown patch and now I have amphidinium. So, since they are not so toxic and they are not bothering my corals, I will dose phyto, turning off my skimmer and UV for 12h during the day. I will siphon the sandbed as well. I just need to get a 10um sock1. I will take a slow approach and I will try not to dose anything. Last resource maybe peroxide again. Peroxide worked pretty well with my previous Dino infestation, Collia. I dosed it for one week. In the mean time I will study more, there is a lot of info in this thread.

 

[Nevil]

So here is my anecdotal experience. I didn't take any before photos.

I'm fairly certain I have/had Ostreopsis (no microscope) it would go away at night and come back during the day. I have a 15 Watt UV (probably needs a new bulb) on my 45 gal display w/ approx 25 gallon sump. I also was hanging filter floss in high flow areas to catch the dinos so I could rinse them multiple times a day to export dinos. What I was doing had been keeping it to a minimum but lately it had been getting worse.

I had just gotten a 36 Watt Jebao but haven't hooked it up due to it's huge lol and I need to figure out a way to mount it. So I did a 48 black out and during this time raised the temp of my tank from about 78-79 to 82.5 - 83. It's been 10 days since the lights came back on last week Tuesday I have not seen any dinos. I had done blackouts in the past and it knocked them back but they would typically return with in a few days. Now just seeing a couple different types of cyano.

So not sure exactly what helped (most likely everything) but raising my temp along with the blackout and UV seems to have gotten rid of the dinos. I plan to keep my temp up for the next week and then lower it down to 80-81 and see what happens.

Now I have this giant Jebao UV I've never used and I already threw out the box lol

 

[Marconis]

I've battled for about 6 months now. I thought I had it beat for around 2 weeks and then my phosphates dropped below 0.03 and they have come roaring back.
Current attack plan; UV 55w, dosing sodium silicate (0.24ppm per day), dosing potassium nitrite (as required to stay about/above 10ppm).
New attack plan; as above, dosing potassium phosphate (to keep above 0.07ppm) and removal of sand.
Is there a correct way to remove sand other than very slowly?

 

[cedwards04]

I've battled for about 6 months now. I thought I had it beat for around 2 weeks and then my phosphates dropped below 0.03 and they have come roaring back.
Current attack plan; UV 55w, dosing sodium silicate (0.24ppm per day), dosing potassium nitrite (as required to stay about/above 10ppm).
New attack plan; as above, dosing potassium phosphate (to keep above 0.07ppm) and removal of sand.
Is there a correct way to remove sand other than very slowly?

I'm hoping you meant to say you are dosing potassium nitrate, not potassium nitrite.

 

[Marconis]

I'm hoping you meant to say you are dosing potassium nitrate, not potassium nitrite.

Sorry Potassium nitrate.

 

[KMG]

Hi guys!

I have beaten dinos 2 times by combining UVC and h2o2. The h2o2 dose should be around 4 to 5 mil/gallon to take effect. Lower than that did not do anything. H2o2 is dropping in effect after like 4 to 6 h, so hiting the dinos 2 to 3 times a day initialy worked great. Shrimps die of h2o2, so heads up! Corals, anemones and snails get grumpy, but did recover. I did hit the dinos with high h2o2 dose for 3 to 5 days.

 

[andrewey]

@KMG , do you have a source for the H202 lasting 4-6 hours or your Q8H dosing schedule? I was under the impression H202 completely reacts in the reef aquarium in minutes and any ROS byproducts are similarly reduced within the same time frame.

 

[KMG]

@KMG , do you have a source for the H202 lasting 4-6 hours or your Q8H dosing schedule? I was under the impression H202 completely reacts in the reef aquarium in minutes and any ROS byproducts are similarly reduced within the same time frame.

It was actually said here in the forum. People measuring the ORP se a quick drop and then a recovery in about that time. The ORP probe reacts like this since the h2o2 is falling apart. In the reality the O2 level is increasing.

 

[taricha]

The h2o2 dose should be around 4 to 5 mil/gallon to take effect.

That is the largest dose I've ever heard of, and looking through your earlier posts, I wonder if it's a typo?

hydrogenperoxide 3% 3-5 ml/10 gallon 2 - 3 times a day with min 4 h between doses did work for me several times.

Got any microscope pics of your dinos? or at least tank pics?

 

[KMG]

That is the largest dose I've ever heard of, and looking through your earlier posts, I wonder if it's a typo?

Got any microscope pics of your dinos? or at least tank pics?

Yes, typo. 4-5 ml 3% h2o2/10 gallons.
The dinos are long gone. This is the current status.

 

[JCTReefer]

@taricha I pulled most of my bed earlier in this thread. Soaked it in boiling water. Dinos came back. Seems it went from amphidinium to ostreopsis.
Now my question is, I noticed my Wrasse was having a hard time last night burrowing. I still have most the boiled sand in a bucket. It kinda stunk so I rinsed it in tap water multiple times, then Ro/Di. Still stunk, so I rinsed again in tap and ro/Di. Still had a smell. Then I dumped a whole bottle of hydrogen peroxide in the bucket with some Ro/Di and the smell is pretty much eliminated. It’s currently soaking. Could I use this sand after a rinse in Ro/Di? Or will it have absorbed to much peroxide. Or just skip it? It’s been soaking for an hour. Uv has been installed for two days, can really tell much.

 

[andrewey]

@taricha I pulled most of my bed earlier in this thread. Soaked it in boiling water. Dinos came back. Seems it went from amphidinium to ostreopsis.
Now my question is, I noticed my Wrasse was having a hard time last night burrowing. I still have most the boiled sand in a bucket. It kinda stunk so I rinsed it in tap water multiple times, then Ro/Di. Still stunk, so I rinsed again in tap and ro/Di. Still had a smell. Then I dumped a whole bottle of hydrogen peroxide in the bucket with some Ro/Di and the smell is pretty much eliminated. It’s currently soaking. Could I use this sand after a rinse in Ro/Di? Or will it have absorbed to much peroxide. Or just skip it? It’s been soaking for an hour. Uv has been installed for two days, can really tell much.

It will not "absorb" hydrogen peroxide. However, you want to ensure that the peroxide has completely finished oxidizing before adding it to your tank. You will also want to complete remove the new oxidized detritus and other organics before adding to your tank. Therefore, you will need to repeat your rinses to remove the previous organics- this will also have the secondary effect of elimination of any remaining oxidizers via dilution. For these steps, you do not need to rinse with RODI- tap water will do just fine. I would only use RODI as a final rinse (with or without a dechlorinator) to remove any chloramine/chlorine from the tap water). You can also completely dry the sand to remove any chlorine, although this takes far longer to do in practice.