Dino ID help

Vtudor21 · Mar 20, 2023

Hello everyone,

Please help me identify the type of dinos in my tank. Looking at the ID guide, my guess is that its of the prorocentrum type, but I'm no expert so I'm looking for some confirmation on the ID.

brandon429 · Mar 20, 2023

how many gallons is your tank

that matters moreso than the species ID in getting a fix plan

Vtudor21 · Mar 20, 2023

Its a 30gal AIO from IM(nuovo fusion 30 pro). The tank is fairly new, started in September '22. My nitrates/phos were always low. Only have 2clowns and a cuc (2turbos, 2trochus, 2hermits). For corals, I have a couple small frags: zoas, duncan, gsp

What I have been doing so far: have a UV sterilizer, doesn't seem to help. I'm dosing nitrates & NeoPhos to get those above 0. When I started the tank I added pods from Algaebarn, I still see some today on the glass but UV obv doesn't help them. I'm adding oceanmagik live phyto daily(also from algaebarn). I add MB7 a couple times a week. I tried adding dr tims waste away in the past(2-3weeks ago) with no results.

So as you can see, I'm finding different advice all over the place

brandon429 · Mar 20, 2023

feel free to try any other method/they may work to quell the spread

if not, consider our deep clean threads. there's a way of taking apart the reef, cleaning it out, putting it back together without recycling/without having to add bottle bacteria and that fixes a large portion of early dinos issues via raw force. it's not like a partial water change, that's kid gloves by comparison. if you ever want to run one I have a thread can show of hundreds of these cleanings ran on other people's tanks, they take pics of the procedure and log them for us.

taricha · Mar 21, 2023

That's prorocentrum.
It can be cut down by UV, but it's a bit stubborn. You usually have to do a blackout or blast surfaces or both to get a significant number of cells to take to the water enough for UV to make a large dent.

This is not a kind that I'd expect live phyto and pods to help much with in my experience. your mileage may vary.

doubleshot00 · Mar 21, 2023

Dose a lot of pods and daily phyto on top of the uv plumbed directly to the display.

TurboTang · Mar 21, 2023

taricha said:
That's prorocentrum.
It can be cut down by UV, but it's a bit stubborn. You usually have to do a blackout or blast surfaces or both to get a significant number of cells to take to the water enough for UV to make a large dent.

This is not a kind that I'd expect live phyto and pods to help much with in my experience. your mileage may vary.

How long of a blackout is necessary to get these guys swimming?

Vtudor21 · Mar 21, 2023

taricha said:
That's prorocentrum.
It can be cut down by UV, but it's a bit stubborn. You usually have to do a blackout or blast surfaces or both to get a significant number of cells to take to the water enough for UV to make a large dent.

This is not a kind that I'd expect live phyto and pods to help much with in my experience. your mileage may vary.

I've been blasting the rocks & sand with a turkey baster. I also use filter floss at the overflows to catch the dinos from the water column, and the floss gets disgustingly brown every day.

taricha · Mar 21, 2023

Vtudor21 said:
I've been blasting the rocks & sand with a turkey baster. I also use filter floss at the overflows to catch the dinos from the water column, and the floss gets disgustingly brown every day.

That tells you what you need to know.
Brown accumulation on the filter floss tells you that there are a bunch of cells in the water. UV is either not working or has a bad flow rate. Manufacturers of UV give one flow rate for bacteria, and a slower rate for parasites. We find that the slower parasite flow rate fits dinos better than the fast bacteria flow rate.

vetteguy53081 · Mar 21, 2023

Vtudor21 said:
Hello everyone,

Please help me identify the type of dinos in my tank. Looking at the ID guide, my guess is that its of the prorocentrum type, but I'm no expert so I'm looking for some confirmation on the ID.

Agree prorocentrum and one that has heavier mucus. Light helps it reproduce quickly and with No light and UV often the cure. Problem with UV is that it addresses free floating organisms and will not address pre-existing.
Its biological deficiencies that are causing this dino structure.
No light is first key followed by the addition of bacteria to overcome the bad bacteria allowing them to thrive
Prepare by starting by blowing this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles. Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15% IF you have light dependant corals) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% 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 micro bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons. Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX
You can feed fish as normal and if doing blackout, ambient light in room will work for them

taricha · Mar 21, 2023

TurboTang said:
How long of a blackout is necessary to get these guys swimming?

36-48hr. Longer than a day, but less than the typical 3 day blackout. Not needed to go to 3 days darkness just to get them looking for another place.

Vtudor21 · Mar 21, 2023

taricha said:
That tells you what you need to know.
Brown accumulation on the filter floss tells you that there are a bunch of cells in the water. UV is either not working or has a bad flow rate. Manufacturers of UV give one flow rate for bacteria, and a slower rate for parasites. We find that the slower parasite flow rate fits dinos better than the fast bacteria flow rate.

I have a AIO tank. No sump, has a back chamber. This is the UV What is considered a "slower flow" ? My tank has 2 overflow openings that meet together in the middle in the back chamber, where the return pump is. The water from 1 of the overflows runs through the UV. So technically half the flow goes through UV, half doesn't (rough estimate). And my return pump has a flow rate of 396gph max(adjustable but no idea by how much).

Also how do you do a proper blackout, am I going for complete darkness, tape the tank in cardboard/bedsheet type of approach? Or just turning off lights and let room light in?

TurboTang · Mar 25, 2023

taricha said:
36-48hr. Longer than a day, but less than the typical 3 day blackout. Not needed to go to 3 days darkness just to get them looking for another place.

Short blackout certainly helped. I had previously reduced light, siphoning rocks, and running uv. It stopped the advancement, but would not finish the job. The short blackout got em running again. In the process I discovered where my uv return hose is aiming is cleared of dinos, so I've been moving it around to worst places on rock each night. Getting close to being back to normal. Thanks for the advice.