Bored? PLEASE HELP!

[justjes45]

OK – I'm losing my mind. It seems as if my problem is getting worse & worse. I do not know if it is worse on the road to better or if I am slowly destroying my tank.
One year in, and all was fine. ( well fine for a beginner... I am getting there..)
Now I have been told what i have is "a dinoflagellate problem".
I cut the lighting program down, and started dosing with hydrogenproxide.
Last night I started dosing with the lime, and now my tank is a fuzzy snowy mess.
I triple checked the doses on everything... Thank gosh my two fish are still swimming....
Is this ok? I was told to stop the water changes because it introduces new nutrients for the Algea to eat...
My corals are SOOO angry with me right now..
My closest LFS is about an hour away but I have had a lot of conflicting advice in he past- I am thinking about taking a road trip to another one, but it is like 2 hours away...

Here are my specs:

30 Gal Nuvo tank
Live sand/Rock
Two fish ( clown and chromis)
Two peppermint shrimp
Asst Zoas and Assorted corals
Clean up crew- very diminished now I think due to the dinos

Ammonia nitrate and nitrite and are all zero ppm

Phosphate .25
Calcium 440
Temperature 76°
Salinity 126
And my pH was low I'm trying to raise that with the lime.

Hope you all can help!!
I AM NOT QUITTING THIS ADDICTION!!

 

[Waboss]

Well, I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I'll try and help you out if I can.

I guess a couple of quick questions that come to mind are:

-How are you dosing lime and what exactly are you using?
-What is your PH now?
-What water are you using for water changes? RO/DI, tap water, distilled?
-How often do you usually perform water changes?

 

[Reefrookie220]

was told to stop the water changes because it introduces new nutrients for the Algea to eat...

The entire purpose of a water change is nutrient export, this I find is suspect advice, in my experience manual removal with water changes has been the best way to bring this stuff to a manageable level. Just my .02.

 

[justjes45]

Every two weeks. Now I have stopped. My last water change was about a week ago.
Last night, this morning my pH was an 8.4. I was told it should be an 8.6 to try to starve out the Dino
I had been using my tap water which seemed fine for most of the year. After the outbreak of Dino I freaked out and I used deionized water. Now my husband is in the process of installing an RO system for me. The lime that I used to raise the pH I was told to get Mrs. Meyers pickling lime. And then the link I also got from the site here said to use 1 to 2 teaspoons in a cup of deionized water and add it to the tank. I used to teaspoons and woke up to a tank that looked like it had been snowed upon.
Iam supposed to do this for DAYS!?!

 

[Reefrookie220]

Stop adding foreign elements, resume water changes and manual removal.

Also turn your white lights only off for a couple days. Observe and take notes.

Also, a reliable water source is paramount.

 

[Waboss]

Stop adding foreign elements, resume water changes and manual removal.

Also turn your white lights only off for a couple days. Observe and take notes.

What he said.

Also, switching to RO/DI water will help (at least it definitely won't hurt). Personally, I'd start doing 20% water changes weekly for a couple of weeks and see what happens. Fast changes in your tank are a sure way to have "bad" things start to happen.

 

[steelheader.262]

I've read doing water changes is the worst thing you can do in your situation.
I've dealt with Dino in the past and 3-4 days light out has worked for me, cover tank with dark sheets so no natural light gets in.
Also add carbon and stop feedings, you need to starve them out.

 

[Drmiami]

This is a great article describing your problem

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php

I agree with the above comment " Fast changes in your tank area sure way to have "bad" things start to happen". RO/DI is the way to go in my opinion with quality salt mix and gradual changes.

good luck, I hope this helps

 

[justjes45]

Thanks so much to you all-! This site is the best source of help I could ask for!