How long to win the battle when using UV for dinos ?

[ScottB]

I don’t know if this was mentioned already but

I tried everything. The only thing that worked was plumbing uv straight in and out of tank. Then basting with turkey baster off the rocks. 2 weeks the Dino’s were history

Many people resist plumbing it that way, but it really is substantially more effective. I just cannot explain (with conviction) why it is so much more effective. It is just is.

 

[Idech]

As we are too lazy to page back, remind of us of your specie and your method?

I did @vetteguy53081 ’s method, ie : 3% hydrogen peroxyde for 5-6 days. I brushed off the dinos off the sand and rocks once or twice a day, especially at night before the lights when off. I turned the lights down to 15%, no whites and slowly, very slowly went back up.

I also bought a UV that I ran for 4 weeks, even though the dinos were gone after 7 days.

The specie, I don’t know. I’ve posted pictures but the microscope that I had just bought (and returned) wasn’t the greatest and there was too little left to clearly see when I got him.

Many people resist plumbing it that way, but it really is substantially more effective. I just cannot explain (with conviction) why it is so much more effective. It is just is.

That’s how my UV was set up, as I don’t have a sump.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I did @vetteguy53081 ’s method, ie : 3% hydrogen peroxyde for 5-6 days. I brushed off the dinos off the sand and rocks once or twice a day, especially at night before the lights when off. I turned the lights down to 15%, no whites and slowly, very slowly went back up.

I also bought a UV that I ran for 4 weeks, even though the dinos were gone after 7 days.

The specie, I don’t know. I’ve posted pictures but the microscope that I had just bought (and returned) wasn’t the greatest and there was too little left to clearly see when I got him.

That’s how my UV was set up, as I don’t have a sump.

Very good. As an insurance you can dose .5ml of peroxide at night for another week but do resume your light schedules

 

[Idech]

Very good. As an insurance you can dose .5ml of peroxide at night for another week but do resume your light schedules

I did that as you suggested already. It’s been about 4-5 weeks now.

Thank you

 

[vetteguy53081]

I did that as you suggested already. It’s been about 4-5 weeks now.

Thank you

I realize that. Im saying you can continue low dose peroxide another week (optional ) as an extra insurance. When I fought and beat my dino, I added .5 ml at night for 3 more weeks

 

[Idech]

I realize that. Im saying you can continue low dose peroxide another week (optional ) as an extra insurance. When I fought and beat my dino, I added .5 ml at night for 3 more weeks

Oh, okay. Thanks !

 

[Ashish Patel]

Many people resist plumbing it that way, but it really is substantially more effective. I just cannot explain (with conviction) why it is so much more effective. It is just is.

In my new build I have the option of running a UV from my display or the basement sump. I probably will run it from basement since I dont have a problem right now but think it could be beneficial to have the outtake of the UV going to skimmer section instead of this stuff being circulated in the tank. Either way the water turns over so much in 24 hours so doesnt really matter aslong as its getting done. I also suspect having it in the display could be too much UV for good bacteria and as you know, too much of anything can be bad.

 

[Idech]

And…. they’re back !

Nitrates have very slowly gone down from 20 ppm to 10 ppm, over the course of many months. I don’t know if that’s the problem.
The only change besides that is adding 2 AI Prime 16 HD, for a total of 4.

So I’m starting the dinos recipe above, again. Sigh.

 

[KonradTO]

And…. they’re back !

Nitrates have very slowly gone down from 20 ppm to 10 ppm, over the course of many months. I don’t know if that’s the problem.
The only change besides that is adding 2 AI Prime 16 HD, for a total of 4.

So I’m starting the dinos recipe above, again. Sigh.

Are u sure that is dino?
It looks like diatoms to me

 

[bobnicaragua]

I battled dinos for months. UV helped, but did not eliminate the problem.

I added miracle mud to the sump and then added established rock with sponges and lots of microfauna to the sump and tank. (Purchased at LFS from tank tear downs) That’s when things reached a turning point for me.

I also ran an 8 hour photoperiod with only 3 hours of intense light and dosed bacteria. Best of luck to you!

 

[Idech]

Are u sure that is dino?
It looks like diatoms to me

No, I can’t be 100% sure. But it does look like what I had before.

Do diatoms come back in older tanks ? I mean I’m 7 months away from cycling and I have lots of coralline algae and stable parameters.

I guess I’ll do the coffee filter test tonight.

 

[Dav2996]

I have been running UV since day 1 & I run skimmer 247 with UV. I get extremely small patches of Dino sometimes I just turkey baste and they are gone.

 

[KonradTO]

No, I can’t be 100% sure. But it does look like what I had before.

Do diatoms come back in older tanks ? I mean I’m 7 months away from cycling and I have lots of coralline algae and stable parameters.

I guess I’ll do the coffee filter test tonight.

I think it could be caused by old RODI filters. If it does not filter silicates then you will get diatoms. I have the very same red rust on my sand right now, but I think it's diatoms (I had quite hight silicate in my rodi water). Also I think dino produces bubbles and significantly increases during the day, and the next morning you will have a lot less. Only way to tell for certain is to look under microscope

 

[Idech]

I think it could be caused by old RODI filters. If it does not filter silicates then you will get diatoms. I have the very same red rust on my sand right now, but I think it's diatoms (I had quite hight silicate in my rodi water). Also I think dino produces bubbles and significantly increases during the day, and the next morning you will have a lot less. Only way to tell for certain is to look under microscope

I’ll be changing all my cartridges soon so that should take care of that.

I dimmed my lights to 15% and added half a dose of peroxyde as a prevention measure but will reassess tomorrow.

Hopefully it’s just diatoms.

 

[KonradTO]

I’ll be changing all my cartridges soon so that should take care of that.

I dimmed my lights to 15% and added half a dose of peroxyde as a prevention measure but will reassess tomorrow.

Hopefully it’s just diatoms.

I am a noob with reefing, just started in august. But last year I had a dino outbreak (ostreopsis) and blackout+uv+dosing nutrients worked pretty well, as it disappeared and never came back. But it was looking like long brown strings covered in bubbles, and at night was mostly gone

 

[Idech]

I am a noob with reefing, just started in august. But last year I had a dino outbreak (ostreopsis) and blackout+uv+dosing nutrients worked pretty well, as it disappeared and never came back. But it was looking like long brown strings covered in bubbles, and at night was mostly gone

I’m glad you got rid of those. I started in march 2021 myself, so a little over a year ago. This is my second tank. My first one, smaller, never had dinos.

 

[Idech]

I’ve hooked up the UV sterilizer and I’m doing the peroxyde treatment for dinos. It’s really p…. me off and making me disinterested in the tank. I feel like I’m starting over and it’s just not a good feeling. I don’t understand why it’s happening either, which is adding to the grief.

The UV is right in front of the tank, since I don‘t have a sump. It’s just an eye sore. I haven’t scrubbed the glass for 8-10 days and it’s looking brown and dirty. And the window blue light is so depressing.

I’m just not into it. It will come back. Eventually.

 

[saltyhog]

Those do not look like a UV sensitive species of dinos. Have you gotten a microscopic view of them yet? If not I would highly encourage you to do that before trying anything else.

 

[Idech]

Those do not look like a UV sensitive species of dinos. Have you gotten a microscopic view of them yet? If not I would highly encourage you to do that before trying anything else.

I bought a microscope the first time and it was a disaster. I couldn’t make it work and didn’t see anything.

You need to pay a few hundred bucks (in CAD) to get an okay one and I have other things I need before I spend money on that. I’ll get one if I’m desperate.

Right now it’s not spreading but not really going away either. It’s mainly in one spot, on the right side, near the glass (as seen on the picture above).

I had to increase the lighting, the corals aren’t liking the new setting too much. I cranked it up to 30% with 5% white.

I hope they go away. Whatever it is.

 

[Duncan62]

So for dinos (at least the ostreopsis variety) you'll need to be able to push about 8x true tank turnover volume at the required exposure rate. That is 600 gph either closed loop to UV or in return line. Your UV can support it (I have he same for my RSR 170) but make sure your flow and set up are correct.

Probably should get a cheap microscope as there are many species of dinos but you know that already.

Read my build thread starting about page 5 for my dino battle.

Saw results pretty quick once identified dinos, installed UV and had right flow rate. But I took my eye off the ball too early and reduced flow and they came back. At that point I used DinoX and UV (don't recommend that - wrecked my tank).

Good luck!

It takes time to get rid of dinos. The uv will speed things up but the long term fix so they don't come back is consistent nutrient management. Peroxide kills them but they come right back if conditions that let them take over remain the same. Be patient.