How would you feel if I tore it all down?

[PmCarbrey]

Have you tried metroplex? One scoop per 10g? I did 3 doses which killed it way back and a few months later dosed another round of 3 doses and I haven’t seen it since. Vibrant also helped but I think it cleared the water more than killed the Dino’s.

I can vouch for metroplex as well, used it on client's tanks multiple times. I always go extremely heavy on dosing, and run 3-5 rounds through, with 100% water changes and manual removal inbetween. I've cleared some pretty disgusting infestations out with it.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I've heard of using a chaeto reactor to outcompete dinos. The cyano trick seems like a good idea too.

 

[CJRIZZOTTI]

Yes but early and lately I haven’t done much of anything.



Never heard of it. More info?



No I have not.

I've only found it on ebay it's a old school method a good fellow reefer put me on to it he's had his reef tank up and running since 1995. It's malachite green and quinine hcl! Gets rid of everything dyno cyano green and brown algea i recommend using it half dose so it doesn't shock your tank ohh also kicks the crap out of ick! I love the stuff it's my go too! Made by a company called aquatronics the product is named greenex i bought 2 bottles that treats 600 gallons for i think 8 bucks plus shipping! Don't get discouraged brotha we all go thru the motions it'll get better!

 

[Orcus Varuna]

Yes I’m whining but I sure do need some encouragement!

How would you as members here feel if I tore down my 400g basement tank? I’m seriously close. Lol!

Dinos have pushed me to the edge of jumping. Yes it’s confirmed Dinos, I’ve added UV, conducted a blackout, driven my nitrates and phosphates up, dosed peroxide, added miracle mud and still losing for almost 10 months now and losing bad! Not a little bit of dino but a ton!

All the corals have been in a frag tank that’s plumbed to the main system and they are growing very well. Just can’t put anything in tbe main tank.

I am seriously considering tearing it all down and I know that’s not the right attitude but I’m tired of throwing money and time at a box of uncurabke algae. Very bad for a saltwater aquarium site to say that but I just need to be real.

Are you sure it’s Dino’s or is it potentially chrysophytes? Either way remove the frag tank, dose api algaefix and skim like mad. Once the Dino’s die replace the nutrient sink with something else such as macro algae and destroy that fuge with light (par well over 500). You need to reset what subset of critters that is winning the nutrient reduction war.

 

[joshporksandwich]

I threw dinos in when i went to see you. All my frags were covered in it. Bahahah

 

[4FordFamily]

@HotRocks found that his dinos were the result of low salinity, his new refractometer was WAY off.

He then axed them with Vibrant, blackouts for 3 days, and Hydrogen Peroxide at the same time. It’s a pain for sure!

 

[McArcher]

I’m wondering if you should try another blackout. Since you forgot to blackout the frag tank, it wasn’t really a true blackout the first time.

 

[Waters]

You have already received a ton of personal experiences, so I can only tell you what worked for me. Almost daily siphoning of the dinos, Vibrant, and UV. It took all three methods simultaneously for a couple of months. I have tried pretty much everything else with no luck. I would probably hold off on tearing it down....it is quite possible you will go through all of that extra work only to have the same issue again. The Rev, King of Reef2Reef cannot give up!

 

[ShawnSaucier]

Sometimes nature takes all the fun out of trying to control it. I don’t have kids, but I like the the term “ terrible twos” when I refer to my tank sometimes. No matter what I try it says “ No, I’m going to do this”.

I would separate your frag tank off of the main system, and remove your fish from the display and cut your lights for a week or two. Not sure what type of lighting you are running, but if you are running something like Ecotech gradually return your lights to a normal photo period over the following two weeks. If you have a fuge on the display I would load it with chaeto and let it run its course. If you’re not feeding the tank, you’re not adding any nutrients. At some point the Dino’s are going to starve. The only thing I would add to the tank during this time would be pods and maybe some micro fauna in the form of GARF Grunge or IPSF sand activator, conchs etc.
This will give you time to regroup mentally. Maybe do a little re-aquascaping and look at your flow. During the black out time, turkey baste the heck out of the rocks and sand. Not sure if you started with dry, man made or live rock..? I know from experience that dry, though you start with no pests, can be a real struggle for the first 18 months even with what seems like proper cleaning. Some have great luck, but as you know, not every environment is the same.
I’ve been reefing since 2000, and my recent build, now 4 years old, has been the biggest struggle. After a crash in “16” I kinda gave up a bit and just tried to maintain the fish and few polyps I had left. Not noodling with the tank I think allowed it to settle. Now I just do things as slowly as possible and let the tank tell me when it’s ready.
The best things come to those who wait. So don’t tear it down. Take a deep breath, sip on some iced tea, maintain your frags and fish. You’ve put a ton of work into your system, let it settle and nature take its course.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I'm not a big believer of tearing a tank down and starting anew (re-enforced by my recent experience with benthic diatoms.) Perhaps add algae to out-compete? Allelopathy is underestimated!

@Dana Riddle, not meant to highjack the Rev's thread, but what was your experience dealing with your diatoms. As of late I've been battling them in my well established system on my sand bed. I've tried everything in my book of experience over the years to no avail. I'm getting ready to dose bakers yeast as a second to last resort.


@revhtree, there's been some good advice here. Another black out with the fuge off line is a solid idea. You can beat them! Hang in there!

 

[HotRocks]

In 15 years of reefing I have never faced anything like this.

I made the "rookie" mistake of not calibrating my new refractometer. I had a major cyano issue, dosed chemiclean. Upon my waterchange after the elimination of Cyano, Dinos went wild. I could not for the life of me get rid of them. I started researching, as I had also lost a few corals, and my urchins spines were falling off. It was the dang salinity. I had dropped all the way to 1.016, over a weeks time, I brought the salinity back up to 1.024. Did a 3 day blackout, and dosed vibrant in combination with Hydrogen Peroxide. O dinos now. Been lights on again for a week. Still keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[Dana Riddle]

@Dana Riddle, not meant to highjack the Rev's thread, but what was your experience dealing with your diatoms. As of late I've been battling them in my well established system on my sand bed. I've tried everything in my book of experience over the years to no avail. I'm getting ready to dose bakers yeast as a second to last resort.


@revhtree, there's been some good advice here. Another black out with the fuge off line is a solid idea. You can beat them! Hang in there!

My display tank had been up and running for a several months and everything was going quite well - Acroporas were growing, others were fluorescing nicely and so on. The aquascape was dry rock, that some say is problematic. I noticed a thin layer of slimy growths on the rock and initially diagnosed it as dinoflagellates. I tried several things - manual removal by scrubbing (a Blastomussa definitely did not like this and reacted violently by expelling some of its green fluorescence), siphoning, massive water changes, a 39 hour blackout (due to power loss during a winter storm), a large UV reactor to possibly kill suspended growths, and adjusting the pH to 8.5. Nothing seemed to have any impact. Only after a microscopic examination of the stuff did I realize this stuff wasn't dinoflagellates at all - this nasty stuff was diatoms. Major lesson #1 - Know your enemy! I probably could had this under control in the early stages, but since I was concerned with dinoflagellates' toxicity issues with snails, conchs. etc. I didn't add any predators. At first, I added GFO for silica control but this didn't have any effect. Addition of snails and conchs had an impact, but it was until I added Chaetomorpha to the sump did I see real positive changes, and I mean in a hurry. Whole patches of diatoms disappeared literally overnight. It took a couple of weeks for the diatoms to disappear and they seem gone for good. The snails are happy - I have perhaps 30-40 tiny Astraea snails in addition to the dozen I initially added. The diatom genus is (was) Licmophora, I think.

 

[Dana Riddle]

To clarify my previous statement - the conchs are Tiger Sand Conchs and do a great job of keeping the sand clean.

 

[FredsNJReef]

Don't give up brother, I can only imagine how frustrating it is in a huge tank like that. But you have some great advice here, so try a few for old times sake. It can't hurt.

We support you!!

 

[O'l Salty]

What type of dinos do you have? That's important. How many watt is your UV?

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I can vouch for metroplex as well, used it on client's tanks multiple times. I always go extremely heavy on dosing, and run 3-5 rounds through, with 100% water changes and manual removal inbetween. I've cleared some pretty disgusting infestations out with it.

What kind of effects does it have on inverts, corals, etc.? Also are you sure you got rid of Dinos? Thanks!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I've only found it on ebay it's a old school method a good fellow reefer put me on to it he's had his reef tank up and running since 1995. It's malachite green and quinine hcl! Gets rid of everything dyno cyano green and brown algea i recommend using it half dose so it doesn't shock your tank ohh also kicks the crap out of ick! I love the stuff it's my go too! Made by a company called aquatronics the product is named greenex i bought 2 bottles that treats 600 gallons for i think 8 bucks plus shipping! Don't get discouraged brotha we all go thru the motions it'll get better!

Do you have a link to some for purchase? Thanks for the info!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Are you sure it’s Dino’s or is it potentially chrysophytes? Either way remove the frag tank, dose api algaefix and skim like mad. Once the Dino’s die replace the nutrient sink with something else such as macro algae and destroy that fuge with light (par well over 500). You need to reset what subset of critters that is winning the nutrient reduction war.

This is what I have.

I threw dinos in when i went to see you. All my frags were covered in it. Bahahah

Probably...LOL! Nah it was just getting started when you got there.

@HotRocks found that his dinos were the result of low salinity, his new refractometer was WAY off.

He then axed them with Vibrant, blackouts for 3 days, and Hydrogen Peroxide at the same time. It’s a pain for sure!

Thanks for the info. My salinity is good though.

What type of dinos do you have? That's important. How many watt is your UV?

See the above photos and I am running a 55w sterilizer.

 

[Fin]

Of course we may be talking about different types of infestations here, but Vibrant worked for me in a 20 gallon nano. It took a little while, but it has been gone for months now.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Of course we may be talking about different types of infestations here, but Vibrant worked for me in a 20 gallon nano. It took a little while, but it has been gone for months now.

Dosed some a few days ago.