Boomer's IM 20G Nano

[Mjl714]

Can anyone ID? Nothing has changed in the tank and here we are. Doesn’t look slimy like cyano. No bubbles or strings like dinos. Even after stir of sand it comes back. Happened after another weekly water change. 0TDS. 8ppm nitrate, .03 phosphate.

Do I need to dirty up the water a bit?

I suspect a little more dirty will help.

Ive got the IM 30l and it is a delicate balancing act with water changes.

 

[Nick Steele]

I got a cheap one off Amazon for like $15 and it helps with microscopic things in the tank. Helped me ID Dino’s although I did have strings and bubbles as well.

For what it’s worth I think you’re water is dirty enough and I wouldn’t up it at all. Maybe get phosphate to .05-.08 but that’s it.

If it frustrates you for awhile you might want to look into doing a rip clean. Basically you take everything out and reset the tank. I just did one to help with my Dino’s and tank is 1000% happier since.

 

[boomeraudio]

I got a cheap one off Amazon for like $15 and it helps with microscopic things in the tank. Helped me ID Dino’s although I did have strings and bubbles as well.

For what it’s worth I think you’re water is dirty enough and I wouldn’t up it at all. Maybe get phosphate to .05-.08 but that’s it.

If it frustrates you for awhile you might want to look into doing a rip clean. Basically you take everything out and reset the tank. I just did one to help with my Dino’s and tank is 1000% happier since.

I’m gonna feed some Reef Roids today. I have NOPOX for emergencies. I’ll know for sure if it’s dinos tomorrow after scope gets here.

hoping this doesn’t destroy my Coral. Did yours survive?

 

[Nick Steele]

I waited a long time (2 months or more) on taking any drastic action on my tank. I tried normal things at first. Raised nutrients did nothing, blackout knocked them back but they exploded after and UV seemed to help but I might have just waited to long to implement it.

Some sps (2 out of 4 frags) where effected badly and might come back with time but not sure yet it’s only been a week. All my other corals are out and about now though. Hammer and frogspawn which did the worse are starting to gain back flesh already. Also my plate coral that hasn’t shown any tentacle extension and has lost some flesh in the two months has them out as well. Acans are a little less puffy but are still happy (probably the only coral that enjoyed their time with Dino’s around).

My nutrients are a little high at the moment as I accidentally overdosed but its not horrible so I’ll let it come down over time. I’m at .1 phos and 10-15 nitrates.

 

[boomeraudio]

I waited a long time (2 months or more) on taking any drastic action on my tank. I tried normal things at first. Raised nutrients did nothing, blackout knocked them back but they exploded after and UV seemed to help but I might have just waited to long to implement it.

Some sps (2 out of 4 frags) where effected badly and might come back with time but not sure yet it’s only been a week. All my other corals are out and about now though. Hammer and frogspawn which did the worse are starting to gain back flesh already. Also my plate coral that hasn’t shown any tentacle extension and has lost some flesh in the two months has them out as well. Acans are a little less puffy but are still happy (probably the only coral that enjoyed their time with Dino’s around).

My nutrients are a little high at the moment as I accidentally overdosed but its not horrible so I’ll let it come down over time. I’m at .1 phos and 10-15 nitrates.

By a restart you mean just take the sand out??

 

[Mjl714]

Here’s a really helpful thread on dino’s

Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

I don't know what percentage of folks had luck battling dinos with any of the methods in the old Dino thread but it's obviously a very low percentage, so I'd like refresh folks on the natural alternatives and lay out three areas of info: some of the factors that contribute to a dino outbreak...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Nick Steele]

I did a what is called a rip clean. I chose to do away with my sand for now but you could just wash your sand and re add it once it’s running clear. I plan to add back at a later time.

I took all fish and corals out of tank into two separate buckets. Then removed my rock into my shower where I could mist the few corals that were stuck on the rocks. Removed my sand and water tossed it all. I then wiped clean the tank completely and dried it. While rocks where in shower I did some lite peroxide rinsing. I placed rocks back into tank and added new salt water. Fish and corals where added once water hit 78F.

If that is a route you want to go please read up on it as I spent many hours reading. I will post a few threads I read soon.

 

[Nick Steele]

Here are some threads

mine asking the rip clean guru some questions

Deep cleaning a nano tank

Okay so I’ve been having a bad battle with weird parametersino’s and now cyano and have been looking at doing a deep clean on the tank. But I have a few questions. Tank is nuvo20 with 2 ai primes and 2 jebao sow4. 1yr old didn’t have issues until about the 8month mark and can’t get it under...

www.reef2reef.com

A rip clean of a 120G tank

120 gallon rip clean

I’ve decided to perform a rip clean on my 120 with 100% new water. The tank has been running for 5 years and was battling Dino for several months. I used the bacteria method from elegant corals and worked great I haven’t seen Dino in months now. But I tried several other methods including...

www.reef2reef.com

This one helped a lot imo (and its short with other threads linked)

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

Another good one

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

Looks awesome. Hoping it stays that way for you.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[boomeraudio]

Here’s a really helpful thread on dino’s

Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

I don't know what percentage of folks had luck battling dinos with any of the methods in the old Dino thread but it's obviously a very low percentage, so I'd like refresh folks on the natural alternatives and lay out three areas of info: some of the factors that contribute to a dino outbreak...

www.reef2reef.com

Very helpful. It's definitely Dino's. Have a scope coming today for final confirmation. The outbreak started after I did a water change and vacuumed the sand thoroughly which likely drained the tank of competing nutrients held in the sand bed. Anywhere that light hasn't hit the sand doesn't have any on it. I'm going to do a blackout for 5 days and also feed my coral with Reefroids to boost Nitrate / Phosphate a bit more.

Hoping that solves the issue. Who would've thought trying to keep a clean sandbed would screw me ha ha.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

By a restart you mean just take the sand out??

Hey man,

I got the same tank. Don't give up and don't sweat dinos. It's just a stage. I had them and it's nothing to do with a sand bed. Blacks out will help if they get bad. Here is what worked like a champ to beat them back for me, and they've never come back:

(1) Green killing machined. Works. Fits in the back of you tank, looks fine. Run it until the dinos are gone and then a while longer. Seriously works. Really well. I ran mine for about two months or so. Don't run it now.

Green Killing Machine with Power Head, 24 Watts | Petco

24 Watt, for aquariums up to 100 gallons. Power head helps keep aquarium water crystal clear, kills algae, and pathogens.

www.petco.com

(2) Add some corals! Get some softies, lps, whatever. They'll start growing and dinos wont.

(3) Live phyto. Dose it every night and continue to dose it after the UV is out. Get some copepods too. Lot's of little critters to help increase diversity and eat up stuff on micro level i think helps.

(4) Consider a CPR hang on refugium. I put one on and it's nice. if anything like dino's grow--they grow in there and who cares/!

I had dinos last fall and now and i just feed my tank and dose All for Reef and that's about it. I feed pretty heavy twice a day, but do run a skimmer and refugium.

p.s.. i don't touch my sand bed. And yeah my nitrates, and phosphates, etc., are don't show up a API test.. I think it's all coral food. I have macro algae and maybe that helps too--but really just get some stuff growing in there i think is the key.

This is the tank now, after dealing with dinos just a few months ago:

 

[boomeraudio]

Hey man,

I got the same tank. Don't give up and don't sweat dinos. It's just a stage. I had them and it's nothing to do with a sand bed. Blacks out will help if they get bad. Here is what worked like a champ to beat them back for me, and they've never come back:

(1) Green killing machined. Works. Fits in the back of you tank, looks fine. Run it until the dinos are gone and then a while longer. Seriously works. Really well. I ran mine for about two months or so. Don't run it now.

Green Killing Machine with Power Head, 24 Watts | Petco

24 Watt, for aquariums up to 100 gallons. Power head helps keep aquarium water crystal clear, kills algae, and pathogens.

www.petco.com

(2) Add some corals! Get some softies, lps, whatever. They'll start growing and dinos wont.

(3) Live phyto. Dose it every night and continue to dose it after the UV is out. Get some copepods too. Lot's of little critters to help increase diversity and eat up stuff on micro level i think helps.

(4) Consider a CPR hang on refugium. I put one on and it's nice. if anything like dino's grow--they grow in there and who cares/!

I had dinos last fall and now and i just feed my tank and dose All for Reef and that's about it. I feed pretty heavy twice a day, but do run a skimmer and refugium.

p.s.. i don't touch my sand bed. And yeah my nitrates, and phosphates, etc., are don't show up a API test.. I think it's all coral food. I have macro algae and maybe that helps too--but really just get some stuff growing in there i think is the key.

This is the tank now, after dealing with dinos just a few months ago:

Unfortunately it seems like the dinos are literally taking over. One of my zoa colonies is virtually gone. There are strands of algae on the rocks and I'm unsure of how to even compete now. This is so frustrating and I'm sick of wasting money.

I have a skimmer, UV sterilizer, haven't done a water change have bacteria - nitrates and phosphates. I'm angry and frustrated and can't seem to get things right.

 

[Nick Steele]

Dino’s can be very frustrating when they start to effect corals. Have you given any thought to the rip clean I suggested above?

One of my zoas were closed for a good month but after I did my rip clean they are wide open again although very small.

 

[boomeraudio]

Dino’s can be very frustrating when they start to effect corals. Have you given any thought to the rip clean I suggested above?

One of my zoas were closed for a good month but after I did my rip clean they are wide open again although very small.

I haven't tried them yet - I just blew the dinos around and changed the filter media. Also was going to do a blackout but don't want to hurt my corals. One user recommended keeping on low blues and UV but doesn't that feed the dino's? I want to be sure the coral survives and the dinos disappear ha ha. Any thoughts on that?

I'm going to dose 2ml of peroxide at night and 2ml of Bacter7 during the day to try and fight this.

Nitrates at 10ppm right now. Phosphates .03ppm.

 

[Nick Steele]

I was like you in the early days of my fight with Dino’s. I was trying everything raised nutrients, black out, UV and peroxide.

Raised nutrients seems to help some but I let it dip for two days on accident when working late and it never worked again even after getting them back up.

Blackout helped to but just for a week then full force again. This was along with peroxide and raised nutrients.

UV I had for three weeks and was noticing some reduction but I had a coral order I had to place so I needed a quicker method.

I did a rip clean two weeks ago and I’m a 1000% advocate for them on nano tanks. Heck I might do one once a year now just to reset my tank. I have seen nothing but good since I’ve done mine. I even have algae growing on my bare bottom. Which oddly enough is a welcomed sight!

 

[boomeraudio]

I was like you in the early days of my fight with Dino’s. I was trying everything raised nutrients, black out, UV and peroxide.

Raised nutrients seems to help some but I let it dip for two days on accident when working late and it never worked again even after getting them back up.

Blackout helped to but just for a week then full force again. This was along with peroxide and raised nutrients.

UV I had for three weeks and was noticing some reduction but I had a coral order I had to place so I needed a quicker method.

I did a rip clean two weeks ago and I’m a 1000% advocate for them on nano tanks. Heck I might do one once a year now just to reset my tank. I have seen nothing but good since I’ve done mine. I even have algae growing on my bare bottom. Which oddly enough is a welcomed sight!

So the process is essentially removing the sand?

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Try a total black out for three days. IME it won't hurt any corals and i have mixed tank. My friend did the same thing and it didn't hurt anything. They come out nicely afterwards. Makes a difference IMO.

Physical removal before hand best you can, and a water change, then blackout, is a good idea too.

 

[Nick Steele]

So the process is essentially removing the sand?

The process is basically restarting the tank from scratch.

These are the steps I took.

#1 I made roughly 30 gallons of water two days before I knew I was going to get to work.

#2 Before lights came on I started to remove my corals and placed them into a bucket about 2 gallons worth (50/50 new and old tank water) just for corals.

#3 I removed my two clowns mandarin and sexy shrimp along with all my inverts and placed in another bucket about 2 gallons worth (50/50 new and old tank water).

#4 I removed my rock structure in one piece and placed it in my shower on top of an Rubbermaid lid I had laying around. This is so you can rinse/scrub your rocks with saltwater and peroxide (I only used saltwater as peroxide is more targeted to algae and I/we are fighting Dino’s)

#5 I siphoned all my sand and water out of the tank. Including the rear chambers as I wanted a fresh start. I threw my sand out as I was dealing with weird alk issues from a previous bad salt. If you keep it just make sure to rinse till 100% clear this might take a few hours. This helps us to help not reintroduce detritus back into the system.

#6 I removed my tank from my stand to help clean the back compartments. I sprayed and rinsed with tap then wiped it completely dry with paper towels.

#7 Tank back onto stand and I refilled with 100% new saltwater. I threw my heater in and let it get back to 78f.

#8 Rock structure placed back into tank and then I removed some water as I had too much in there.

#9 Placed fish back into tank.

#10 I placed corals back into to tank slowly as I was a little scared of a bad reaction. But no worries everything did just fine.

#11 Clean everything up

#12 For a few days afterwards feed a little heavy.

if you have any corals that are encrusted to your rocks don’t worry to much just remember to spray them with saltwater every few minutes.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

The process is basically restarting the tank from scratch.

These are the steps I took.

#1 I made roughly 30 gallons of water two days before I knew I was going to get to work.

#2 before lights came on I started to remove my corals and placed them into a bucket about 2 gallons worth (50/50 new and old tank water) just for corals.

#3 I removed my two clowns mandarin and sexy shrimp along with all my inverts and placed in another bucket about 2 gallons worth (50/50 new and old tank water).

#4 I removed my rock structure in one piece and placed it in my shower on top of an Rubbermaid lid I had laying around. This is so you can rinse/scrub your rocks with saltwater and peroxide (I only used saltwater as peroxide is more targeted to algae and I/we are fighting Dino’s)

#5 I siphoned all my sand and water out of the tank. Including the rear chambers as I wanted a fresh start. I threw my sand out as I was dealing with weird alk issues from a previous bad salt. If you keep it just make sure to rinse till 100% clear this might take a few hours. This helps us to help not reintroduce detritus back into the system.

#6 I removed my tank from my stand to help clean the back compartments. I sprayed and rinsed with tap then wiped it completely dry with paper towels.

#7 Tank back onto stand and I refilled with 100% new saltwater. I threw my heater in and let it get back to 78f.

#8 Rock structure placed back into tank and then I removed some water as I had too much in there.

#9 Placed fish back into tank.

#10 I placed corals back into to tank slowly as I was a little scared of a bad reaction. But no worries everything did just fine.

#11 clean everything up

if you have any corals that are encrusted to your rocks don’t worry to much just remember to spray them with saltwater every few minutes.

This sounds alright to me. More of deep clean than re-start since you are using the same dead/live rock, just cleaning it... I am not sure that replacing the sand is a good idea, i might just rinse in salt water.

 

[Nick Steele]

This sounds alright to me. More of deep clean than re-start since you are using the same dead/live rock, just cleaning it... I am not sure that replacing the sand is a good idea, i might just rinse in salt water.

If reusing sand you want to rinse till it’s 100% clear if not that’s just adding detritus to a otherwise clean system. The sand rinse thread has 100’s of examples that’s evidence that a complete rinse of sand is what’s needed.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

If reusing sand you want to rinse till it’s 100% clear if not that’s just adding detritus to a otherwise clean system. The sand rinse thread has 100’s of examples that’s evidence that a complete rinse of sand is what’s needed.

Yeah, i think that's where we part. I think dinos like low nutrients or very high nutrients when you don't have coral/macro established.

I have been feeding very very heavy after my dino outbreak, to a point it seems ridiculous, in the same 20 gallon tank... and the dinos went away...

If he does the deep clean and cleans the sand too well--the uber low nutrients could just bring back the dinos with vengeance IMO.

Also i think stability is key and dino's will love any major change. the deep clean is a big enough change. Washing away all the beneficial bacteria and detritrus in the sand bed i think is just too much change all at once if he's putting the corals/fish back in...

Personally, i would just scrubb the rocks, rinse the sand lightly (if at all), clean the tank lightly, do a big water change marching salinity, temp, and alkalinity perfectly, put the corals back in, and keep dark for three days while running UV, keep running UV, add a refugium (very minimal macro algae though--maybe golf ball size chaeto to start), add copepods and dose phyto every night, and add some hearty corals like shrooms, ricordia, leathers, zoos, euphilias, xenia, etc.