Amphidinium Dinoflagellate Treatment Methods

[atnet360]

If you haven't done so already, you might try adding Microbacter 7 to the mix.

How goes the fight nowadays?

Yeah, actually I was dosing MB7 daily through out the ordeal.

Sand bed still looks good. Rockwork still looks like trash. Lots of gha, some cyano, and maybe even some bryopsis on a gsp frag that now refuses to open, might just be more gha though.

Weird thing is, for weeks I was dosing to keep nitrate at 10 ppm. Testing daily, dosing daily. When the sand bed cleared up I skipped a couple days testing. Well my nitrate shot up to like 30-50 ppm in a matter of days. Needless to say things are not happy. I'm assuming the die off of dinos caused the nutrient spike. I stopped dosing as soon as the sand bed cleared up.

Phosphate remains low though.

Quite the Rollercoaster thus reefing hobby.

Wonder if I should dose more MB7 to help with the nitrates...? I stopped that as well when everything cleared up.

 

[ScottB]

Yeah, actually I was dosing MB7 daily through out the ordeal.

Sand bed still looks good. Rockwork still looks like trash. Lots of gha, some cyano, and maybe even some bryopsis on a gsp frag that now refuses to open, might just be more gha though.

Weird thing is, for weeks I was dosing to keep nitrate at 10 ppm. Testing daily, dosing daily. When the sand bed cleared up I skipped a couple days testing. Well my nitrate shot up to like 30-50 ppm in a matter of days. Needless to say things are not happy. I'm assuming the die off of dinos caused the nutrient spike. I stopped dosing as soon as the sand bed cleared up.

Phosphate remains low though.

Quite the Rollercoaster thus reefing hobby.

Wonder if I should dose more MB7 to help with the nitrates...? I stopped that as well when everything cleared up.

Get a proper ID on that bryopsis potentional. If you confirm get it out of there pronto.

Yes, MB7 will help with nitrates, but can also lower PO4 which you do not want to zero out or get even close.

Big WCs are the quickest way to lower nitrates. Just be sure to match your salinity, temp and alkalinity. A 50% change will lower NO3 by about 50%.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

It seems that increasing nutrients and adding silicate and MB7 did the trick. Congratulations!
A lot of of people use MB7, do you all think that it is better than other bacterial formulates like Fritzyme or Special Blend?

Honestly I'm not sure. I haven't tried the others. Unfortunately, due to the nature of LC it's hard to nail down a method because everyone throws everything but the kitchen sink at it. For me MB7 was the last thing I added before I saw the dinos receding. Was it THE deciding factor? Maybe?

 

[I’m Batman]

Honestly for me MB7 was the last thing I added before I saw the dinos receding. Was it THE deciding factor? Maybe?

2ml of MB7 per day in a 20 gallon AIO, no change....

 

[thedon986]

2ml of MB7 per day in a 20 gallon AIO, no change....

The guidance from the bottle suggests 5ml per 25g per day to seed or for medium/high nutrient systems. I think you can up that to at least a capful per day. I don’t think 2 capfuls per day would hurt as long as you can keep a close eye on phosphate and nitrate. I never saw any issues from dosing more than that.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

2ml of MB7 per day in a 20 gallon AIO, no change....

Yeah I was dosing 5ml/per 25gal daily.

 

[thedon986]

I have finally started to see real progress and I kind of can’t believe it. The photo above was one week ago. Three days after an 8 gal water change (about 10%). Below is today, both photos from the same time of day, only white LEDs. I have not touched the sand bed at all since the water change. I have not looked under the microscope to see what is in the brown spots that remain but nonetheless I think I am heading in the right direction!

Things I have done:
- dosed a lot of MicroBacter7, about 20-30mls a day
- added pods and dosed phytoplankton
- raised nitrate to about 8ppm
- raised phosphate to over .2, overshot here letting it come back to .15
- added 17lbs of aquacultured rock from Gulf Live Rock
- Dr Tim’s Dino method, with Re-Fresh, 3 day blackout and Waste away for a week

big recession seemed to start to happen after:
-stopped silica dosing and 3 day blackout, dr Tim’s method (1/10-1/15)
-8gal water change on 1/15 brought a strong resurgence (see pic from 1/18) and then the fighting conch began actually aggressively cleaning the sand and overall recession started

I think the bacteria dosing and raising nutrients got me into a position where the dr Tim’s method knocked dinos back and competition is stepping up. I am cautiously optimistic!

My progress towards white sand has been going well. Shortly after that photo I had somewhat of a relapse despite changing nothing, but for the past month I have been only dosing @AlgaeBarn phyto while making sure my phosphate and nitrate are elevated and here I am today. The past two weeks has progressed the most.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

Here is a link to our blog with some more information:

Eliminating Nuisance Dinoflagellates with Ocean Magik Live Phytoplankton

Eliminating harmful and ugly dinoflagellates remains one of the most common—and challenging—tasks for the marine aquarist. Not only can marine aquarium

www.algaebarn.com

We have seen many customers with great results after using 1.5-2 times the recommended starting dosage to treat dinoflagellates- every tank and situation is unique though.

 

[Reefer Dan]

I’ve been taking samples from different places in my sand bed. Is this what we are kinda hoping for in the second picture? I see a strand of cyano and a bunch of diatoms. I’ve read a lot of these different threads on dinos and such, but I haven’t quite found a slide of what a healthy sand bed would look like under a microscope, Anyone know a good resource of what a healthy sand bed should look like?

 

[attiland]

I’ve been taking samples from different places in my sand bed. Is this what we are kinda hoping for in the second picture? I see a strand of cyano and a bunch of diatoms. I’ve read a lot of these different threads on dinos and such, but I haven’t quite found a slide of what a healthy sand bed would look like under a microscope, Anyone know a good resource of what a healthy sand bed should look like?

I have abbad news for you. You have in that samples at least 2 type of dinos too.

 

[Reefer Dan]

I have abbad news for you. You have in that samples at least 2 type of dinos too.

Yeah I was afraid of that when I saw it. is the goal with the amphidinium to be what is happening in the second slide though?(Trying to get diatoms and cyano to crowd it out)

 

[attiland]

Yeah I was afraid of that when I saw it. is the goal with the amphidinium to be what is happening in the second slide though?(Trying to get diatoms and cyano to crowd it out)

That worked for me and many others. I can see more than one type there. I would add UV too on the top is silicates.
have look at my building tread I have put some useful links in there may be useful for you.

Build Thread - The heater failure build

I have had aquarium since I can remember. Ok the very first one hardly can be called an aquarium as it was just a 3l jar with a 2-3 inch catfish in it my dad caught while we were fishing. And that fish didn’t last long with me as he had to go back to the river Danube. It was growing faster and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Reefer Dan]

That worked for me and many others. I can see more than one type there. I would add UV too on the top is silicates.
have look at my building tread I have put some useful links in there may be useful for you.

Build Thread - The heater failure build

I have had aquarium since I can remember. Ok the very first one hardly can be called an aquarium as it was just a 3l jar with a 2-3 inch catfish in it my dad caught while we were fishing. And that fish didn’t last long with me as he had to go back to the river Danube. It was growing faster and...

www.reef2reef.com

I received a lot of stuff today to start trying to attack it (only thing left is trying to find affordable biodiversity sand or live rock jumpstarts).

Is it worth my time to vacuum the sand bed through a 10 micron filter sock prior to starting my silica dosing?
Wondering if this has an advantage or if it is a waste of effort.

 

[atnet360]

I received a lot of stuff today to start trying to attack it (only thing left is trying to find affordable biodiversity sand or live rock jumpstarts).

Is it worth my time to vacuum the sand bed through a 10 micron filter sock prior to starting my silica dosing?
Wondering if this has an advantage or if it is a waste of effort.

I would not vacuum the sand. I have no evidence for this, but it seems to me like the dinos won't come up and you may be removing other good stuff that you need to out compete the dinos.

 

[Reefer Dan]

I would not vacuum the sand. I have no evidence for this, but it seems to me like the dinos won't come up and you may be removing other good stuff that you need to out compete the dinos.

Thanks! Most of what I read said it wasn’t helpful in the long run, but I didn’t know in this case.

 

[thedon986]

Thanks! Most of what I read said it wasn’t helpful in the long run, but I didn’t know in this case.

Agreed. I tried that method through a 5 micron sock about 5 times. Never seemed to help and probably stripped a lot of my good bacterial crew out with it. All the other methods, raising nutrients, silica, phyto and pods did more good.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Thanks! Most of what I read said it wasn’t helpful in the long run, but I didn’t know in this case.

I stopped vacuuming the sandbed when I got LC. Every time I did (through a 5 micron sock) they seemed to come back with a vengence within a day. Fast forward 5 months, LC haven't been visible for over a month now. I had a small resurgence within a day of vacuuming the sandbed, but it was in one area and I'm not entirely convinced the vacuuming had anything to do with it, but I haven't touched the sandbed since. I dosed some MB7 and some silica and the new LC disappeared in a week or so.

 

[ScottB]

I stopped vacuuming the sandbed when I got LC. Every time I did (through a 5 micron sock) they seemed to come back with a vengence within a day. Fast forward 5 months, LC haven't been visible for over a month now. I had a small resurgence within a day of vacuuming the sandbed, but it was in one area and I'm not entirely convinced the vacuuming had anything to do with it, but I haven't touched the sandbed since. I dosed some MB7 and some silica and the new LC disappeared in a week or so.

Good enough confirmation.

Sandbed: Do Not Disturb

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Good enough confirmation.

Sandbed: Do Not Disturb

Yeah that's my current personal policy.

 

[Auburn866]

Y’all are giving me hope. Been dealing with LC for 2 years now. I’ve been dosing silica for 2 months and started to lose hope. I did 2 weeks of MB7 daily also with no change.