Battling Dino - Ups and Downs

[Reefing Reefer]

I've been battling dinos for a couple of months now, and I've tried a variety of things to try to beat it up with little to no success. At times, they've started to dissipate but slowly return with time. I added a treatment of reef slime remover, which had the best impact, but it had a very interesting effect where it hardened the Dino and stuck to the sand causing a lifting effect - pictures attached. I have pretty high calcium - dosing All for Reef - and all my corals seem to be relatively happy and growing.

Nitrates and Phosphates were also low - not reading on tests, so I dosed NP Plus to get back to recommended levels.

Test Date	⬤ Nitrate	⬤ Phosphate	⬤ Calcium	⬤ Alkalinity
Oct 23, 2022	0.2 ppm (mg/L)	0.02 ppm (mg/L)	600 ppm (mg/L)	9.7 dKH

 

[Dan_P]

I've been battling dinos for a couple of months now, and I've tried a variety of things to try to beat it up with little to no success. At times, they've started to dissipate but slowly return with time. I added a treatment of reef slime remover, which had the best impact, but it had a very interesting effect where it hardened the Dino and stuck to the sand causing a lifting effect - pictures attached. I have pretty high calcium - dosing All for Reef - and all my corals seem to be relatively happy and growing.

Nitrates and Phosphates were also low - not reading on tests, so I dosed NP Plus to get back to recommended levels.

Test Date	⬤ Nitrate	⬤ Phosphate	⬤ Calcium	⬤ Alkalinity
Oct 23, 2022	0.2 ppm (mg/L)	0.02 ppm (mg/L)	600 ppm (mg/L)	9.7 dKH

Are you sure you are fighting dinos? The mats holding the sand together look too strong.

 

[Reefing Reefer]

Are you sure you are fighting dinos? The mats holding the sand together look too strong.

Any idea what else it could be? Looks like Dinos to me.

 

[haitian_reefer]

Don’t guess… grab yourself a microscope from amazon and post the pic/video on the dino thread. Folks there will be happy to help you.

 

[Dan_P]

Any idea what else it could be? Looks like Dinos to me.

I will guess that it is a filamentous organism because that is probably the only type that can strongly entangle so much sand. Also, the color seems wrong for green hair algae. That leaves cyanobacteria by itself or a combination with algae.

 

[eqbal9947]

You cant treat it unless you get a microscope, youll spend more money guessing and buying random things than it would cost to just buy a crappy microscope and ID it.
I just got rid of my Dinos in a month or so with a jug of MB7, phyto and brightwell spongeexcel.
It went quick because i knew what i was fighting.

 

[Reef and Dive]

Are you sure you are fighting dinos? The mats holding the sand together look too strong.

I have the same impression. A microscopic picture would help a lot.

 

[haitian_reefer]

You cant treat it unless you get a microscope, youll spend more money guessing and buying random things than it would cost to just buy a crappy microscope and ID it.
I just got rid of my Dinos in a month or so with a jug of MB7, phyto and brightwell spongeexcel.
It went quick because i knew what i was fighting.

Exactly!

 

[haitian_reefer]

Here's the one I got.

https://a.co/d/dWx6a2p

 

[Kellie in CA]

I grabbed a $70 microscope in the Amazon Warehouse for $20. They had quite a few options at the time. It's worth checking.