Dino ID

[monfilsi]

Hi Everyone,

So microscope confirms that I have Dinos. Having a hard time doing a definitive ID. If it helps, they are toxic and have killed all my snails.

Time to research how to get rid of them now.

 

[monfilsi]

Best guess I have so far is Prorocentrum.

 

[saltyhog]

Do you have anymore pictures? Looks more like amphdinium to me. Would be surprised if that were the source of your snail losses though.

 

[BradVol]

I'm an amateur but going through this myself, so take that into consideration. This guide is very helpful: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dinoflagellate-identification-guide.671466/

They don't seem to have the beak/mouth of amphidinium to me. They also don't seem to have the indention of prorocentrum, but that's a little harder to tell.

A couple of them spin like Ostreopsis, but not many. And I don't really see the pointed/colored tip to them, so I'm not sure there.

Ostreo would probably be the easiest to start getting results with. If someone more experienced doesn't have a more definitive ID maybe start with that. UV and 1W/3gal and some of the other tricks.

I definitely have ostreo right now. My current plan of attack is:

• Stop water changes
• UV at 1W/3gal going in today
• Skimmer running, but only to aerate
• Change filter floss daily and run GFO at a higher rate and change more often than normal
• Significantly reduced photo period from 12 to 8 hours (4 of those hours being ramps)
• Dosing nitrate and phosphate to target 10ppm/0.10ppm
• After a couple days of that, likely going to use Dr Tim's Dino guide with Re-Fresh and Waste Away with a 3 day blackout

 

[monfilsi]

Here is my plan to takle the dinos. Happy to get other suggestions and feedback.

Plan
1. Running UV 24/7 (except when adding in good bacteria during the day, UV is off for ~6hrs)
2. At sunset, I am sucking off of sand and blowing dinos off of rock
3. Decreasing Light hours by a couple hours
4. Dosing Dr. Tim's (refresh and waste away) as per their 2 week schedule
5. Changing filter socks every morning
6. Keeping an eye on my phosphates and nitrate every other day
7. Skimmer is running with cup removed for airation purposes only at this. Depends on (6)
8. Still running my GFO and carbon filter. Depends on (6)
9. Water change is stopped, but still end up replacing ~10% per week when I siphon out the dino in the sand and replace the water lost.

Levels:
Salinity [sg]: 1.024
pH: 8.0
Alkalinity [kdh]: 9.2
Phosphate [ppm]: 0.13 (higher than I like to keep it, but probably good to tackle the dinos). Usually try to keep it around 0.05.
Nitrate [ppm]: 2.9
Calcium [ppm]: 450
Magnesium [ppm]: 1400

Left to do:
1. Need to get better pics of dino to get a definitive ID
2. Measure flow through UV to ensure it is slow enough to radiate the dinos yet fast enough to turn over the 400L tank 3-5 times an hour.

 

[BradVol]

8. Still running my GFO and carbon filter. Depends on (6)

Phosphate [ppm]: 0.13 (higher than I like to keep it, but probably good to tackle the dinos). Usually try to keep it around 0.05.

Why are you dosing phosphate and running GFO? Maybe you aren't but it wasn't clear from what you said. If you are dosing phosphate I would stop the GFO until your dinos are gone. Or at least until phosphate goes out of control on its own.

Other than that, plan looks good. Keep us updated on how the Dr Tim's system works for you. I'm starting it tomorrow myself.

 

[monfilsi]

Why are you dosing phosphate and running GFO? Maybe you aren't but it wasn't clear from what you said. If you are dosing phosphate I would stop the GFO until your dinos are gone. Or at least until phosphate goes out of control on its own.

@BradVol I'm not dosing phosphate, just using GFO not keep the phosphates from running away on me, but I decreased the flow through the reactor to keep phosphates at a higher level than I usually would.

 

[BradVol]

@BradVol I'm not dosing phosphate, just using GFO not keep the phosphates from running away on me, but I decreased the flow through the reactor to keep phosphates at a higher level than I usually would.

Ah that makes sense. I started my blackout today. We will see how it goes in the next few days. Keep me updated on yours.