My Plan to Deal with the Dinos - A diary

Siberwulf · Jul 21, 2021

LiveFreeAndReef said:
If you're getting algae growth it should keep the dinos at bay. I approached it like treating Ich with meds, I kept the temperature up until the dinos were gone, and then kept it there for another week just to be sure. I was making sure to keep my PH up (8.0-8.3) as I had read that dinos dont like the higher PH. I might've gotten lucky, but I wanted to share what had worked for me. I do believe the higher temperature is what did the trick, and the UV filter just helped to finish them off. (bought a cheap internal UV filter on Amazon, some brand called "Coodia")

I did have some Chaeto in my sump and it was absolutely exploding. However, it was a downright magnet for the dinos and getting rid of it did help set them back a bit. I'll need to get fish in there before I reintroduce it, I guess.

BanjoBandito · Jul 21, 2021

If nothing is in the tank I'd DINO X the crap out of it.

Siberwulf · Jul 21, 2021

BanjoBandito said:
If nothing is in the tank I'd DINO X the crap out of it.

I'd heard about Dino X, but that was when I did have Chaeto...maybe this is a possible avenue to explore, too.

Siberwulf · Jul 22, 2021

Day 68:

So I ran an ICP test, becuase I'm curious about leeching Antimony from the Green Killing Machine. It looks like there's a lot of expected low levels since I've not done a water change in like...2 months and I see coraline growth spreading pretty good. https://www.triton-lab.de/en/showroom/icp-oes/114056

I think when this is all said and done a decent water change would be good to replenish all the micronutrients in here that are low.

One question though... low Sodium, is that the same thing as low salinity? I did have to raise it a little bit the other day when I got back in town..

Edit: I did raise the temp a bit overnight to see if that can help as well.

GATOR DAVE · Jul 22, 2021

Siberwulf,
I had this same problem in my tank around the same time in life as yours, ~ 1month. (My tank is just over 4 months now) I had added Chaeto and had my light on it all the time wanting it to grow. New to this, I didn't realize that keeping the light on all the time was sucking my nutrients out of the tank at a higher rate than I could keep them in there naturally (Live Stock). So when PO4 and NO3 hit rock bottom, Boom! I had Dino's!!! My biggest problem was the same as yours, also trying to get nitrates to stay in the tank. I started dosing ME Coral's liquid nitrate and actually dosed over a few days to get my NO3 levels up to 15ppm. (I know a little high but was a good goal knowing that I had a nutrient deficiency). I also dosed Hex PO4 to maintain my PO4 levels in a good range (A little goes a looonnnggg way with this stuff) I was testing regularly during this time to keep these levels up and started noticing the good algae taking over with the nutrient levels coming up. Over a month long period I saw my Dino's slowly getting beat out and losing the battle. As the Dino's went away, the need to dose NO3 and PO4 did as well. I still monitor NO3 and PO4 regularly and actually control these levels pretty well with adjusting the photo period for the Chaeto. (IE when levels start to go up, I make the light stay on longer and allow the chaeto to do its job!). So in my Waterbox 20 (I know small tank) I only run my refugium light for the Chaeto for only 3 to 4 hours a day. Any longer and the Chaeto will suck the nutrients back out of the tank again. Keep blasting the dinos and sand bed with a turkey baster to keep them in the water column and continue to use your UV light. I also added Phyto and some Dr. Tims Eco Balance to aid in maintaining good bacteria to the tank. Once you see your Dino's are gone, wait another week or 2 before doing a water change as this is still new fuel for any remaining that you don't see. You may see a small return of some Dino's after the water change just due to life cycle but continue on the same path to continue to get rid of them. As the good algae continues to grow, add to your CUC to keep it under control. I know there are many different ways to beat Dino's, but this is what I did and had success in beating them out. It's a slow road but Dino's can be beat!!!

Siberwulf · Jul 23, 2021

Day 69:

Feels like things are turning around. The NeoNitro I added back two days ago hasn't gone down. I'm wondering if this means there are less dinos eating it because they're all dead. I mean I hope that's the case. Why the MB7 isn't consuming it is....weird. Shouldn't it be?

Tomorrow is lights out Day 5, and I've been running warm and with H2O2 in the tank at night, MB7 during the day. New pantyhose on the main drain into the sump, and cleaning that daily.

Really hope this is the trick!

Siberwulf · Jul 29, 2021

Day 75:

I'm not seeing any type of Dino growth right now.

Tank Parameters:

Nitrates - about 2ppm, and holding (haven't dosed them in a bit, which makes me think the Dinos aren't sucking them up)
Phosphates are about .12 measured, but the ICP test showed up as .08.
Temp holding about 81-82 for now.
UV and Skimmer working 24/7
Lights are at 50% and I reduced their runtime
I see some fuzzier algae growing on the glass now, which makes me feel better about something else competing
Coraline continues to spread, which is also nice.

I ordered a couple clowns back on 7/19, but I know Mike at Dr. Reef is pretty backlogged. I'm anxious to get them in there so I can use a daily feeding as my nitrate booster.

Siberwulf · Jul 31, 2021

Day 77:

Of course I spoke too soon. Ugh. They seem to be coming back on the very top-most structures (return heads) and a microscope confirmed there were a couple in there.

But, I was doing my weekly maintenance and noticed the UV (GKM) wasn't actually working...so it's been sans-UV for a couple weeks or so...that would make sense, I guess?

Siberwulf · Aug 6, 2021

Day 83:

I replaced my GKM yesterday. Petco was easy about returning the old one. Oddly enough the dinos haven't really surged like I had thought they would again. Maybe those were some leftovers and good things are taking back over the tank. I am dosing MB7 twice weekly now on M/F and I've modified my skimmer to put it on a partial schedule (off at 6am, back on at 11am) to keep the tank a little dirtier.

I'm wondering why I didn't have dino problems back in the day when I had a tank about a dozen years ago. Maybe it was due to no sump. I did have a GHA problem that got me out of the hobby, so maybe it was really just about ULN...

Siberwulf · Aug 17, 2021

Day 94:

Ok, this feels good to post, but I think I got them. I'm not seeing anything growing right now, and I've been on a bi-weekly MB7 dose (10ml) while I wait for fish from @Dr. Reef to show up.

I've been testing my Nitrates twice a week, too, and they don't seem to be going down, which I feel good about. I've been feeding some crab pellets to feed some of the CUC.

When I get some fish in here, I'll throw the chaeto in, which should help me control the nitrates. Will be super vigilant about nitrate levels though. Cheers!