New Sand?

birddawg · Apr 29, 2023

Hey everyone, have a quick question. I have been battling Dino’s for awhile now and they are the ones where they go into the sand bed at night. Been frustrating to say the least, I have gotten my Phosphates and Nitrates up but no results at all. My question is should I just get rid of the sand I have now and get some new live sand? I would add some Microbater 7 and other things if I were to do that route. Is it worth it to strip out all of the sand I have now and replace it with new live sand?

doubleshot00 · Apr 29, 2023

I think you need to join Macks reef dino group

John Bolden · Apr 29, 2023

birddawg said:
Hey everyone, have a quick question. I have been battling Dino’s for awhile now and they are the ones where they go into the sand bed at night. Been frustrating to say the least, I have gotten my Phosphates and Nitrates up but no results at all. My question is should I just get rid of the sand I have now and get some new live sand? I would add some Microbater 7 and other things if I were to do that route. Is it worth it to strip out all of the sand I have now and replace it with new live sand?

Stay the course they will eventually go away.

birddawg · Apr 29, 2023

doubleshot00 said:
I think you need to join Macks reef dino group

I am in it already!

birddawg · Apr 29, 2023

John Bolden said:
Stay the course they will eventually go away.

So I would take that as a no for the new sand bed? I have been battling them forever!

doubleshot00 · Apr 29, 2023

birddawg said:
I am in it already!

Stay the course and be patient.
Have you dosed pods. Like a LOT?

stoney7713 · Apr 29, 2023

birddawg said:
Hey everyone, have a quick question. I have been battling Dino’s for awhile now and they are the ones where they go into the sand bed at night. Been frustrating to say the least, I have gotten my Phosphates and Nitrates up but no results at all. My question is should I just get rid of the sand I have now and get some new live sand? I would add some Microbater 7 and other things if I were to do that route. Is it worth it to strip out all of the sand I have now and replace it with new live sand?

No, replacing the sand won't get rid of them. If anything it will just give them a new surface to colonize on.

Anytime I add a sterile surface to my tank I usually notice a small amount on the new surface.

You say you have your phosphate and nitrates up. Are you dosing anything else? What is the temperature of your tank?

birddawg · Apr 29, 2023

stoney7713 said:
No, replacing the sand won't get rid of them. If anything it will just give them a new surface to colonize on.

Anytime I add a sterile surface to my tank I usually notice a small amount on the new surface.

You say you have your phosphate and nitrates up. Are you dosing anything else? What is the temperature of your tank?

78 degrees. Dosing so OceanMajik from AlgaeBarn but I’m almost out. I was dosing silicates for awhile but haven’t in awhile.

birddawg · Apr 29, 2023

doubleshot00 said:
Stay the course and be patient.
Have you dosed pods. Like a LOT?

I put some in about a month ago!

TurboTang · Apr 29, 2023

Put more pods in, and more silicates, and more mb7, and more phyto. And they will eventually begin to disappear. It's a slow process - they are the hardest to get rid of, but they don't kill your coral or inverts and it's not as unpleasant as having to hang a pump/uv system in your display for a month or longer You just have ugly sand for a long while.

stoney7713 · Apr 29, 2023

birddawg said:
78 degrees. Dosing so OceanMajik from AlgaeBarn but I’m almost out. I was dosing silicates for awhile but haven’t in awhile.

Any reason you can't raise your temperature to 80-82? Take it slow over a few days. It seems to at least help speeding up the decline of dinos in my experience.

vetteguy53081 · Apr 29, 2023

birddawg said:
Hey everyone, have a quick question. I have been battling Dino’s for awhile now and they are the ones where they go into the sand bed at night. Been frustrating to say the least, I have gotten my Phosphates and Nitrates up but no results at all. My question is should I just get rid of the sand I have now and get some new live sand? I would add some Microbater 7 and other things if I were to do that route. Is it worth it to strip out all of the sand I have now and replace it with new live sand?

When we see zero readings, automatically we assume this is the cause but by the time you see zero numbers, its because the dino has consumed the po4 and no3 and are multiplying and in turn many dose no3 and po4 to bring numbers up not realizing they are feeding these flagellates even more.
Its biological deficiencies that are causing the dino structure and tank is already doomed.
No light is first key followed by the addition of bacteria to overcome the bad bacteria allowing them to thrive. Often i recommend below as when followed is very effective:
Prepare by starting by blowing this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles. Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15% IF you have light dependant corals) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off. During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as micro bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons. Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX
You can feed fish as normal and if doing blackout, ambient light in room will work for them