Dinos?

[dugthefish]

3 month old 125
Sal 1.025
Ph 8.3
NO3 <5
PO4 <.05

Been seeing a lot of micro bubbles of late (especially in the evening towards end of photoperiod), along with some bits of what I thought was red hair algae. If these are dinos, it is a very mild case for now. Any ideas/IDs?

Not sure what I should do, only 1 small fish so very little nutrient import to reduce.

View attachment 20190117_185756.jpg

 

[DarkTang]

Diatoms. If they get longer and stringy then it’s dinos

 

[dugthefish]

Diatoms. If they get longer and stringy then it’s dinos

Do diatoms produce gas? Theres been times that there are so many micro bubbles that I can't see one end from the other...

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

Looks exactly what is growing on my power heads, and everywhere else.
And mine are dinos.

 

[Jonreefer]

Yea Diatoms dont really make bubbles that I see or form those stringy mats.
They usually just have a rust powder look to the rocks and sand. What you are dealing with is what I have been dealing with and 99% sure its Dino never looked under a scope but I have them almost taken care of.

 

[mtdaly85]

You'll need a microscope to confirm, but I'm 99.99% certain those are dinos.

Purchase a microscope to identify the strand you are dealing with and then read the stickied thread. Can you post your tank parameters and filtration information? I just battled Ostreopsis dinoflagellates and I eradicated them with both: UV sterilization and elevating my nutrient levels to encourage the growth of competing algae, bacteria, and critters. Get on it now before it overtakes your tank. Make sure you are running plenty of carbon to deal with the toxins they will release as they grow and especially as they die off.

 

[._Z_.]

+1 for dinos.

For such a young tank I’d be hesitant to change too much.

Did you start with dry rock and sand? If so I’d add some live rock and sand, feed heavy and ride it out. There’s a good chance they go away as your tank gets more biodiversity

 

[dugthefish]

You'll need a microscope to confirm, but I'm 99.99% certain those are dinos.

Purchase a microscope to identify the strand you are dealing with and then read the stickied thread. Can you post your tank parameters and filtration information? I just battled Ostreopsis dinoflagellates and I eradicated them with both: UV sterilization and elevating my nutrient levels to encourage the growth of competing algae, bacteria, and critters. Get on it now before it overtakes your tank. Make sure you are running plenty of carbon to deal with the toxins they will release as they grow and especially as they die off.

125 gal/135 gal total volume
Good sized Octopus skimmer I run 12 hrs a day, filter socks changed 2x weekly, 5 gal water change weekly. Will have to look into getting a microscope, any recommendations?

 

[dugthefish]

+1 for dinos.

For such a young tank I’d be hesitant to change too much.

Did you start with dry rock and sand? If so I’d add some live rock and sand, feed heavy and ride it out. There’s a good chance they go away as your tank gets more biodiversity

Like 90# dry and 30# semi live rock (from a broke down tank, sat in cold garbage can of water in guys garage for a few to several weeks), 120# dry sand. No experience with dinos before, am I understanding right that they come from too clean of water? Meaning i need more nit/phos in the water?

 

[sfin52]

Calothrix Cyano Algae try googling this. That's what it looks like to me. An microscope will be need for an deffentive Id

 

[mtdaly85]

You are correct in that they will typically appear when your tank is "too clean." Dinoflagellates love opportunity and if you have very low nutrients and limited biodiversity, they will just take off. They can get out of control very quickly. I lost over $1,000 in coral in about 6 weeks to dinos.

I bought a $40 microscope from Barnes & Noble. Just pick the cheapest, highest rated microscope on Amazon and make sure it has at least 400x zoom.

 

[._Z_.]

There’s a ~$10 microscope recommended in the Dino thread that will get you a positive dino ID, identifying the type of dino is tricky with the cheap one though

 

[dugthefish]

The more I read about these things, the more confused I get. Some people are saying too low of nutrients, some saying to high of phosphate. Do water changes/dont do water changes, run the skimmer/dont run, it's a new tank thing/its the end of the world. I'm a little lost, but that's ok. It's not very bad right now, so I'm just gonna monitor and try to raise my nutrients up a little bit.

 

[Fastpitch]

The more I read about these things, the more confused I get. Some people are saying too low of nutrients, some saying to high of phosphate. Do water changes/dont do water changes, run the skimmer/dont run, it's a new tank thing/its the end of the world. I'm a little lost, but that's ok. It's not very bad right now, so I'm just gonna monitor and try to raise my nutrients up a little bit.

I agree. The dino threads confuse me more then anything on this forum.

 

[Ernie C]

Any consensus on what to do. Recently got a terrrible algea outbreak under control and now Dinos are moving in. Not sure what the consensus is on what to do to prevent them from taking over?

 

[dugthefish]

Any consensus on what to do. Recently got a terrrible algea outbreak under control and now Dinos are moving in. Not sure what the consensus is on what to do to prevent them from taking over?

Stay with me brotha, we'll work through it!

 

[dwest]

125 gal/135 gal total volume
Good sized Octopus skimmer I run 12 hrs a day, filter socks changed 2x weekly, 5 gal water change weekly. Will have to look into getting a microscope, any recommendations?

This worked for me:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071JQFXC4/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Brad Miller]

With young tanks (under a year or so) be patient, suck it out with weekly water changes and things tend to remedy themselves.
Adding stuff or doing any dosing etc.. are really not needed, learn how to allow a natural cure for thing as the tank progresses.
Most people freak out at the first sign of any kind of unsightly growth, but really, it's all a natural occurrence.

 

[dugthefish]

With young tanks (under a year or so) be patient, suck it out with weekly water changes and things tend to remedy themselves.
Adding stuff or doing any dosing etc.. are really not needed, learn how to allow a natural cure for thing as the tank progresses.
Most people freak out at the first sign of any kind of unsightly growth, but really, it's all a natural occurrence.

This is exactly what I think. I'm not gonna start dosing random chemical concoctions and probably make something else work. Hopefully as I add more livestock and thusly increase feedings, my nutrients will rise enough to allow something more manageable to outcompete the dinos. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Chris Villalobos]

I'm currently battling dinos and before that it was cyano. This video makes a lot of sense to me. Lack of good bacteria due to low NO3 PO4 causes dinos and cyano to be able to take hold. I've started dosing macrophage bacteria, NO3, and PO4. The theory is that we got to keep those nutrients up and grow the good bacteria that outcompete the bad bacteria. Last week my tank was starting to look pretty bad but now I think I'm winning the battle.