Can you dino ID?

[peterire]

Hi, I had been back and forth the last two weeks between whether I had dinos diatoms or cyano.
I was nearly sure it was cyano. It looks like a redish powder or coating over the sand. No snotty or stringy bubbles.

but I got a microscope today and now it looks like dinos.. dang! Can someone confirm and what type?

6month old tank wit zero phos and 3ppm nitrate so maybe not shocking.

 

[Nem1clownfish2]

It looks like cyano to me. I wouldn't worry!

 

[reefbeard]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dinoflagellate-identification-guide.671466/
Check out Amphidinium (Large-Cell)

 

[peterire]

It looks like cyano to me. I wouldn't worry!

Nope, its dino!

 

[bill-0308]

looks like amphidinium to me, i had these for about 2yrs after moving every thing from old system to new system, i tried everything to get rid, only thing that worked for me was bacteria route, fauna marin rebiotic and aqua forest bio s dosed together, dosed every day for 3wks , that was october last year,they were out competed by green algae that began to grow on rocks but this started to disappear after month or so and todate no sign of dinos no harm to corals.
i did take out sand because they love it ,i cleaned it and gradually added it back in early january this yr.

 

[peterire]

looks like amphidinium to me, i had these for about 2yrs after moving every thing from old system to new system, i tried everything to get rid, only thing that worked for me was bacteria route, fauna marin rebiotic and aqua forest bio s dosed together, dosed every day for 3wks , that was october last year,they were out competed by green algae that began to grow on rocks but this started to disappear after month or so and todate no sign of dinos no harm to corals.
i did take out sand because they love it ,i cleaned it and gradually added it back in early january this yr.

Thanks for the input.

My plan of attack is to reduce white light to 0% blue 80% and hrs to 8(done), increase feeding, stop water changes (done), next dose dinoX, then siphon the sand regularily with a 1micron filter sock and return the water to the tank, dose phos and nitrate , dose silicate to force a diatom bloom and outcompete the dinos.

Im hoping to kill this off without having to remove sand but if i have to I will. How did u clean the sand?

 

[attiland]

Thanks for the input.

My plan of attack is to reduce white light to 0% blue 80% and hrs to 8(done), increase feeding, stop water changes (done), next dose dinoX, then siphon the sand regularily with a 1micron filter sock and return the water to the tank, dose phos and nitrate , dose silicate to force a diatom bloom and outcompete the dinos.

Im hoping to kill this off without having to remove sand but if i have to I will. How did u clean the sand?

amphidinium Is not touched by Dino x.

I have done silicates dosing that worked for me. Prepare for a long fight.

 

[saltyhog]

Thanks for the input.

My plan of attack is to reduce white light to 0% blue 80% and hrs to 8(done), increase feeding, stop water changes (done), next dose dinoX, then siphon the sand regularily with a 1micron filter sock and return the water to the tank, dose phos and nitrate , dose silicate to force a diatom bloom and outcompete the dinos.

Im hoping to kill this off without having to remove sand but if i have to I will. How did u clean the sand?

It is definitely amphidinium dinos. Dosing silicates, keeping nutrients elevated, adding biodiversity (phyto, new live rock,etc.). Agree with manual removal but there is some thought that you are also removing their competition. If the competition is diatoms though you will be fueling them with your silicate dosing.

I don't think the lighting changes do anything but stress your coral. Amphidinium is a long term fix not a short term one. While the lighting change may make things look a bit better for a very short time it's not really changing anything BUT the appearance......temporarily. I agree not to use dino x.....very stressful to many corals and long term success with it is a mixed bag.

 

[boacvh]

+1. I beat them with silicate dosing too.

 

[peterire]

How do you tell when you have actually beat them completley?

 

[bill-0308]

I absolutely agree with saltyhog dino x will only stress your corals , lost 70% of mine
reduced lighting wether white or blue has no effect on them.I cleaned the sand with fresh water untill it was clean then left it to dry for weeks, before i put it back in tank i wacked it on a baking tray put it in the oven and baked it, it might seem a bit extreme but i wanted to be sure i wasn't adding them back in ive heard they can survive a fresh water clean. i siphoned as many as i could from rock ,turned of skimmer ,u v and phos reactor while i was dosing bacteria believe me i was sceptical ,i found this solution to the dino on another forum this guy had tried everything like myself with no luck this type of dino are the hardest to eradicate. i do get the odd spot of the brown on rock only but it dosent come to anything and its not in sand where they really like it, i still add 4 drops of bio s weekly. good luck.

 

[bill-0308]

i also changed filter socks every day.

 

[attiland]

I absolutely agree with saltyhog dino x will only stress your corals , lost 70% of mine
reduced lighting wether white or blue has no effect on them.I cleaned the sand with fresh water untill it was clean then left it to dry for weeks, before i put it back in tank i wacked it on a baking tray put it in the oven and baked it, it might seem a bit extreme but i wanted to be sure i wasn't adding them back in ive heard they can survive a fresh water clean. i siphoned as many as i could from rock ,turned of skimmer ,u v and phos reactor while i was dosing bacteria believe me i was sceptical ,i found this solution to the dino on another forum this guy had tried everything like myself with no luck this type of dino are the hardest to eradicate. i do get the odd spot of the brown on rock only but it dosent come to anything and its not in sand where they really like it, i still add 4 drops of bio s weekly. good luck.

Interesting receipt you have here. Hardcore bacteria dosing could be winning for not only dinos.

 

[peterire]

So 3 days after I posted this thread and made some minor changes to the tank, there are already improvements in the sand at least. I by no way think I've beaten this yet, but at least some positive results.

I reduced white light to 0% and left blue at 80%. I haven't done a WC in 2 weeks, and I also turned off my skimmer 2 days ago.

But I think turning off the white light has removed the vast majority of the dinos in the sand. The visible ones anyway. That red coating is gone and there are small green patches, as you can see. I took a sample for the microscope, I saw 2 dinos in a small sample.

The back glass is a different matter. I think its a mix of hair algae and dinos. I put a sample under the microscope and there's a whole world of stuff happening there (pic attached). I can't ID a lot of it, but there is definitely dinos there too. My theory is that the ones in the sand couldn't survive with the weaker lighting, but these could because its closer to the light.

When I scrape this off the back glass it returns in a day or two, so I don't think there's much point at the moment.

 

[lelandmarine]






 

[lelandmarine]

Here’s a nice ID link if you haven't already seen it, good luck

R2R Dino Guide













https://algaeid.com/identification/

 

[attiland]

If you read the amphidinium tread about your dinos you will see that peoples experience is the lighting change gives you temporary visual treatment only. Dinos have more way than just photosynthesis to get them going.

Spend some time there @ScottB @taricha are really helpful and have some research background so their advice will mean more than mine.

Amphidinium Dinoflagellate Treatment Methods

This thread is a spin-off from the @mcarroll very successful Dino thread The purpose is to discuss methods for removal and fighting against a particular strain of dinoflagellate - Large Cell Amphidinium. It seems to make up about a third of the cases of dinos. The reason this strain gets its...

www.reef2reef.com

My advice would be to focus on competition. Add bacteria maybe try the mentioned method by @bill-0308 or dose silicates add mod and new live rock to seed the aquarium. The idea is always the same; give advantage to the competition of dinos.

And just keep in mind you may have more than one type. I am not an ID person so I give the others to give you positive answer on your 2nd sample but there is a lot going on there.

It may help you if you read about most part of my journey in here

 

[saltyhog]

If you could post a video of your microscope slide we can try to get you an ID to guide what will help.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Before treatment, check your phosphate and nitrate to assure levels aren’t elevated
Blow loose with a turkey baster. It will capture and clean more surface area. Here is full program:
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15%) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly

 

[peterire]

Heres a vid of the hair type algae on the back glass with dinos. Theres also lots of these really small white things that move fast. Hope the vid works

edit: uploaded to youtube