Dinoflagellates are everywhere!

[Reeferman47]

Hello everybody, I am resorting over to my good friends at R2R.com to help me out. I have a 38g mixed reef tank (not many corals yet) and it recently has been dealing with dinoflagellates. My basic nitrate, nitrite, ph, kh, etc. is okay. I am running 2 AI 16HD lights. I need help trying to fix my algae problems. I don't want to kill my whole tank doing something dumb like hydrogen peroxide. I just want a natural solution that will work. Should I do more frequent water changes every week? I just want some honest advice. Thanks to anybody that helps.

 

[00W]

Hey sorry bout all that. How about some values for what you've been testing for. A little bit more about your tank and husbandry might help a bit.

 

[Shmollica]

Hey reeferman! How long has your tank been set up? How long do you run your lights and what are the settings?

 

[IanK]

I had a small outbreak with a new tank and used like 3-5x the recommended dosage of phyto and it work for me

 

[Reeferman47]

Hi, my tank has been set up for around a year now. I have my lights on from 7:30 to 7:30 (12 hrs).

 

[Reeferman47]

What is phyto? I haven't heard of it.

 

[IanK]

Phytoplankton from algaebarn

 

[zalick]

I tried going the natural way in my 300g. It didn't work. Two years later I installed a UV directly to the DT and they were gone in a week.

If yours leave the rocks/sand/glass at night, then install a UV and they will be gone before you know it.

 

[Shmollica]

Zalick may be correct and that may decrease your problem, but I think you should try to decrease the lighting schedule first. Try to decrease by two hours on each side (2:30-10:30) or slide that 8 hour schedule into your viewing needs and keep everything else the same for 3 weeks. Observe the tank, you should notice a decrease in abundance the first time you do this.

 

[Shmollica]

Adding anything to your bio load right now probably will not help, I doubt you have a nutrient issue.....I don’t know but I think decreasing the lighting schedule will help because I believe you have an organism reproducing quickly when given light.

 

[Reeferman47]

Okay, I will try bumping it to your idea cut down light schedule, do you know how much UV sterilizers cost USD?

 

[Shmollica]

Bulk reef supply knows lol. I know UV isn’t amazing though....it’s good for like cloudy water, but things in rock and sand I really don’t know.

 

[Shmollica]

A better solution if you suspect bacteria like that might be like a microbacter clean/7 or a vibrant or both

 

[Reeferman47]

Roger that, I have changed my schedule for my lights and we should be rolling now.

 

[Reeferman47]

Hey guys, I ordered a UV sterilizer and I am buying some phyto from algae barn. With everything I heard we should be okay.

 

[mikedgrok]

Hey guys, I ordered a UV sterilizer and I am buying some phyto from algae barn. With everything I heard we should be okay.

How did this turn out for you?

 

[Fennel]

On the live phyto. Can you just dump the whole thing in the tank or will it cause an ammonia spike and mess up parameters?