Dinos or cyano?

[CanuckReefer]

Good advice throughout.... here is another angle I got from another reefer on the board, wish I could credit them, but. Take a small sample, put it in RO in an ice cube tray overnight, defrost, play with it a bit in the tray, if Pink water its Cyano, Brown still, Dino....worked for me....was Cyano.

 

[Zer0]

Good advice throughout.... here is another angle I got from another reefer on the board, wish I could credit them, but. Take a small sample, put it in RO in an ice cube tray overnight, defrost, play with it a bit in the tray, if Pink water its Cyano, Brown still, Dino....worked for me....was Cyano.

Lol that’s bizarre but very cool. I wonder what the science is behind that.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Lol that’s bizarre but very cool. I wonder what the science is behind that.

No clue but was definitely Cyano in my case. Indeed bizarre....

 

[NanoMan16]

I have some live rock but none was added recently. Cuc was really minimal before the gha outbreak (5 astreas and 3 nassarius). Then I ordered a whole bunch from Reefcleaners and the gha was done in a couple days... Probably have too much now. Added 5 trochus, about 10 nerites and 7 virgin nerites, a bunch of ceriths and 2 scarlet legged hermits. Maybe need more nassarius to sift the sand?

And yeah it's only on the sand so far.

Yeah first get rid of the scarlets they are lazy and useless. Get about 6-8 blue legs and add 2-3 emerald crabs. They fix most not all algae issues. In a 65gal you should have a good amount of live rock. As someone else said dose with bacteria I love DR.Tim’s product line. Check ammonia nitrite and nitrate basic stuff.

 

[Mattyreefs]

Yeah first get rid of the scarlets they are lazy and useless. Get about 6-8 blue legs and add 2-3 emerald crabs. They fix most not all algae issues. In a 65gal you should have a good amount of live rock. As someone else said dose with bacteria I love DR.Tim’s product line. Check ammonia nitrite and nitrate basic stuff.

25gallon not 65. I do have a few pounds of live rock but it's majority dry.

The scarlet legs are handpicked by my 4 year old who is obsessed with them so they don't really need to work to earn their place. I'll look into blue legs. Emerald crabs seem great until they go rogue and start eating picking at coral? Do they actually eat either dinos or cyano?

 

[Quietman]

Picked this up for $40ish. Have broken it out a couple times since. Worth every penny to either know you have dinos (twice) or not (once).

Holding up android phone to eyepiece I took these.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Yeah first get rid of the scarlets they are lazy and useless. Get about 6-8 blue legs and add 2-3 emerald crabs. They fix most not all algae issues. In a 65gal you should have a good amount of live rock. As someone else said dose with bacteria I love DR.Tim’s product line. Check ammonia nitrite and nitrate basic stuff.

Lol, I have Red , White, and Blue Leg, they all do their part. In saying that the Sea Cucumber is the hands down best member of my CUC 12 years strong..... Might not be enough for it to forage at in a 25 gallon but that's when you re home it imo....

 

[Mattyreefs]

Picked this up for $40ish. Have broken it out a couple times since. Worth every penny to either know you have dinos (twice) or not (once).

Holding up android phone to eyepiece I took these.

Thank you! Exactly what I was looking for. The microscope discussion from the big dino thread seems to go from talking about toy microscopes to $250+ kits.

 

[Zer0]

Well lots of rich old guys in this hobby so not surprising they would drop big bucks on a microscope they will only use once or twice lol

 

[CanuckReefer]

Well lots of rich old guys in this hobby so not surprising they would drop big bucks on a microscope they will only use once or twice lol

Lol, well said....I am old, but for 40 bones? I might.... maybe get the Cadillac at the garage sale this weekend!

 

[CanuckReefer]

Thank you! Exactly what I was looking for. The microscope discussion from the big dino thread seems to go from talking about toy microscopes to $250+ kits.

Well lots of rich old guys in this hobby so not surprising they would drop big bucks on a microscope they will only use once or twice lol

I also might blame it on a bunch of guys from Jersey helping each other out .....solid....

 

[Mattyreefs]

Ordered a microscope so hopefully I'll be able to 100% id what I'm dealing with on Thursday. Here's that same spot after the lights had only been off for an hour and a half.

 

[Kaboobie]

Just because it reduced with light does not really change my opinion on this one. Barring an identification via microscope I would nearly guarantee that you have a lovely little photosynthetic dino outbreak.

 

[Mattyreefs]

Just because it reduced with light does not really change my opinion on this one. Barring an identification via microscope I would nearly guarantee that you have a lovely little photosynthetic dino outbreak.

I'm on board with it being dinos, though confirmation with a microscope will be nice. I figured since it reduced with lighting it would help confirm that? Or does cyano also?

 

[CanuckReefer]

I'm on board with it being dinos, though confirmation with a microscope will be nice. I figured since it reduced with lighting it would help confirm that? Or does cyano also?

Yes cyano does in my experiences ...

 

[taricha]

Take a small sample, put it in RO in an ice cube tray overnight, defrost, play with it a bit in the tray, if Pink water its Cyano, Brown still, Dino....worked for me....was Cyano.

Lol that’s bizarre but very cool. I wonder what the science is behind that.

The cyano and red algae red pigment is phycoerythrin. It's strongly pink and very water soluble. Most other algae pigments - chlorophylls etc are not water soluble.
if you freeze/thaw and it turns the water pink, that's either cyano or a red algae.

 

[TeamAquaSD Verified Sponsor]

I've already done a ton of research but honestly still not sure where to start. I'd definitely appreciate whatever insight you can share!

First, cut down your photo period. 2-3 hours tops. Second, bring your ALK up to around 10dkh, 3rd and this is important, DO NOT CHANGE THE WATER OR SYPHON OUT THE DINO's. This will only allow them to preproduce more quickly. Lastly, be patient, they should starve themselves out over time. Last suggestion, check the water you're using for phosphates and silicates. They are both excellent food sources for Dino's. If you're finding both, make sure you're using RODI water and that the filters are replaced at appropriate times.

 

[clhardy5]

Is your tank new? ie...how long has it been running? I've battled all 4 types of dinos in my old biocube.....and firmly believe in microscope id so you know exact how to treat. The link to the Dino thread above is awesome....There are also a couple of really good Dino groups on Facebook if you are interested. Both really helped me in my constant battle. I'm finally free of dinos (fingers crossed)....but it was a slow process. Good luck!

 

[Mattyreefs]

Is your tank new? ie...how long has it been running? I've battled all 4 types of dinos in my old biocube.....and firmly believe in microscope id so you know exact how to treat. The link to the Dino thread above is awesome....There are also a couple of really good Dino groups on Facebook if you are interested. Both really helped me in my constant battle. I'm finally free of dinos (fingers crossed)....but it was a slow process. Good luck!

Tanks been running about 6 months. Diatoms came and went and then a month or so ago, gha took over everything. Phosphates and nitrates were both testing zero and being very inexperienced in saltwater, I didn't realize it was probably false due to the gha using up both. I even started dosing Neo Nitro which obviously just fed the gha. Every single hard surface was covered. The only cuc I had at that point was 4 very lazy astreas and 3 nassarius. I added a much bigger cuc and within like 3 days it was completely wiped out.

My best guess is that my No3 and po4 didn't go up quickly enough after the gha was gone because right after that is when I started to get what seems to be dinos. Now I miss the gha!

Microscope should come this afternoon so I'll hopefully be back with an ID and can start down the right path. Seems like there's a ton of information and I've gotten a lot of great advice but there's so many differing opinions on what works. First step is preparing myself that it's a slow process as with everything in this hobby.

 

[Mattyreefs]

First, cut down your photo period. 2-3 hours tops. Second, bring your ALK up to around 10dkh, 3rd and this is important, DO NOT CHANGE THE WATER OR SYPHON OUT THE DINO's. This will only allow them to preproduce more quickly. Lastly, be patient, they should starve themselves out over time. Last suggestion, check the water you're using for phosphates and silicates. They are both excellent food sources for Dino's. If you're finding both, make sure you're using RODI water and that the filters are replaced at appropriate times.

Thanks for the advice. I've read a lot but haven't seen anything about raising Alk yet. I'm using 0 tds RODI and I just changed all my filters a week ago. But I'll admit my second rookie mistake in two posts... I hadn't tested my RODI water for a while and realized just before I changed the filters that my tds was up to 50+. So my water changes and Ato resovoir have not been 0 tds for some period of time.