Is this Dino's

fuelman · Oct 18, 2019

I bottomed out my nitrate & phosphate about a month ago and I have been syphoning this stuff up every few days. slimy green stringy some has bubbles on the end some doesn't. I don't have a microscope & haven't had any losses of fish Coral's snails but can't get rid of it, comes back every few days after syphoning it up. What do you guys think?

Snowxcross · Oct 18, 2019

fuelman said:
I bottomed out my nitrate & phosphate about a month ago and I have been syphoning this stuff up every few days. slimy green stringy some has bubbles on the end some doesn't. I don't have a microscope & haven't had any losses of fish Coral's snails but can't get rid of it, comes back every few days after syphoning it up. What do you guys think?

Hi Fuel -

Yes, if stringy with bubbles it's highly likely it's Dino's. Running super low Nitrate and Phosphate even with a fuge gave me Dino's as well. I've tried multiple things, but what worked for me was a 3 day blackout. Additionally i did some studying on why this stuff and Algae occur. You just need to put back some bacteria. I followed the two week process of Dr. Tim's (Refresh and Waste-Away), couple of caps of each (follow the schedule), a few small water changes, and it never came back. Easiest for you might just to be start with the blackout, it wont hurt anything. After the Dr. Tims method, i turned my skimmer to 18/6 versus 24/7 and that allowed natural bacteria to pass through. Hope this helps!

fuelman · Oct 18, 2019

Snowxcross said:
Hi Fuel -

Yes, if stringy with bubbles it's highly likely it's Dino's. Running super low Nitrate and Phosphate even with a fuge gave me Dino's as well. I've tried multiple things, but what worked for me was a 3 day blackout. Additionally i did some studying on why this stuff and Algae occur. You just need to put back some bacteria. I followed the two week process of Dr. Tim's (Refresh and Waste-Away), couple of caps of each (follow the schedule), a few small water changes, and it never came back. Easiest for you might just to be start with the blackout, it wont hurt anything. After the Dr. Tims method, i turned my skimmer to 18/6 versus 24/7 and that allowed natural bacteria to pass through. Hope this helps!

thanks for the response, i have been looking through the treatment threads & the big dino thread dr tim's seems to be the best bet. so you put your skimmer on a timer 18 hours on & 6 hours off & it's worked good for you ?

Snowxcross · Oct 18, 2019

fuelman said:
thanks for the response, i have been looking through the treatment threads & the big dino thread dr tim's seems to be the best bet. so you put your skimmer on a timer 18 hours on & 6 hours off & it's worked good for you ?

Yup, i did add around that time a UV but honestly it's under powered for a 130g, but i'm not saying it didnt help, just that ultimately it was the Dr. Tims and reducing the skimmer back a bit. Yes, since then i've been good... I have very minor GHA on some rock, but like who doesnt and it's not a bad thing.

fuelman · Oct 18, 2019

Snowxcross said:
Yup, i did add around that time a UV but honestly it's under powered for a 130g, but i'm not saying it didnt help, just that ultimately it was the Dr. Tims and reducing the skimmer back a bit. Yes, since then i've been good... I have very minor GHA on some rock, but like who doesnt and it's not a bad thing.

Great I got a timer already I'm gonna give that a try & the Dr Tim's, thanks!!!