Dinoflagellate Problem? Could Ulva lactuca be the Answer?

Scrubber_steve · Jan 2, 2019

TexasTodd said:
I wonder if you're running carbon if it will pull out what you want to stay in the water from the Ulva?

Yes, & skimming too

Cory · Jan 2, 2019

B-ridge said:
So now I wonder if the ulva is actually gonna make any difference with po4 being so low as well as nitrate.

It should according to the article. It doesn't need to grow to release the chemicals that kill that algae.

Scrubber_steve · Jan 2, 2019

B-ridge said:
So now I wonder if the ulva is actually gonna make any difference with po4 being so low as well as nitrate.

If the ulva, or whatever other algae, is used as the main nutrient export filter it will grow even when po4 is very low & no3 reads zero assuming you are regularly feeding fish

B-ridge · Jan 2, 2019

So that leaves me to my original question and thinking if I should just put half in fuge and see if it grows and cut up the other half. Since skimming will remove sone of the chemical warfare that will kill/subside my dinos

Scrubber_steve · Jan 2, 2019

B-ridge said:
So that leaves me to my original question and thinking if I should just put half in fuge and see if it grows and cut up the other half. Since skimming will remove sone of the chemical warfare that will kill/subside my dinos

Turn the skimmer off.

B-ridge · Jan 2, 2019

@Scrubber_steve
How long skimmer off?
Plus I just thought about something. In my basement I have lights that stay on 24/7 while red led lights come on at night. Should I turn the white lights that run 24/7 off?

Scrubber_steve · Jan 2, 2019

B-ridge said:
@Scrubber_steve
How long skimmer off?
Plus I just thought about something. In my basement I have lights that stay on 24/7 while red led lights come on at night. Should I turn the white lights that run 24/7 off?

You have very low no3 & po4 so turning the skimmer off for a week wouldn't be a problem. Keep it off till the dino problems solved. Run the lactuca on red 24/7 if you want.

B-ridge · Jan 2, 2019

Ok. I’ll try that. I need to/have to clean out my fuge some. I still have leftover chaeto that’s died off in there and calupera. I noticed yesterday something floating and it seemed to be hair algae. One side of the fuge(which is a 75 gallon tank) is clean. The other half looks as if there is hair algae growing. Of course the area where the hair algae is growing is the side where the lights are on. On the water surface is some yellowish snot looking slime type of stuff. Not sure what it is but I beleive it has something to do with the dying algae

B-ridge · Jan 5, 2019

So today marks the day. Finally received my ulva from algae barn. It was all broke up and little war in jar. Was supposed to be here Thursday but finally delivered today. I temp acclimated. Placed in fuge. Turned off skimmer. Fuge lights come on around 9-10 so let’s see what happens. Wish me luck fellow hobbyist

Scrubber_steve · Jan 5, 2019

B-ridge said:
So today marks the day. Finally received my ulva from algae barn. It was all broke up and little war in jar. Was supposed to be here Thursday but finally delivered today. I temp acclimated. Placed in fuge. Turned off skimmer. Fuge lights come on around 9-10 so let’s see what happens. Wish me luck fellow hobbyist

Bonam fortunam!

B-ridge · Jan 5, 2019

Thinking I should of glued some pieces to a rock. Some are just laying on bottom of tank. Some are floating. Turned off powerhead that I have in fuge(I added some pods also). Gotta remind myself to turn down flow when I turn back on

bluewill · Jan 5, 2019

It shouldn't have arrived in pieces . Its going to be difficult to culture . Im in the middle of the same scenario . I used to have lots growing in one of my sump's 25 years ago . It only grows from the base point .
Ive had a bunch of pieces floating around in my tank for 3 days. I did have one larger piece that had a base point which I epoxied to a small piece of rubble to keep it stationary. Did you add to sump or just just DT ? I haven't been able to harvest any local ,its all broken up into small pieces after 20 days of heavy east winds.I live in South Florida and am presently looking for a local source of larger amount's than what the Algae internet retailers are selling and should be at way lower costs , it is easier to harvest on the gulf side of Florida . Ill let you know .
Obviously I haven't eradicated my problem yet , but theirs enough evidence online to still convince me that this makes sense .
keep us up to date

B-ridge · Jan 5, 2019

Well that really stinks. Out of all the pieces I didn’t notice not 1 single piece with a root.
I placed ulva straight Into my fuge which is separate from sump.
If anything I’m hoping it will release whatever chemical or whatever it does and hopefully combat the dinos/diatoms.
@bluewill when you do find some more please let me know. If what I have now doesnt work(which I doubt it will now) I will cut up the ones you find and pour water into tank and see if that helps. We will see

B-ridge · Jan 7, 2019

Soooooo it’s been since Saturday evening when I placed ulva in fuge. Today is now Monday evening. Unfortunately the ulva has made no difference in my tank. I know it’s only been 2 days but I expected a little difference. Nothing happens fast in this hobby so I guess I’m gonna have to wait it out. Wondering if I actually have enough ulva(bought tennis ball size). Skimmer is off and I checked yesterday and po4 is rising. Went from 0.02-0.04

B-ridge · Jan 16, 2019

I recently added more ulva. So far it’s dobe nothing for my dinos/diatoms. My nitrate is 5 and phosphate is now up to 0.11 last time I checked. Skimmer is still off.
Only thing I noticed is some yellow slime stuff in top of my water in fuge. Seen some engulfing some of the ulva that’s floating.
Anymore ideas or suggestions?

Scrubber_steve · Jan 16, 2019

B-ridge said:
I recently added more ulva. So far it’s dobe nothing for my dinos/diatoms. My nitrate is 5 and phosphate is now up to 0.11 last time I checked. Skimmer is still off.
Only thing I noticed is some yellow slime stuff in top of my water in fuge. Seen some engulfing some of the ulva that’s floating.
Anymore ideas or suggestions?

This is what I would do if I was you.
Firstly, the ulva won't do anything unless its >>> growing <<<< -photosynthesising, taking up carbon & releasing photosynthate-exudates-DOC, containing aleopathic chemicals.

The chemicals will be removed by skimming & GAC, so when the ulva starts growing they need to be removed

The process will take time

The chemicals can degrade quickly in the aquarium in any case so manipulation may be necessary. In this case try this -
When the ulva is established & growing take a cutting & let it sun dry for 10 to 20 minutes. Then cut it into smaller pieces using scissors, place the cuttings into a half cup of RODI for half an hour, the pour the contents into your fuge. Perhaps repeat this weekly & see how that goes.

ShadowR55 · Jan 19, 2019

Not sure if I have diatoms or Cyano but I added a single 4 square inch piece of Ulva in my fudge and it is noy atoeast 5x that size after a week, but havent noticed any thing different with the cyano/Dino. I also left my UV and Skimmer on, so that might also be my problem.

Cory · Jan 20, 2019

ShadowR55 said:
Not sure if I have diatoms or Cyano but I added a single 4 square inch piece of Ulva in my fudge and it is noy atoeast 5x that size after a week, but havent noticed any thing different with the cyano/Dino. I also left my UV and Skimmer on, so that might also be my problem.

Got a pic of the problem algae?