Dinos: Prorocentrum - Let's beat this!

[ScottB]

Tested my water again to ensure nutrients stay high. They do not seem to have budged from yesterday. I can only assume that reducing the photo period on my fuge had something to do with that.

I "swept" the sand this morning to get the dinos into the water column. This also lets me see how fast they grow back etc. Although I'm only about 2 hours into my 6 hour lighting cycle for the day things are looking PRETTY good. I will post a picture later tonight as we get closer to the end of the 6 hours.

I'll be curious to see if you can knock them down without UV. Someone around here also said they used 1 micron filter socks to trap dinos. Another used a diatom filter. The concept being Remove, versus Irradiate.

Your lighting modifications should inhibit the dino reproduction... but these might also limit the ability to grow competitive film algae. I don't know.

Stick with it; keep us informed.

 

[bdare]

Cautiously optimistic. This is honestly the best it's looked in awhile. I won't sweep sand tomorrow and see what we get.

 

[Jason mack]

I'd just like too add ..dosing liquid silicates too induce a diatom bloom too out compete dinos plus adding phytoplankton and copepods worked for me ..

 

[bdare]

I'd just like too add ..dosing liquid silicates too induce a diatom bloom too out compete dinos plus adding phytoplankton and copepods worked for me ..

I have not added any silicate, but I did dump a bunch of phyto in the tank in the days leading up to the nitrate and phosphate showing up. I've been thinking about adding silicate, but still researching which test kit works best. I think the chemi clean doses may have wiped out my pod population. Used to have TONS of big ones in my fuge. Which pods did you add? Did you order them somewhere? I've been checking out the algae barn pods on the BRS site.

 

[Jason mack]

I have not added any silicate, but I did dump a bunch of phyto in the tank in the days leading up to the nitrate and phosphate showing up. I've been thinking about adding silicate, but still researching which test kit works best. I think the chemi clean doses may have wiped out my pod population. Used to have TONS of big ones in my fuge. Which pods did you add? Did you order them somewhere? I've been checking out the algae barn pods on the BRS site.

I'm in Holland ...so I think algea barn is your best bet ...copepods.. rotifers are also good . As for silicate i bought good grade liquid silicate of Ebay..i used a saliferts silicates test kit ...i,d have to look at my build thread for how much i dosed ...

 

[Jason mack]

Found it ...heres the liquid silicate I used ..unfortunately I dont mention the dosing amount...

Build Thread - Mack’s Reef dino support group

Ok so now ive ordered some triton si to dose and ive also started taking my sand bed out ... With all the encouragement and advice I'm getting from my friends and #reefsquad I don't feel as much as a failure and it has spurred me on too beat this and not give up ... I wanna thank everyone from...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Aquaman102]

@bdare - curious how the battle is going. Any updates. I started siphoning the prorocentrum dino's off my sandbed with a 1 micron filter sock last night. Sadly, I think I start to see the development of stringy dino's on my rocks.

What's crazy to me is...phosphate tested at .14 last night and the Nitrate test was > 20 ppm. It was a dark pink.

 

[Jason mack]

@bdare - curious how the battle is going. Any updates. I started siphoning the prorocentrum dino's off my sandbed with a 1 micron filter sock last night. Sadly, I think I start to see the development of stringy dino's on my rocks.

What's crazy to me is...phosphate tested at .14 last night and the Nitrate test was > 20 ppm. It was a dark pink.

I had the same ...I would also recommend dosing silicates

 

[bdare]

@bdare - curious how the battle is going. Any updates. I started siphoning the prorocentrum dino's off my sandbed with a 1 micron filter sock last night. Sadly, I think I start to see the development of stringy dino's on my rocks.

What's crazy to me is...phosphate tested at .14 last night and the Nitrate test was > 20 ppm. It was a dark pink.

So far so good! I really feel like things are getting better. I've been trying to take a picture of the same area each time.

 

[ScottB]

@bdare - curious how the battle is going. Any updates. I started siphoning the prorocentrum dino's off my sandbed with a 1 micron filter sock last night. Sadly, I think I start to see the development of stringy dino's on my rocks.

What's crazy to me is...phosphate tested at .14 last night and the Nitrate test was > 20 ppm. It was a dark pink.

Those numbers should be helping. Are trying to beat without UV?

 

[Aquaman102]

Those numbers should be helping. Are trying to beat without UV?

I have a small 25 watt UV, that's I've tried before. It didn't help much. It's undersized for the 120 gallon tank I've got I think. I worry that it is also killing good bacteria to while it runs. Maybe I should hook it back up....

 

[ScottB]

I have not added any silicate, but I did dump a bunch of phyto in the tank in the days leading up to the nitrate and phosphate showing up. I've been thinking about adding silicate, but still researching which test kit works best. I think the chemi clean doses may have wiped out my pod population. Used to have TONS of big ones in my fuge. Which pods did you add? Did you order them somewhere? I've been checking out the algae barn pods on the BRS site.

It is an amazingly common theme: Dinos after Chemiclean. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times I have heard this. Must be something with the erythromycin killing off some competitive bacteria allowing the dinos to take off. That, or people mistaking dinos for cyano which seems like a stretch.

 

[Jason mack]

I have a small 25 watt UV, that's I've tried before. It didn't help much. It's undersized for the 120 gallon tank I've got I think. I worry that it is also killing good bacteria to while it runs. Maybe I should hook it back up....

25w on a 120 isn't good enough its recommend 1w per 3 gal ( I have a 36w on a 90g)...also bacteria live in the rocks and sand and not the water column...also not all dinos rise into the water column at night ...I think ostreopsis do not so sure about prorocentrum

 

[ScottB]

I have a small 25 watt UV, that's I've tried before. It didn't help much. It's undersized for the 120 gallon tank I've got I think. I worry that it is also killing good bacteria to while it runs. Maybe I should hook it back up....

Procentrum do migrate into the water at night. It should bash them back a bit leaving some space for film algae and film bacteria. Most of your bacteria (not all) occupies surfaces. Run IN/OUT of display, not the sump.

 

[bdare]

It is an amazingly common theme: Dinos after Chemiclean. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times I have heard this. Must be something with the erythromycin killing off some competitive bacteria allowing the dinos to take off. That, or people mistaking dinos for cyano which seems like a stretch.

To be honest, this was my fault. I mis-self diagnosed my issue. I thought for sure it was cyano w/o actually checking with a microscope. If dinos is caused by tanks that are "too clean" I can certainly see how these events can be triggered.

 

[ScottB]

To be honest, this was my fault. I mis-self diagnosed my issue. I thought for sure it was cyano w/o actually checking with a microscope. If dinos is caused by tanks that are "too clean" I can certainly see how these events can be triggered.

Don't beat yourself up. I've had ostreopsis THREE TIMES now. Not the quick learner I thought I was.

Generally, too clean is the trigger. That said there is a FOWLR tank at my LFS running wet/dry bioballs super dirty. And after a bad cyano outbreak -- and Chemiclean to kill it -- BAM! Small cell amphidinium. I posted a thread here on it; I thought only clean tanks could get dinos. Blackout, oversized UV, gone in 36 hours.

 

[Aquaman102]

25w on a 120 isn't good enough its recommend 1w per 3 gal ( I have a 36w on a 90g)...also bacteria live in the rocks and sand and not the water column...also not all dinos rise into the water column at night ...I think ostreopsis do not so sure about prorocentrum

Prorocentrum live on the sandbed, so i've been upping Phosphate and Nitrate. I got here after a Chemiclean regimen to rid of cyano. If I'd only known...

I've also started dosing Microbacter7 to get some keeping bacteria in the tank, but I continue to dose Nitrate and Phos at the same time.

I don't have a severe infection by any means, just trying to stay ahead of what I know is coming if I don't take care of it now. Dinoflagellates knocked me out of the game several years ago. Don't want that to happen again.

The bubbles I see starting to show up on the rocks and the tips of some sps has me concerned though.

I've done both the Dr Tim's (BRS) method and the Elegant Corals method. Both done to a T each time.

The fight continues..

 

[Jason mack]

There is a thread on here where they are dosing metroplex too best dinos ..with some interesting results ...

 

[Lithoman]

Fighting Dinos myself... will keep watch and see how you progress.. Good luck..

 

[Jason mack]

I had the same got 3 sorts of dinos after using chemiclean for cyno ..I also had high nitrates 25+ and po4 st the time ...I put it down to switching my lights ....also wrong ....have now been dino free for a year ..