FIGHTING DINOS OVER A YEAR!!!! IM DONE!!!

Hey everyone,

So the dinos came back AGAIN. i have a 15g nano and have been battling dinos for over a year. this tank has been the biggest pain in the A********. Been in this hobby for over 8 years and never had a tank that just wont settle in. I have tried EVERYTHING under the sun to get rid of this dino problem and hjave my nutrients balance out and it just wont happen. i finally got my nutrients up for a while. my nitraates are 10-15 and .2-.3 phos. This makes no sense to me that the dinos are back my tank has not bottomed out since i first put up my tank. HOW IN THE HELL ARE DINOS COMING BACK WITH SKY HIGH NUTRIENTS PRESENT????? i am loosing my mind. my last attempt is the Aqua HOB UV sterilizer from bulk reef supply. I am going to try another 3 day blackout and then run the sterilizer. I am praying i have the strain that responds to UV. any other suggestions for me? If this does not work i will be breaking this tank down. I have had a ton of patience but you also have to know when to quit. Any tips on how to use the sterilizer or other suggestions on how to fight would be great. this battle has really killed my passion for the hobby i am so disappointed.. thanks !
IMO, a 15 gal tank is not worth the time and effort to try and cure of Dino's unless you're in it for the experiment.

I'd have rip cleaned it after a month, washing all the rocks and sand in tap water, started the tank fresh, seeded with bottled bac and dipped everything I could.

Give that a go.
 
i have tried all of that ... the last thing is the UV ... i have not tried it yet because i know it only works on specific strains of dino and its not that cheap.. i tried dosing NO3, bacteria, blackouts, manual removal, reducing light intensity, Dr tims method 4 times.. it just wont budge. i bought the 8 watt aqua HOB UV sterlizer im praying this will work.

You have tried dosing silica?
 
Hey everyone,

So the dinos came back AGAIN. i have a 15g nano and have been battling dinos for over a year. this tank has been the biggest pain in the A********. Been in this hobby for over 8 years and never had a tank that just wont settle in. I have tried EVERYTHING under the sun to get rid of this dino problem and hjave my nutrients balance out and it just wont happen. i finally got my nutrients up for a while. my nitraates are 10-15 and .2-.3 phos. This makes no sense to me that the dinos are back my tank has not bottomed out since i first put up my tank. HOW IN THE HELL ARE DINOS COMING BACK WITH SKY HIGH NUTRIENTS PRESENT????? i am loosing my mind. my last attempt is the Aqua HOB UV sterilizer from bulk reef supply. I am going to try another 3 day blackout and then run the sterilizer. I am praying i have the strain that responds to UV. any other suggestions for me? If this does not work i will be breaking this tank down. I have had a ton of patience but you also have to know when to quit. Any tips on how to use the sterilizer or other suggestions on how to fight would be great. this battle has really killed my passion for the hobby i am so disappointed.. thanks !
ID the dinos. I feel ya, killed my dinos, only for GHA to show up and bring them back. also in a 15g.

Don't use vibrant and such, it usually is just a temp fix.

Where are the dinos growing?

Have you tried dosing bottled bacteria, adding live sand/rock, and making sure your sandbed is properly turned over?

Do you have proper flow?
 
i have tried all of that ... the last thing is the UV ... i have not tried it yet because i know it only works on specific strains of dino and its not that cheap.. i tried dosing NO3, bacteria, blackouts, manual removal, reducing light intensity, Dr tims method 4 times.. it just wont budge. i bought the 8 watt aqua HOB UV sterlizer im praying this will work.
UV was my method. worked amazing. until my UV broke and the replacement also broke.
 
Sorry for the double post but I just had an idea...why don't you send in samples to Aquabiomics to have your microbiome examined and they can help you in determining if your microbiome may be to blame or not...if you do want to try this then take the sample before using the UV because a UV can cause changes to the bacterial diversity and populations
That sounds cool, is there a web site I can go to? I want to do that with my tank.
 
That sounds cool, is there a web site I can go to? I want to do that with my tank.
Aquabiomics is the name of the company... pretty sure the website is aquabiomics.com...I'm not in America right now so I haven't done it myself but I definitely would if I was over there! Its a really cool service from what I've read about them!
 
I read an article the other day about bacteria and Mr saltwater tank had luck with vinegar and our vodka dosing. I'm having an issue with mine now in a 33 gallon and ice started vodka/vinegar dosing and it has lessened them and it's only been 3 days, also in very conservative I'm dosing 1/2 the recommended dose. I'm using both and homemade nopox. Good luck
 
I read an article the other day about bacteria and Mr saltwater tank had luck with vinegar and our vodka dosing. I'm having an issue with mine now in a 33 gallon and ice started vodka/vinegar dosing and it has lessened them and it's only been 3 days, also in very conservative I'm dosing 1/2 the recommended dose. I'm using both and homemade nopox. Good luck
A carbon source is just Dino food. You need to outcompete them, not feed them.

Have you tried live Phyto.
 
I started with dry rock. been in th hobby for over 8 years and always started with live rock and had many successful tanks ... i will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER start with dry rock ever again.


You get live rock every time you buy coral, snails, crabs, etc.

I think that people dramatically underestimate how difficult it is to NOT have microbes from live rock enter a tank.
 
". i tried dosing NO3, bacteria, blackouts, manual removal, reducing light intensity, Dr tims"

NO3? It's usually PO4 that we're dosing to beat dinos not NO3. Bacteria? That's a negative ghost rider! Bacteria lowers nutrients does not raise them. Blackouts? Not going to solve any problems but may create new ones. It's along the vein of "just starve them out" which never works. Dr Tims (assume some sort of bacteria regimen again this will lower nutrients not raise them).

Such a common misconception to tell people to lower nutrients in order to beat Dinoflagellates and Cyano Bacteria I have never seen a starvation approach work ever.
 
Can you post a couple of pics under white lighting to confirm its not lingbya or similar?
Also - what method did you use to combat it?
 
Im going through the same thing with my wifes tank. We just gonna restart.

Funny so many post “I would never start a tank without live rock”. I have three LFS here that have an amazing selection but no live rock. So better said than done. Read my signature. :face-with-tears-of-joy:
 

study, learn, repeat, never be invaded again in a nano. it's on file, for the clicking/free tank command info. Watch Sadie's resolve to not let the box of water win, that's key. how many params did we ask for

how many ID pics

how much hesitation did we do in any form, any detectable form

is that not a pure action thread we're seeing? what did the first 13 pages inaction pics look like in hindsight

even with reefers telling her the move was a bad idea, how are today's update pics looking on a scale of one to ten. there comes a time when logged pattern results wins the bid among best practice options.
 
Get a $15 scope and figure out what you have. Blackouts are completely pointless for dinos. Really wish that myth would die out. Go get some REAL LIVE ROCK and dinos will be gone in less than a week.
 
Nanos seem prime for dinos. The water volume allows them to quickly dominate. While I’m all for the good fight I got rid of mine in a 12 gallon by rip cleaning and rebooting. I had done chemical warfare but later regretted allowing myself to “freak out” and nuke stuff in the tank I couldn’t see or control. They come back for a reason. There’s nothing to outcompete them. A decent rip clean and then triggering a diatom bloom is what worked for me. I think most of the products are snake oil honestly.
 
Nanos seem prime for dinos. The water volume allows them to quickly dominate. While I’m all for the good fight I got rid of mine in a 12 gallon by rip cleaning and rebooting. I had done chemical warfare but later regretted allowing myself to “freak out” and nuke stuff in the tank I couldn’t see or control. They come back for a reason. There’s nothing to outcompete them. A decent rip clean and then triggering a diatom bloom is what worked for me. I think most of the products are snake oil honestly.
That's why I feel like starting with real live rock gives an advantage--the rocks are already colonized by bacteria and other organisms that can outcompete them
 
I completely understand your frustration! I’m on my second battle with dino‘s but with a 180 gallons and 40 gallon sump rebooting would be a huge task. Try EBay for a used microscope, I picked up a 3 power Swift for around $30 + shipping five years ago. Schools and such sell off old inventory all the time. ID is important. UV works for some but not the sand dwelling species, which is what I have.
 

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