Help Identifying Dinos

[jlauck]

I think they are a form of large cell, but they honestly all look the same to me.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Can’t open video on phone but may be either amphidium or osteo.

 

[saltyhog]

It does appear to be amphidinium. The movement pattern is not at all like ostreopsis. There are some that could be a different species (maybe prorocentrum) but the detail isn't sufficient to say for sure. Fortunately treatment for amphidinium is usually effective against prorocentrum as well. Keep nutrients in the NO3 5-10 range, PO4 in the 0.05-0.12 range, dose silicates for a competing diatom bloom. Increasing biodiversity with phyto dosing/pods is also a good idea.

 

[jlauck]

It does appear to be amphidinium. The movement pattern is not at all like ostreopsis. There are some that could be a different species (maybe prorocentrum) but the detail isn't sufficient to say for sure. Fortunately treatment for amphidinium is usually effective against prorocentrum as well. Keep nutrients in the NO3 5-10 range, PO4 in the 0.05-0.12 range, dose silicates for a competing diatom bloom. Increasing biodiversity with phyto dosing/pods is also a good idea.

Doing a lot of that already. Cut back on my fuge lighting. Only running it about once every three or four days to keep my chaeto alive. Dosing neonitro, neophos, microbacter7, added 5280 pods & oceanmagik from algae barn. I need to order some silicates and get a test kit, but was waiting for a second opinion on type.

Santa is bringing me a new microscope for Christmas, so I will hopefully have a better idea as I fight these off, and for future issues.

 

[saltyhog]

Doing a lot of that already. Cut back on my fuge lighting. Only running it about once every three or four days to keep my chaeto alive. Dosing neonitro, neophos, microbacter7, added 5280 pods & oceanmagik from algae barn. I need to order some silicates and get a test kit, but was waiting for a second opinion on type.

Santa is bringing me a new microscope for Christmas, so I will hopefully have a better idea as I fight these off, and for future issues.

All of the hobby test kits for silicates are pretty much worthless, especially at the level I recommend to dose to. What I do is dose daily to about 2 ppm with waterglass and check an ICP in 3-4 weeks and adjust as needed. The good thing is there doesn't seem to be any problems with even massive over doses (other than a much longer diatom bloom till the silicates are used up).

 

[Lavey29]

Doing a lot of that already. Cut back on my fuge lighting. Only running it about once every three or four days to keep my chaeto alive. Dosing neonitro, neophos, microbacter7, added 5280 pods & oceanmagik from algae barn. I need to order some silicates and get a test kit, but was waiting for a second opinion on type.

Santa is bringing me a new microscope for Christmas, so I will hopefully have a better idea as I fight these off, and for future issues.

If you are trying to increase nutient numbers then why dose MB7 which reduces the specific areas you are dosing to increase?

 

[jlauck]

If you are trying to increase nutient numbers then why dose MB7 which reduces the specific areas you are dosing to increase?

I've been following the playbook out of the dino support group on facebook.

Bacteria is constantly consumed by other organisms within the home reef system, and it’s a constant battleground for dominance at the microscopic level. It’s best to ensure that the right types of bacteria stay dominant in your reef system. We suggest topping up your bacteria on a weekly basis. One product that we use is MicroBacter7, but there are many different brands on the market that generally do the same job. Whichever one you pick, do some research online before making the purchase. Looking specifically at MicroBacter7, it can reduce your nitrates and phosphates. By the end of this document, you will get the jist that testing these parameters for the foreseeable future should almost be completed daily. So before starting to dose certain products that can reduce N03 and P04, it’s a good idea to get these levels elevated first.

 

[Lavey29]

I've been following the playbook out of the dino support group on facebook.

If FB is your guide....good luck...it says right on the MB7 bottle that it significantly removes nitrates and phosphates.

 

[jlauck]

If FB is your guide....good luck...it says right on the MB7 bottle that it significantly removes nitrates and phosphates.

I know it reduces NO3 and PO4. I haven't had a problem maintaining NO3 and PO4, I was getting zeros while I was fighting cyano. After I got rid of the cyano, i had enough nitrate and phosphate (~10ppm / 0.08), I'm just dosing it to make up for what the MB7 is reducing. I'm hoping the added beneficial bacteria will out-compete the dinos.

 

[Lavey29]

I know it reduces NO3 and PO4. I haven't had a problem maintaining NO3 and PO4, I was getting zeros while I was fighting cyano. After I got rid of the cyano, i had enough nitrate and phosphate (~10ppm / 0.08), I'm just dosing it to make up for what the MB7 is reducing. I'm hoping the added beneficial bacteria will out-compete the dinos.

Ok that is not what your prior post indicated. If your numbers are good and you are seeing benefits then keep using it. I found cutting out additives worked better in the overall health of the tank versus adding various things to try and correct various problems.

 

[jlauck]

Ok that is not what your prior post indicated. If your numbers are good and you are seeing benefits then keep using it. I found cutting out additives worked better in the overall health of the tank versus adding various things to try and correct various problems.

Yeah, I never had a problem with nutrients. Long story short. Went to a frag swap, didn't qt corals. Ended up with a nasty case of bryopsis and gha. Got that cleared up, and ended a big cyano outbreak because of high nutrients. Cleared that up, and my working theory is while the GHA and cyano was consuming all the nutrients, dinos creeped in.

 

[Lavey29]

Yeah, I never had a problem with nutrients. Long story short. Went to a frag swap, didn't qt corals. Ended up with a nasty case of bryopsis and gha. Got that cleared up, and ended a big cyano outbreak because of high nutrients. Cleared that up, and my working theory is while the GHA and cyano was consuming all the nutrients, dinos creeped in.

I have all the varied algaes in my 9 month tank. Currently a small amount of GHA on the rocks that is diminishing and a reddish brown algae on the sand that disappears at night. Not sure what it is. My plan is to stay the course with proper stabil water parameters. A fuge and a skimmer. Trying various chemicals media only tilted my balance to let another problem develop. Tank maturity is critical and I'm still many months from that however getting good coraline now which I hope out competes the nuisance algae. Sometimes a situation gets so bad that chemicals are needed and perhaps that is where you are now but keep in mind you need to wait like 4 to 8 weeks after a treatment process to fully assess its usefulness in the tank. Nothing can be assessed day to day.