Are dinos toxic to coral?

[glb]

My nutrients bottomed out on my 40g (overdid the gfo)and my corals have been looking stressed. I have the brown stringy algae with bubbles on the sand, which I assume is dinos. I’ve upped the feeding to increase nutrients, and turned off the lights for a day, which helped. The dino isn’t on my corals at all, but they’re still not looking great. My zoas are closed, my Duncan isn’t extending, and my torch isn’t as extended as usual. The Duncan, torch and an acan are all eating fine. Is there something in the water column I should be worried about? I treated with Vibrant, which is supposed to help. It’s been like this a few weeks now, and I don’t want to lose any of the corals. I also forgot to mention that I had a snail die-off. What do all of you suggest? Here are my numbers:
Alk: 8.7, Ca 430, No3: 3, temp: 78.6, sal about 34-35, ph 8.12. The lights are a 4 bulb ati t5 on for about 5.5 hours a day. I was increasing the lighting 30 minutes per week but that was making things worse, so I dialed them back. I have an AWC system that changes out 5g over the course of a week and dosing pumps for alk and ca. The tank is as stable as it’s ever been (just started with the AWC’s and dosing about a month ago, so I’m really frustrated. Here are some pics:

Thanks for your help!!!

 

[glb]

Ps I dipped the corals in revive today. The tank is 3 years old. I’ve had a few salinity swings due to a faulty sensor but nothing serious according to my sal module. #reefsquad can you help me out?

 

[dvgyfresh]

To your question, yes some strains of Dino’s produce a toxin forming mat. I’m not sure what is causing yr corals to be ticked but it could be Dino’s, I recently battled them and I still am battling somewhat haha what worked for me ( not blackout /higher nutrients) as an overnight fix was a UV sterilizer it killed about 90% of my Dino’s in 24 hrs

 

[ScottR]

Ps I dipped the corals in revive today. The tank is 3 years old. I’ve had a few salinity swings due to a faulty sensor but nothing serious according to my sal module. #reefsquad can you help me out?

Dinos can be nasty because they are toxic. They can grow on corals as well. There are many dino threads here on R2R. It seems everyone has a different tactic for battling them. It seems UV works for most.

 

[Idoc]

My corals were always a bit ticked off when the dinos were plentiful in the tank. But, your low nutrients could also be causing them to be upset as well.

Many dino types give off toxins... and yes, they do kill off some snails.

Vacuum as many dinos out as possible. Maybe run some carbon to help absorb some toxins. If you can find a microscope to get some pics, it's easier to combat the dinos of you know what type you are dealing with. UV doesn't work on all types.

 

[glb]

How are if sterilizers plumbed? And do you stop running them once the problem clears up?

 

[vetteguy53081]

They sure can be , so assure you stay ahead of it. Do not feed any coral food or dose NoPox and reduce white lights to 10% for a week

 

[glb]

They sure can be , so assure you stay ahead of it. Do not feed any coral food or dose NoPox and reduce white lights to 10% for a week

10% time?

 

[vetteguy53081]

10% time?

10% or less white intensity

 

[Snoopdog]

I also see a Vermetid town hall meeting going in there too, unless they are already dead.

 

[homer1475]

I don't see any dino's(ive battled them many times, so I certainly know what they look like), I see diatoms on the sandbed(the rust color).

Your corals are probably suffering from the low nutrients you just now are increasing(months ago when they were probably low is why your corals are responding to it now. Corals are slow to respond to stuff like that).

Any idea what your phosphate levels are? Nitrates are fine at 3, but you might want to increase them to around 5 if you truly do have dino's(again I only see diatoms in your pics).

 

[glb]

I also see a Vermetid town hall meeting going in there too, unless they are already dead.

No, unfortunately they’re not dead. I leave them alone and they don’t release their slime. It’s a losing battle.

 

[Snoopdog]

No, unfortunately they’re not dead. I leave them alone and they don’t release their slime. It’s a losing battle.

I would not go as far as saying it is a losing battle. I have more than that and I am slowly taking care of them, just because. They may not be a problem but I have more than that so I am trying to thin the numbers.

 

[Snoopdog]

On your original question though. Dinoflagellates do not so much cause what I am seeing in those pictures. Sure if a big hunk of slime gets on a coral it will close up but they in themselves do not cause what I am seeing in those pictures, something else is wrong.

 

[glb]

I don't see any dino's(ive battled them many times, so I certainly know what they look like), I see diatoms on the sandbed(the rust color).

Your corals are probably suffering from the low nutrients you just now are increasing(months ago when they were probably low is why your corals are responding to it now. Corals are slow to respond to stuff like that).

Any idea what your phosphate levels are? Nitrates are fine at 3, but you might want to increase them to around 5 if you truly do have dino's(again I only see diatoms in your pics).

 

[glb]

Po4 has been 0 for about a month. I took out the gfo and have been feeding more and dosing neonitro and neophos slowly. Today I put in new carbon. I think you’re right about the low nutrients. I hope it’s not dinos because those are hard to treat. I’ll just keep an eye on it, remove what I see and not do anything drastic.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

My nutrients bottomed out on my 40g (overdid the gfo)and my corals have been looking stressed. I have the brown stringy algae with bubbles on the sand, which I assume is dinos. I’ve upped the feeding to increase nutrients, and turned off the lights for a day, which helped. The dino isn’t on my corals at all, but they’re still not looking great. My zoas are closed, my Duncan isn’t extending, and my torch isn’t as extended as usual. The Duncan, torch and an acan are all eating fine. Is there something in the water column I should be worried about? I treated with Vibrant, which is supposed to help. It’s been like this a few weeks now, and I don’t want to lose any of the corals. I also forgot to mention that I had a snail die-off. What do all of you suggest? Here are my numbers:
Alk: 8.7, Ca 430, No3: 3, temp: 78.6, sal about 34-35, ph 8.12. The lights are a 4 bulb ati t5 on for about 5.5 hours a day. I was increasing the lighting 30 minutes per week but that was making things worse, so I dialed them back. I have an AWC system that changes out 5g over the course of a week and dosing pumps for alk and ca. The tank is as stable as it’s ever been (just started with the AWC’s and dosing about a month ago, so I’m really frustrated. Here are some pics:

Thanks for your help!!!

That torch is legit cute. wish i could help dont hsve much experience w/ dinos.

 

[glb]

I would not go as far as saying it is a losing battle. I have more than that and I am slowly taking care of them, just because. They may not be a problem but I have more than that so I am trying to thin the numbers.

How do you thin them out? I took tweezers a while back and crushed a bunch, but the die off after caused a nitrate spike and algae outbreak.

 

[Dolphins18]

My astreas have been plowing thru Dino’s in one of my tanks. Surprised none have died but I’ll take it. I am one of those people who orders a CUC 4x the recommend size.

 

[nikki7181]

I don't see any dino's(ive battled them many times, so I certainly know what they look like), I see diatoms on the sandbed(the rust color).

Your corals are probably suffering from the low nutrients you just now are increasing(months ago when they were probably low is why your corals are responding to it now. Corals are slow to respond to stuff like that).

Any idea what your phosphate levels are? Nitrates are fine at 3, but you might want to increase them to around 5 if you truly do have dino's(again I only see diatoms in your pics).

I don't think it is dinos either