I Need Help With Dinos. Pls im Desperate

[Rich Klein]

You really should try a combination of feeding more, dose KNO3 and KH2PO4, and reef roids. The point is to sustain an elevated level of nutrients to keep feeding the nuisance algae once they take a hold and there needs to be an excess in the water column too while doing this.

There are a lot success stories on this forum and you received a lot of good suggestions. It was trial and error and don't give up just because you tried it a day. It's a long process and you have to be in it for the long haul. Most of people who got dinos was because their nutrient levels bottomed out. Raising nitrate and phosphates should be your first priority but that doesn't mean you will eradicate dinos with just doing that you will need to have a plan of action. Dinos can be beaten, just don't give up.

What he said ;-), your 1st step is to promote green algae to outcompete the Dino. Once I understood that you don't kill Dino, you promote other micro and macro fauna that outcompete the Dino and then the Dino goes away naturally. It takes a bit of time for sure, but afterwards if you keep detectable NO3 and PO4, and a stable ALK of ~ 8-8.5 you shouldn't see them return.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

What he said ;-), your 1st step is to promote green algae to outcompete the Dino. Once I understood that you don't kill Dino, you promote other micro and macro fauna that outcompete the Dino and then the Dino goes away naturally. It takes a bit of time for sure, but afterwards if you keep detectable NO3 and PO4, and a stable ALK of ~ 8-8.5 you shouldn't see them return.

Do you think adding phyto would work? AS that it green algae, and i believe they also put a bit of brown algae in there as well.

 

[Snoopdog]

Expensive option that works great for certain types of dinos only. It wiped out my ostreopsis dinos in a couple days... but had no impact on the small cell amphidinium dinos that stick to the sandbed.

Not necessarily. If you are killing dinos and nothing else there are really cheap options on UV. I took care of my dinos in a 60 gallon tank for under $80.

 

[SMSREEF]

Do you think adding phyto would work? AS that it green algae, and i believe they also put a bit of brown algae in there as well.

No. I tried this and it didn’t work. Bacteria in a bottle didn’t work. Lights out... they just came back.

UV and dosing NO3 and PO4 to keep levels 5-10 and 0.05-0.1 is what worked for mine. You will need a good phosphate test kit like Hanna ULR if you are going to dose though.

you may also want to get some real live rock (the kind with macroalgae and small feather dusters). This will increase the number of competitors to the dinos

 

[Cbones1979]

Not necessarily. If you are killing dinos and nothing else there are really cheap options on UV. I took care of my dinos in a 60 gallon tank for under $80.

Big Green machine on Amazon worked for me 2x's.

 

[Snoopdog]

Big Green machine on Amazon worked for me 2x's.

Exactly. I bought two of them. It worked so well I kept one in the rear portion of my upper sump.

 

[SMSREEF]

Agree 100% with above UV posts
I used a cheap green killing machine inside the tank. They were gone in a couple days.
It’s good for short term use for Dino’s, but I would not leave in long term. My impeller rod was starting to rust after 2 months.
but If I everhave another Dino outbreak, I would buy another one.
You want at least 1 watt per gallon of water.

 

[Cbones1979]

Exactly. I bought two of them. It worked so well I kept one in the rear portion of my upper sump.

with my new tank i've been running it 24-7 at this point. i was close to bottoming out nutrients before i added a few more fish.

 

[Snoopdog]

I want to add one more thing to this thread since you asked one question and got 10 different opinions on how to take care of dinoflagellates. First you need to know the beast you are dealing with. You cannot take care of a problem until you know what the problem actually is. Identify the species first and foremost. Get you a cheap $100 Amscope and find out what you are dealing with, report back with a picture of it. No matter which option you choose on getting rid of them keep in mind many of these answers are what some people think worked for them. They may had poured bleach in the tank but the dinoflagellates may had been about to disappear anyway. Keep that in mind. I went the UV route because it was the safest route that is proven to work on the species of dinoflagellates I had (ostreopsis), mine were gone around day 5. But my best advice is patience. Nothing good seems to happen quickly in a reef tank. Make a change and wait before making another change.

 

[wonroc]

Hermits and a skimmer. Done

 

[Snoopdog]

Hermits and a skimmer. Done

That is horrible advice? What are hermits going to do? They do not eat it. They may kick it around and it gets stuck to their shell, but they do not eat it. A skimmer also does nothing but possible lowering nitrates more, in fact that makes the problem worse.

 

[SMSREEF]

I want to add one more thing to this thread since you asked one question and got 10 different opinions on how to take care of dinoflagellates. First you need to know the beast you are dealing with. You cannot take care of a problem until you know what the problem actually is. Identify the species first and foremost. Get you a cheap $100 Amscope and find out what you are dealing with, report back with a picture of it. No matter which option you choose on getting rid of them keep in mind many of these answers are what some people think worked for them. They may had poured bleach in the tank but the dinoflagellates may had been about to disappear anyway. Keep that in mind. I went the UV route because it was the safest route that is proven to work on the species of dinoflagellates I had (ostreopsis), mine were gone around day 5. But my best advice is patience. Nothing good seems to happen quickly in a reef tank. Make a change and wait before making another change.

Good point. Mine were Ostreopsis too.

 

[SMSREEF]

I think I gave you links in a different thread, but these may help.

Hunting With A Microscope

Diatoms and blue-green algae are only two of many groups of organisms that can be studied using a microscope.

reefs.com

and this guide from @taricha

 

[piranhaman00]

Dinos used to give me headache too but they are easy, any species responds to UV its just that some dont enter water column.

Bring up NO3 and PO4 , Get a good size UV hooked up to display and blow off rocks every night. 30 days and gone.

 

[Snoopdog]

Dinos used to give me headache too but they are easy, any species responds to UV its just that some dont enter water column.

Bring up NO3 and PO4 , Get a good size UV hooked up to display and blow off rocks every night. 30 days and gone.

I would argue that if they are ostreopsis and you keep the UV on 24x7, they will likely be gone in 7 days. That is if you use enough UV.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

No. I tried this and it didn’t work. Bacteria in a bottle didn’t work. Lights out... they just came back.

UV and dosing NO3 and PO4 to keep levels 5-10 and 0.05-0.1 is what worked for mine. You will need a good phosphate test kit like Hanna ULR if you are going to dose though.

you may also want to get some real live rock (the kind with macroalgae and small feather dusters). This will increase the number of competitors to the dinos

Id love to one day own a collection of all the Hanna CHeckers because they look awesome and I know they work really well, but theyre $70 each

 

[piranhaman00]

I would argue that if they are ostreopsis and you keep the UV on 24x7, they will likely be gone in 7 days. That is if you use enough UV.

Yes 30 days max

Id love to one day own a collection of all the Hanna CHeckers because they look awesome and I know they work really well, but theyre $70 each

PO4 and Copper and the only necessary ones, the dkh is very useful and the others are not needed.

 

[SMSREEF]

PO4 and Copper and the only necessary ones, the dkh is very useful and the others are not needed.

Agree with this 100%


the Alk is just a nice to have.
The Copper one has to do with the life of your fish in quarantine, and dosing copper appropriately. And if you dose phosphate, color charts just don’t work well enough for the small parameter we are going for.

 

[Thaxxx]

Have you dosed the peroxide yet?
How long has it been?
Is it looking any better?

 

[wonroc]

That is horrible advice? What are hermits going to do? They do not eat it. They may kick it around and it gets stuck to their shell, but they do not eat it. A skimmer also does nothing but possible lowering nitrates more, in fact that makes the problem worse.

Your the stewy snoopie.
Protein skimmers are great because they remove wastes before they get the chance to break down and put off nitrate and phosphate. They can help cut down on excess nutrients that help fuel diatoms, cyanobacteria and nuisance algae. After the skimmer, the hermies will clean up additional algea growth from the excess nutrients.