It's time for a hammer. DinoX...

[BetterJake]

I've been at war with a case of Prorocentrum Dino's that are all over the sand (90% covered) + rocks (90% covered). I've tried the following below with limited/no success in beating them back.

I believe I'm a good candidate for DinoX as I only have two corals, a small Zoa (currently getting smothered by dinos) and a frammer coral. No risk of losing substantial amounts of coral. Thankfully I've gone really slow with stocking my tank as I expected roadblocks, so this leaves me with more treatment options vs other tanks that are full of coral.

The below has not helped

1. P & N were dosed and have been kept at elevated levels since dino infestation was confirmed. I'm now consistently at 20 - 30 N and .1 - .2 P.
2. H202. No effect
3. Blackout. No effect
4. UV. No effect, water is clear though!
5. No water changes. No effect
6. Manually siphoning sand bed and toothbrush for rocks. This really ticks them off and they explode back within hours
7. Mb7 + Phyto, no effect
8. Added live ocean rock and ocean sand. No effect

As the title states, it's time for a hammer. DinoX is expected to arrive on the 21st. I will post here as things hopefully progress.

 

[PeterC99]

How old is your setup?

 

[Reef.]

Only two coral then I would say you’re a perfect candidate for scrubbing the rocks and number 6 from your list, do this 2-3 times a day for 2 weeks you n you should be clear, change filter socks etc after each scrubbing, scrub the rocks out of the tank using tank water.

 

[BetterJake]

How old is your setup?

Closing in on five months.

It's not so much the appearance of the dinos that concerns me, but the toxicity of prorocentrum dinos. All my fish were purchased pre-QT from TSM aquatics (pricey + time consuming). They do seem fine at the moment, but with the infestation accelerating I'm concerned about their health

 

[Sean Clark]

I have used Dinox in the past and my experience was going from dinos to cyano. This was years ago and anecdotal evidence but I correlated the two.

 

[MnFish1]

I've been at war with a case of Prorocentrum Dino's that are all over the sand (90% covered) + rocks (90% covered). I've tried the following below with limited/no success in beating them back.

I believe I'm a good candidate for DinoX as I only have two corals, a small Zoa (currently getting smothered by dinos) and a frammer coral. No risk of losing substantial amounts of coral. Thankfully I've gone really slow with stocking my tank as I expected roadblocks, so this leaves me with more treatment options vs other tanks that are full of coral.

1. P & N were dosed and have been kept at elevated levels since dino infestation was confirmed. I'm now consistently at 20 - 30 N and .1 - .2 P.
2. H202. No effect
3. Blackout. No effect
4. UV. No effect, water is clear though!
5. No water changes. No effect
6. Manually siphoning sand bed and toothbrush for rocks. This really ticks them off and they explode back within hours
7. Mb7 + Phyto, no effect
8. Added live ocean rock and ocean sand. No effect

As the title states, it's time for a hammer. DinoX is expected to arrive on the 21st. I will post here as things hopefully progress.

Let everyone know what happens 1-5 and 7 and 8 u would imagine would have no effect. Whatever happens - my guess is that with free area - they will come back/

 

[BetterJake]

I have used Dinox in the past and my experience was going from dinos to cyano. This was years ago and anecdotal evidence but I correlated the two.

I would not be shocked if this happens to me as well. This is common for a lot of tanks that beat out Dinos. The elevated nutrients remain, and in comes cyano

 

[BetterJake]

Let everyone know what happens 1-5 and 7 and 8 u would imagine would have no effect. Whatever happens - my guess is that with free area - they will come back/

I should clarify. I have already tried everything in that list. This is why DinoX is up next

 

[MnFish1]

I guarantee you - if you had coral colonies covering the areas - (though a picture would be nice) - you would have no Dinos

 

[Sean Clark]

I would not be shocked if this happens to me as well. This is common for a lot of tanks that beat out Dinos. The elevated nutrients remain, and in comes cyano

I was very low n and p at the time.

 

[BetterJake]

I guarantee you - if you had coral colonies covering the areas - (though a picture would be nice) - you would have no Dinos

Interesting. Could you clarify what you mean? That surface area covered with coral would make it difficult for the dinos to also use that real estate? Or the added biodiversity from having more coral?

 

[FIN&BONEZ]

Had a bad case three months after setting up a 40b and tend to be a very impatient person when things dont go my way as I plan. With that being said and after spending a ton of money trying to fix something that cant be solved overnight I decided to go back to square one. I asked my local aquarium or LFS if they would be so kind as to save 20 gallons of water when they changed out their main reef which was fully stocked with fish as well. Came home did a 50 on it a dino's were gone in a week. Also flow flow flow, make sure your dead spots are turning sand over. Good luck theyre a pain

 

[leighton.bingham]

My dinos went away with the blackout and H2O2, and in came GHA and lots of it. I can't get my tank balanced. I had Dino-x on hand just in case it didn't go away. I still haven't done a water change since the blackout.

 

[BetterJake]

My dinos went away with the blackout and H2O2, and in came GHA and lots of it. I can't get my tank balanced. I had Dino-x on hand just in case it didn't go away. I still haven't done a water change since the blackout.

I combined a blackout + h202 dosing, they reduced slightly. GHA would be much preferred vs Dinos. No toxicity and my herbivores and pods can actually eat GHA.

 

[TheReefDiary]

I should clarify. I have already tried everything in that list. This is why DinoX is up next

I've been battling large cell dinos for almost a month and a half at this point. I've had ebs and flows when it comes their strength. dosing silicates has helped a ton. I also added another rcish to the system to help keep po4 and nitrates up. so far the past few days I've seen a lot less buildup.

also I dosed mb7 and live phyto.

 

[BetterJake]

I've been battling large cell dinos for almost a month and a half at this point. I've had ebs and flows when it comes their strength. dosing silicates has helped a ton. I also added another rcish to the system to help keep po4 and nitrates up. so far the past few days I've seen a lot less buildup.

also I dosed mb7 and live phyto.

The only "nice" thing about large cell is that they are not toxic.

 

[TheReefDiary]

The only "nice" thing about large cell is that they are not toxic.

yep, they've been a nightmare otherwise.

 

[MnFish1]

Interesting. Could you clarify what you mean? That surface area covered with coral would make it difficult for the dinos to also use that real estate? Or the added biodiversity from having more coral?

Dinos will take over an area that is 'bare' - If you have a couple frags on bare dry rock you will get 'other things'. If coral colonies are covering that area - you will not. IMHO

 

[BetterJake]

Christmas update on this very cold morning!

Today is two days after the second dose of Dino X.

It's working, about a 70% reduction on the sand. The remaining dinos on the sand are weakened as well, no more of the long snot strands. The rocks still have a healthy coat, however, what's left on the rocks is also starting to lose it's color and look weak.

Skimmer is running wet, 24/7, as advised by the creator of Dino X, Fauna Marin. It's definitely pulling some funky stuff out of the water. I've also reduced the main photoperiod to six hours, with one hour ramp up and down for a total of 8 hours.

Carbon bag has also been removed, the water hasn't looked this clear since before dinos. Carbon will be added back once the treatment period has finished. One week after treatment is finished I will resume with 10% weekly water changes.

Dose three will be going in tonight. Fish are doing well, my one frammer coral is full and happy like always.

 

[BetterJake]

One day after 3rd Dino X dose..

Dinos have been reduced about 95% on the sand. The rocks are covered in dinos that are hanging on by a thread. I will be going in and giving them a quick toothbrush scrub this afternoon.

For the first time in forever, I'm seeing some GHA growth and what looks like a cyano patch on a rock. Never thought I would be happy to see GHA and Cyano, it means the tank has some balance and competition back, seems like the Dino X has given other algae the ability to gain some ground back.

Fish and coral still looking good.