I have almost completely eradicated dinoflagellates overnight.

[Silver14SS]

Next morning... it's like I swapped out the tank water for air... It's "there's nothing there" clear. I could prop up a book on one end of the tank and read it through the 4 foot water column It's. Crystal. Clear.

Three weeks and a bunch of tests to keep an eye on parameters later, I've decided this UV clarifier is never getting turned off. Call me sold.

It's like the difference between SD and HDTV, I had no idea what I was missing before I added UV.

I finally upgraded to a "real" UV.

I'm all for saving money where it makes sense, but the possibilities of leaks and bulb/quartz/transformer issues made me go with AquaUV.

 

[willow659]

55w will be delivered to me today. 220 DT so might be a little undersized but at less than $90, there's not much risk and it may just means it takes longer. I confirmed via microscope that I have Ostreopsis so the UV should hopefully do the trick. The buggers have likely killed 3 corals and agitated several more. Thankfully I haven't invested much in corals yet and I'm wondering if they're the reason for the lack of growth. Thought I was battling cyano for the longest time but I've always had what I now know to be classic signs of dino's. Thanks for this thread, good to know at least one of the less expensive UV's do actually work. I went to BRS first and saw one for $725. My wife would have said yes, as I always get anything I "need" for the tank without question, but she wouldn't have been happy lol!

I'm curious about how many of us who have dino's started off with dead rock. I bleached and then acid washed my pukani because of PO4 concerns. I'm wondering if adding some Florida LR and sand to my fuge would be beneficial just from the diversity it brings. That and the bad hitchhikers would already be isolated. Too bad I can't find that refugium mud stuff anywhere these days, I'd give it a try too.

Indo pacific sea farms has great mud and live sand activator.

 

[CherBear811]

Omg, they sell bristle worms. LOL!! The bane of my existence or at least it was when I worked at a reef shop. Lol... Love some of their other offerings though.

 

[jfoster38122]

is there a link for the uv on Amazon
also I don't have a sump so could it be plumbed without a sump at least temporarily

 

[jfoster38122]

ooks like the blackout so far fixed my issue
and I just got to thinking that I've been running moon lights on two tanks and both showed signs of dino
I have stopped running moon lights at all now
kinda makes sense that the blackout seems to have worked and even though moon light isn't bright it's still light and I have read that at night after main lights is when dino is in the water column and you can kill it with uv
something to consider
wonder if red tide in the ocean happens after a full or new moon

 

[chayes991]

Hi everyone, fascinated with this. How much wattage would you recommend for 20g (75liter) nano?

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

I have Ostreopsis and inherited a Jebao 36W UV. What is the flowrate I should shoot for to beat dinos?

 

[bwomac44]

I've had no issues running it 24/7 for the past 2-3 years other than added heat and electrical costs. Here's an old video of my tank this Spring before my move.

How much heat does the UV add to the tank?
Have a 25 watt Pentair coming for my 120 gallon.

 

[FarmerTy]

How much heat does the UV add to the tank?
Have a 25 watt Pentair coming for my 120 gallon.

It would be hard to answer for others but in my old system, 215 gallons, 54-watt UV, running 250 gph, rose about 2 degrees.

 

[bwomac44]

It would be hard to answer for others but in my old system, 215 gallons, 54-watt UV, running 250 gph, rose about 2 degrees.

Wow well I guess I’ll be finding out soon. Hopefully it’s more like just one degree.
I’ve heard that in Australia they run tanks like 84 85 degrees and it works so long as it’s stable.
I’m at 79-80 right now.
I guess I can have it switch off too if temp gets too high.

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

Wow well I guess I’ll be finding out soon. Hopefully it’s more like just one degree.
I’ve heard that in Australia they run tanks like 84 85 degrees and it works so long as it’s stable.
I’m at 79-80 right now.
I guess I can have it switch off too if temp gets too high.

It would be adding less than 25 watts, which isn't much. More likely it would add 10-15 watts of heat to the tank. About the same as a powerhead. If you wouldn't be worried about adding a powerhead due to heat, than I wouldn't worry about adding your sized UV sterilizer either.

 

[bwomac44]

It would be adding less than 25 watts, which isn't much. More likely it would add 10-15 watts of heat to the tank. About the same as a powerhead. If you wouldn't be worried about adding a powerhead due to heat, than I wouldn't worry about adding your sized UV sterilizer either.

Thanks
That’s a pretty similar logical approach to thinking about it as I just heard in a BRS video. Makes sense. Should be no issue

 

[bar|none]

Yeah, UV did it for me as well and mine was only 10w, not 50!

But the trick for me is that the flow is slow through the 10w, my main flow is NOT going thru it so I don't care about GPH. Slow flow at 10w kills them and even partial kill is enough to send them fleeing. I feel like they have a hive mind, "we are being killed...retreat retreat!"

I mean they sure change modes when N and P hit 0 right?

 

[tqpolo]

I finally upgraded to a "real" UV. After going to change the bulb in my second jebao (first one started leaking) and seeing all the black residue that was settled in it from the cheap plastic breaking down, i decided it was time to buy a quality unit.

The reason I was changing the bulb in the jebao is that I think it might have spectrum shifted, because I was having a new outbreak of ostreopsis after I had just wiped it out with the UV. I found a phillips bulb that should fit the jebao but I ended up breaking it. Perfect time to get a real UV.

I went with a pentair 40 watt, which is significantly more narrow and longer than the jebao 55w so I think the added dwell time should equal out, or improve results over the jebao.

Hey just curious after running the Jebao and the Pentair do think it's worth going with a quality UV brand?

 

[sfin52]

Oesto goes into the water collumn at night. That is why uv works so well for that species

 

[j.falk]

Alright, did a 20% water change yesterday. I can't find any dinos anywhere today. I'm calling this a success.

No more updates from me unless things go south. I'll continue to watch the thread if anyone has any questions about my setup.

Did your fish ever stop eating while you had dinos?

 

[Tbowser]

All I want for Christmas is to be free of Dinos! I have been battling them for three months and they never quite go away no matter what I do. I just added a UV filter last night and they went away some. Here’s hoping!

 

[chayes991]

awesome,
I beat mine too with uv and bacteria, removed all the phosphate remover and skimmer. Took about a month to fully clear.
Then just installed a cheato reactor instead of putting skimmer and phos reactor back on. It’s been a few months now and my tank has never looked better

 

[CubsFan]

I guess I’ll update. I’ve been Dino free for a really long time. UV and quitting water changes worked for me. I also had chaeto and some red macros in my fuge that took off. Now my TBS rock that I thought was destroyed by the Dino’s is growing several macros. Slowed My chaeto growth in a major way. We’ll see how it all goes from here.

 

[Bob Lauson]

Had Osteropsis Dinos and tried many things prior to trying UV. I put the UV sterilizer on my 180 gal tank and they were pretty much obliterated overnight. Have never turned off since.