Dino's primarily caused by low nitrates or low phosphates?

The Opinionated Reefer · Nov 10, 2020

As per title is dino's primarily caused by low phosphates or low nitrates? I know its low nutrients in general.

My nitrates are very low at 0.25 ppm. I can barely get a reading on the red sea pro test kit and undetectable on a Salifert kit. My phosphates aren't that low they are sitting at between 0.08 and 0.1. Ideally, I would like them below 0.04.

According to red sea, the ideal params for an SPS dominant reef tank is Nitrate 0.25 to 0.5 and phosphates 0.01 to 0.02. But If I went that low in phosphates I would get a Dino's outbreak.

I am currently seeing the start of an outbreak and I am wondering if this is likely due to the nitrates since the phosphates are not that low.

Spare time · Nov 10, 2020

So red sea is saying that in the assumption that you are also dosing reef energy daily. All of red sea's recommendations are based off of the assumption that you follow their entire product line.

I think that dinos can be related to low phosphates and/or low nitrates. You can definitely keep sps with higher nitrates than that and I honestly think that no one should aim for less than 1ppm nitrate as its just too unstable to set that small of a range.

PBnJOnWheat · Nov 10, 2020

recci said:
As per title is dino's primarily caused by low phosphates or low nitrates? I know its low nutrients in general.

My nitrates are very low at 0.25 ppm. I can barely get a reading on the red sea pro test kit and undetectable on a Salifert kit. My phosphates aren't that low they are sitting at between 0.08 and 0.1. Ideally, I would like them below 0.04.

According to red sea, the ideal params for an SPS dominant reef tank is Nitrate 0.25 to 0.5 and phosphates 0.01 to 0.02. But If I went that low in phosphates I would get a Dino's outbreak.

I am currently seeing the start of an outbreak and I am wondering if this is likely due to the nitrates since the phosphates are not that low.

Dinos means increase nutrients!! I’ve got a lot of experience with them twice actually. I had cyano, ranked my nitrates and phosphates then experienced dinos which I had to increase my nutrients. Once you get rid of dinos or cyano and start to see a stable nitrate phosphate level you’re fine. I don’t dose them or anything now I let the tank balance itself with the refugium. Another issue is algae breaks out when the 16:1 ratio occurs.

ShepherdReefer · Nov 10, 2020

I also think dinos are just part of a new tank.

The Opinionated Reefer · Nov 10, 2020

Just to be clear this is not a new tank and that is where my nitrate sits naturally. I have lots of really mature live rock and my nitrates have always been super low.

Daniel@R2R · Nov 10, 2020

I'm following. I'd think it would be a combination.

jda · Nov 23, 2020

They thrive in tanks lacking biodiversity with enough building blocks and carbon to grow, but not too many to poison them. Tanks that raise N and P to get rid of dinos have growth limited them like poison... it can happen at levels that are pretty low for most coral. This has been more of a problem since tanks have been started with dry/dead rock and sterile sand - in the olden days, you had dinos for a few weeks as part of the first six months and then you never saw them again in huge numbers.

All of this said, I have a super mature tank with lots of biodiversity and I get a little patch or some every once in a while. I leave them alone and they go away as quickly as they came. ...cyano too.

WilliG · Dec 16, 2020

DINO's are in NO way a "new tank" issue, they are 100% related to true zero phos and NO3. There are FAR too many threads on here to even remotely think that they are not tied to lack of nutrients. Then there is a wide array of ways to combat them, and there is a HUGE thread on here directly about that.