Dino issue

[authentic]

I plumbed my frag tank into my main display. The main display has been up and running for years. However my frag tank is full of dinoflagellate I have been slowly adding bacteria in an effort to beat it out what I don't understand is how it could be a problem in my frag tank with the same water is in my main display

 

[authentic]

It’s mainly on the racks

 

[Cole.mormon]

First of all why would you plumb a problem into an ok tank

 

[Cole.mormon]

Put uv sterilizer on the frag tank

 

[authentic]

Didn't plan on the frag tank being an issue hencethe question, why would it be?same water same parameters

 

[Cole.mormon]

Maybe in the frag tank not enough surface space for bacteria to colonize to fight it off

 

[Cole.mormon]

Think about it
The dinos out compete the bacteria because there's not enough bacteria so in the long run I would add marine pure blocks and maybe an aquaclear with matrix

 

[Cole.mormon]

Didn't plan on the frag tank being an issue hencethe question, why would it be?same water same parameters

But do we ever really plan on anything

 

[djf91]

First of all why would you plumb a problem into an ok tank

First of all what’s with the weird attitude, bud?

It sounds like he plumbed the frag tank (dry) into the system before letting the water flow. I would assume he didn’t plumb it into the main system immediately after dinos sprang forth.

Regardless, it doesn’t matter. UV should help in the short term buts it’s usually a matter of your microbiome. I’ve heard recently that dosing Iron could have an effect on dinos by allowing algae to gain an advantage. Seems simple enough as first thing to try.

 

[Cole.mormon]

I was assuming he plumbed the problem into the dt as a way to fix the issue

 

[Cole.mormon]

Maybe dose phytoplankton and kill the dinos and then dose Coraline in a bottle

 

[Cole.mormon]

Sorry recently lost a favorite coral

 

[Dan_P]

I plumbed my frag tank into my main display. The main display has been up and running for years. However my frag tank is full of dinoflagellate I have been slowly adding bacteria in an effort to beat it out what I don't understand is how it could be a problem in my frag tank with the same water is in my main display

You performed a really neat experiment. Others doing the same thing as you witnessed a cyanobacteria bloom on the surfaces of the newly connected vessel. What you are witnessing is the formation of a biofilm.

This biofilm will go through a succession of microorganisms and settle down to one that is hopefully not dominated by dinoflagellates. Predicting the succession of microorganisms might be impossible, but there are trends, for example, bacteria grow then diatoms and macro algae then dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria then… Notice the similarity to the “uglies” phase for new aquariums? Whether you can nudge that succession towards a desirable biofilm is open to debate, though there are all sorts of products to tinker with biofilm succession, like adding bottled bacteria to the biofilm in the hopes of redirecting its maturation.

 

[authentic]

Just thought of an idea,In that the dinos are mainly on my racks( I assume because of the lack of biofilm and I have been trying to keep them clean, the frag tank walls and bottom have a lot of corraline) what if I put the racks in my sump for a few weeks or longer, no light and with time a biofilm should develop

 

[ScottB]

Just thought of an idea,In that the dinos are mainly on my racks( I assume because of the lack of biofilm and I have been trying to keep them clean, the frag tank walls and bottom have a lot of corraline) what if I put the racks in my sump for a few weeks or longer, no light and with time a biofilm should develop

The issue you describe is extremely common to the point of being predictable. I've done it several times myself and have an old thread around here on it.

It is a combination of a couple things I believe -- one of which you noted already:
a) Bare surface area
b) Not sure how much volume you added to the existing, but you diluted your existing level of NO3 and PO4. That is the ideal environment for dino supremacy.

You could sump the racks; might help. You should measure your NO3 and PO4 (with Hanna ULR) and dose accordingly.

If you really want to go on offense, you could slap a UV on the side of the frag. As long as it is not LC Amphidinium, you could knock them back pretty quick that way.

 

[JMetaxas]

I added a 80 gallon Frag tank to a ~9 month old 180 gallon mixed reef. The lighting is exactly the same too.

I had a terrible outbreak of Dino's in the Frag tank. Really gross snotty mess of them covering the glass and sand-less bare bottom. It was strange to me why there wasn't any in the main tank.

It's been a couple of months and are 95% gone. My method of getting rid of them was to increase No3 and PO4 to appropriate levels. They both got to nearly zero. I also siphoned and removed as much as I could which was fairly easily in the frag tank, which has no Live rock or sand.

What was also weird was that I had an outbreak of Bryopsis in my main tank, but none if the frag tank. (treaded with Fluconozole). and today I'm dealing with Cyano in the main tank and very little in the Frag tank.

 

[ScottB]

I added a 80 gallon Frag tank to a ~9 month old 180 gallon mixed reef. The lighting is exactly the same too.

I had a terrible outbreak of Dino's in the Frag tank. Really gross snotty mess of them covering the glass and sand-less bare bottom. It was strange to me why there wasn't any in the main tank.

It's been a couple of months and are 95% gone. My method of getting rid of them was to increase No3 and PO4 to appropriate levels. They both got to nearly zero. I also siphoned and removed as much as I could which was fairly easily in the frag tank, which has no Live rock or sand.

What was also weird was that I had an outbreak of Bryopsis in my main tank, but none if the frag tank. (treaded with Fluconozole). and today I'm dealing with Cyano in the main tank and very little in the Frag tank.

Been there done that. More than once too.

Cyano after coming out of dinos is pretty much a given. The loss of nutrient weakened/killed the normal surface competitors (film algae, film bacteria, coralline, other micros) and now the cyano reigns supreme. It is like a clean up crew. It would be totally natural to go through some algae next before it all settles down. Very normal, no need for alarm. Once you see the cyano begin to dissipate, make sure your herbivore fish population is ready to mow. And yes, 80 gallon frag can hold some juvenile bristletooth tangs.

 

[JMetaxas]

The Dinos were in the Frag tank, but the Bryopsis and Cyano are in the Main display. Very interesting how two tanks sharing the same water chemistry can behave different.