Dinos and GHA

SlugSnorter · Apr 25, 2022

Dinos have appeared due to the nutrient drop of GHA, what should I do? I cannot remove my rocks to exterminate the GHA directl. Should I resort to chemicals? if so what chemicals would help? Would silicate dosing help to replace the dinos with diatoms?

Bucs20fan · Apr 25, 2022

Chemicals should be used as a last resort. First the dinos are appearing due to a lack of nutrients. Try and get your nitrate up to 20ppm and get at least a detectable amount of phosphorus. With no nutrients the GHA will begin to die off and the dinos will take over completely. For the GHA, after you raise your nutrients remove what you can manually with a tooth brush, I cannot recommend enough getting some big turbo snails and some trochus. They love the stuff but they wont eat it if its too long. If you buy enough of them they will help keep the GHA under control while you deal with the dinos. But you can definitely win this battle as long as the GHA is still growing, its in the absence of algae when battling dinos gets really difficult. I would also look into a blackout period if you can, specifically if you dont have any super sensitive corals.

vetteguy53081 · Apr 25, 2022

SlugSnorter said:
Dinos have appeared due to the nutrient drop of GHA, what should I do? I cannot remove my rocks to exterminate the GHA directl. Should I resort to chemicals? if so what chemicals would help? Would silicate dosing help to replace the dinos with diatoms?

No silicate
Take a turkey baster and blow it loose. Net and/or siphon the loose matter
Reduce white light intensity or better yet turn lights off all together and during the day, add 1.5 ml of liquid bacteria per 10 gallons and at night add 1ml of 3% peroxide per 10 gallons for a week
Cease adding any coral foods and nopox and clean skimmer cup and filters daily.
dino will be gone

SlugSnorter · Apr 25, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
Chemicals should be used as a last resort. First the dinos are appearing due to a lack of nutrients. Try and get your nitrate up to 20ppm and get at least a detectable amount of phosphorus. With no nutrients the GHA will begin to die off and the dinos will take over completely. For the GHA, after you raise your nutrients remove what you can manually with a tooth brush, I cannot recommend enough getting some big turbo snails and some trochus. They love the stuff but they wont eat it if its too long. If you buy enough of them they will help keep the GHA under control while you deal with the dinos. But you can definitely win this battle as long as the GHA is still growing, its in the absence of algae when battling dinos gets really difficult. I would also look into a blackout period if you can, specifically if you dont have any super sensitive corals.

already have astreas, and scrub rocks best I can (in a 15 gallon). They keep the top of the rocks clean, but do not bother from moving away from the top as it has everything they need. Was thinking of gettting a pitho crab, but I am worried about it getting killed by dino toxin.

Bucs20fan · Apr 25, 2022

So my personal opinion, crabs dont really do much for GHA, best for them is emerald crabs and they are hit or miss at best. For your size tank I would rule out turbos, they get kinda big and youd probably have to remove them after the GHA is gone due to lack of food. But trochus would work wonderfully in a 15gal. Im not a fan of astreas, not saying they dont do their job, but trochus are algae monsters and they breed like crazy.

SlugSnorter · Apr 25, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
No silicate
Take a turkey baster and blow it loose. Net and/or siphon the loose matter
Reduce white light intensity or better yet turn lights off all together and during the day, add 1.5 ml of liquid bacteria per 10 gallons and at night add 1ml of 3% peroxide per 10 gallons for a week
Cease adding any coral foods and nopox and clean skimmer cup and filters daily.
dino will be gone

15 gallon, no skimmer, I will change filter floss daily though. I try to siphon, but with my tank being so small I can only do so when doing a WC. Adding liquid bac. No coral foods, and no nopox. I have GAC though.

SlugSnorter · Apr 25, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
So my personal opinion, crabs dont really do much for GHA, best for them is emerald crabs and they are hit or miss at best. For your size tank I would rule out turbos, they get kinda big and youd probably have to remove them after the GHA is gone due to lack of food. But trochus would work wonderfully in a 15gal. Im not a fan of astreas, not saying they dont do their job, but trochus are algae monsters and they breed like crazy.

Ever try Pithos? apparently great GHA eaters. I want them cause a few corals are being annoyed by the GHA in places snails may not be able to reach. No turbos yeah, tanks not large enough.

Bucs20fan · Apr 25, 2022

Never tried them, My 60b has 3 giant turbos which are machines, and I feed all the baby trochus I dont want to my triggers so its a win win for me lol. But if I get another outbreak I will definitely give them a try. Believe it or not, ive had some luck with baby blue legs eating the tiny spots of GHA around my frags, they mowed almost all of it down.

SlugSnorter · Apr 25, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
Never tried them, My 60b has 3 giant turbos which are machines, and I feed all the baby trochus I dont want to my triggers so its a win win for me lol. But if I get another outbreak I will definitely give them a try. Believe it or not, ive had some luck with baby blue legs eating the tiny spots of GHA around my frags, they mowed almost all of it down.

15 gallon, cannot go with blue legs as a few dead snails could lead to a spike. Trochus could be good, yeah.

Bucs20fan · Apr 25, 2022

True true, If I were in your shoes, Could the hard to reach spots be accessed by a toothbrush? A toothbrush has been my best friend as far as PITA GHA spots.

SlugSnorter · Apr 25, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
True true, If I were in your shoes, Could the hard to reach spots be accessed by a toothbrush? A toothbrush has been my best friend as far as PITA GHA spots.

nope

Bucs20fan · Apr 25, 2022

I think the pithos would be a good start, certainly couldnt hurt and they are widely reviewed pretty well. If your astreas arent getting back there or too big, most trochus you buy are probably too big as well.

SlugSnorter · Apr 25, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
I think the pithos would be a good start, certainly couldnt hurt and they are widely reviewed pretty well. If your astreas arent getting back there or too big, most trochus you buy are probably too big as well.

worried about the pithos with the presence of dinos. Would they be okay?

Bucs20fan · Apr 25, 2022

As long as the dinos havent gotten to plague proportions they should be just fine. Dino toxicity is obviously a real thing, and it does hit inverts harder than fish, but from what you are saying it doesnt appear you are at that level. Im of the mindset you will be fine with them.

vetteguy53081 · Apr 25, 2022

SlugSnorter said:
15 gallon, no skimmer, I will change filter floss daily though. I try to siphon, but with my tank being so small I can only do so when doing a WC. Adding liquid bac. No coral foods, and no nopox. I have GAC though.

It will be fine over the 5 days however you can run blue at 10%

Hallowhead · Apr 25, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
No silicate
Take a turkey baster and blow it loose. Net and/or siphon the loose matter
Reduce white light intensity or better yet turn lights off all together and during the day, add 1.5 ml of liquid bacteria per 10 gallons and at night add 1ml of 3% peroxide per 10 gallons for a week
Cease adding any coral foods and nopox and clean skimmer cup and filters daily.
dino will be gone

Will the peroxide kill the GHA too?