Dino Wars

[maxtek]

I have brown sheets of snot on my sand. Definitely toxic, which has taken an alarming toll over the last few weeks...

My 200 gallon display was a classic 2018 design of dry rock, dead sand, and inoculated only via a handful of frags. Add to that the fact that my overzealous Cheato growing operation that’s resulted in 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates, and the dinos should probably not be surprising. All other parameters seem fine (salinity, alkalinity, magnesium, calcium). The temperature swings about a degree around 79F.

I’ve taken a sample and put it under the microscope. I think they are prorocentrum...?

My plan is:

1. Feed more, dose brightwell neophos and neonitro, and monitor levels via Red Sea nitrate test and Hanna phosphate checker daily until levels are normal.
2. Shut skimmer down.
3. Inoculate with more slime. I’m thinking of ordering this: https://ipsf.com/livesand.html Anyone have experience with them?
4. Turn on 24/7 UV. Prorocentrum seems susceptible, based on other threads. I’ve run UV for the last few weeks and it hasn’t seemed to help. But I think I found a clue as to why: these dinos require a stimulus to enter the water column. I run the Kessil AP700 lunar simulation. So, I’m shutting that off as of tonight.
5. I’ve done four blackouts of varying length. They work....for a time. Should I do another?
6. Siphon sand through filter floss using built in vacuum (pictured).

Anything else I should do? Can someone confirm my ID? I thought for a while that this was ostreopsis, but it looks more like prorocentrum...

Thanks for any advice!

-Max

 

[Reef and Dive]

I have brown sheets of snot on my sand. Definitely toxic, which has taken an alarming toll over the last few weeks...

My 200 gallon display was a classic 2018 design of dry rock, dead sand, and inoculated only via a handful of frags. Add to that the fact that my overzealous Cheato growing operation that’s resulted in 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates, and the dinos should probably not be surprising. All other parameters seem fine (salinity, alkalinity, magnesium, calcium). The temperature swings about a degree around 79F.

I’ve taken a sample and put it under the microscope. I think they are prorocentrum...?

My plan is:

1. Feed more, dose brightwell neophos and neonitro, and monitor levels via Red Sea nitrate test and Hanna phosphate checker daily until levels are normal.
2. Shut skimmer down.
3. Inoculate with more slime. I’m thinking of ordering this: https://ipsf.com/livesand.html Anyone have experience with them?
4. Turn on 24/7 UV. Prorocentrum seems susceptible, based on other threads. I’ve run UV for the last few weeks and it hasn’t seemed to help. But I think I found a clue as to why: these dinos require a stimulus to enter the water column. I run the Kessil AP700 lunar simulation. So, I’m shutting that off as of tonight.
5. I’ve done four blackouts of varying length. They work....for a time. Should I do another?
6. Siphon sand through filter floss using built in vacuum (pictured).

Anything else I should do? Can someone confirm my ID? I thought for a while that this was ostreopsis, but it looks more like prorocentrum...

Thanks for any advice!

-Max

Looks like prorocentrum to me.
Other actions that might help:
- turn off white lights, leave only blues
- keep pH always above 8, use kalk if needed
- innoculate bacteria like: Dr Tim’s Waste Away, Vibrant, MB7, Live Rock Enhance
- stop WC
- do not add CUC
- dosing peroxide might help a little
- use a lot nano bubble scrubbing
- when you are near winning do a 72h blackout
- do not allow zero nitrates and phosphate and if needed change your N : P ratio to promote cianos and don’t worry if you have some (higher phosphate ratios like 5:1). This last measure is just a backup since it creates another problem (just an easier to take care)

 

[maxtek]

Thanks! I’m taking these additional measure based on your response:

7. Switched off the whites
8. Auto water change switched off
9. Nano bubbles into return from sump

I’m doing another blackout. Also, N is 1 and P is 0.08 at the moment.

 

[maxtek]

So I made these changes and then recently ran a four day blackout —the 6th of the last three months. Interestingly, I concurrently made a change that reduced the amount of effluent dosed from my calcium reactor. This appears to have had the unexpected consequence of increasing the amount of alkalinity entering the tank. While I didn’t intend to cause a 1 point swing in Alk from 9.5 to 10.5, I’m now four days post blackout with no signs of dinos. Could higher alk work against the dinos during a blackout? Or just coincidence?

 

[Cory]

So I made these changes and then recently ran a four day blackout —the 6th of the last three months. Interestingly, I concurrently made a change that reduced the amount of effluent dosed from my calcium reactor. This appears to have had the unexpected consequence of increasing the amount of alkalinity entering the tank. While I didn’t intend to cause a 1 point swing in Alk from 9.5 to 10.5, I’m now four days post blackout with no signs of dinos. Could higher alk work against the dinos during a blackout? Or just coincidence?

Higher ph may have had something to do with it.

 

[bevo5]

Higher ph is definitely a possibility I’ve read up on. I’ve been trying to get my ph high but having trouble.

I’m definitely in the “turn off the whites” camp. I did that a week ago and the Dino’s might still be there but I can’t see them! Ignorance is bliss.

 

[Snoopdog]

I way over did it on my UV light on the wattage versus gallons, that is the only thing that killed mine.

 

[maxtek]

Hopefully these plots serve as an epitaph for my dinos. The dashed lines represent the start and end of the last blackout which seems to have ended them. On the nutrients plot, I’m plotting phosphates against nitrates (divided by 16, in orange). I genuinely think that raising the nutrients won the day, but I’m definitely wondering if the alkalinity spike helped out...

 

[DeniableArc]

I had the same challenge but 0 phosphates was my problem. It took about 1 week of dosing large amounts of p04 just to get a reading and I did use an oversized skimmer. I’m Dino free now and vibrant has made a very positive affect.