Ready to throw in the towel from Dinos

[merereef]

I have tried but didnt work. Doing the sand rinse method from @brandon429 seemed to help. Pushed them back alot. I know stable params help too. I have been reading up on using metroplex to stop dinos from reproducing successfully. I have stopped water changes and run only blue lights. I have seen that urchins destroy dinos on my glass and leave rocks white. I also mught start up my phyto farm again and dose phyto eveyday

I find even when i run blue lights the dinos are still thriving.. ahhhh right now im just going to feed heavy. Dont run skimmer.. stire up 1/3 of the sand every noght and run uv see what happens oh and dose hydrogen peroxide every night

 

[Alexreefer]

I find even when i run blue lights the dinos are still thriving.. ahhhh right now im just going to feed heavy. Dont run skimmer.. stire up 1/3 of the sand every noght and run uv see what happens oh and dose hydrogen peroxide every night

Sounds like a good starting plan

 

[Alexreefer]

Are you using Ro water? Do you run any type of GFO, carbon?

If you are using RO water and this did not happen after few months. Check you’re RO water quality with a TDS device.

And just to be sure. Dont run dirty water into container, make sure you use the right hose.

I run rodi from a 7 stage brs 150 gpd filter. I have stopped using carbon due to dino x. No gfo. tds coming out is 0 coming in before di is around 5 tds

 

[brandon429]

I just saw the update pics from page four I could dang near shed a digital tear Alex. You simply did not give up
it’s so so so rare for the hobby, that attitude/mindset.
Helping now to tune others tanks based on what you experienced will specifically translate into a stronger innate ability to run your large reef through future challenges. Helping others online in live feedback forums will strengthen your reef like making it go to a gym

 

[Alexreefer]

I just saw the update pics from page four I could dang near shed a digital tear Alex. You simply did not give up
it’s so so so rare for the hobby, that attitude/mindset.
Helping now to tune others tanks based on what you experienced will specifically translate into a stronger innate ability to run your large reef through future challenges. Helping others online in live feedback forums will strengthen your reef like making it go to a gym

Thank you. With your help from the start i was able to achieve what I have. Now I want to go on and help other people

 

[merereef]

Thank you. With your help from the start i was able to achieve what I have. Now I want to go on and help other people

I know good guy @brandon429

 

[merereef]

I just saw the update pics from page four I could dang near shed a digital tear Alex. You simply did not give up
it’s so so so rare for the hobby, that attitude/mindset.
Helping now to tune others tanks based on what you experienced will specifically translate into a stronger innate ability to run your large reef through future challenges. Helping others online in live feedback forums will strengthen your reef like making it go to a gym

Now just me left... i will not give up till i beat this.. you guys heard of a product called dinoxal?

 

[brandon429]

Yes for sure, on reefcentral there’s a thread in the chem forum from poster DNA about dinos, it might be the longest running thread on them/7 yrs or so and in that they’ve used dinoxal a bunch, like any form of dino doser it’s hit or miss if it works, and it has worked in that thread for some. If you try it I recommend using half dose and working up to stated doses so you can see if corals are ok with it

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

Will natural nutrient uptake like coral be better. I am going to reefapalooza on Saturday so might get a coral or two!

Corals will use it. I don't recommend adding corals during a dino bloom or shortly after because other algae usually bloom after dinos are gone. Plus if you aren't running GAC then dino toxins could be building up and would stress a new coral out even more than normal acclimation stress. Impulse purchases usually lead to mortality. It's soooooo hard but resist the urge to add anything until you are through this.

...Since amphi somethig Dinos like to stay in the sand so not effected by uv, What if we stirred the sand bed every night after lights out to get the dinos suspended in the air so uv will kill it? Anyone tried this?

Amphidinium dinos can't be effectively stirred into the water column. You'd be kicking up what ever is in your sand bed. If you don't have sand cleaning organisms in your sand then who knows what would be released. Plus any sediments would irritate corals. Amphidinium will respond favorably to bacteria dosing like MicroBactor 7. If you are up for it, then you can remove and rinse your sand like in Brandon's thread. Just make sure that if you do rinse the sand you follow his instructions carefully and don't cut corners.

So what was your final method for eradicating the dinos?

I beat my dinos over a year ago and they never came back. I used the nutrient dosing method. I dosed nitrates and phosphates to maintain at least 5 ppm nitrates and 0.1 ppm phosphates. People get dinos due to bottoming out nutrients and usually with higher intensity lighting. I used to fit that category. Now I just maintain nutrients by inorganic dosing and NOT over feeding. More on that below.

...I have stopped water changes and run only blue lights. I have seen that urchins destroy dinos on my glass and leave rocks white. I also mught start up my phyto farm again and dose phyto eveyday

Water changes usually add a little iron which helps the dinos. It is believed that other algae can outcompete dinos in an Fe deficient environment.

I haven't heard of anyone verifying that blue light only helps with dinos but reducing light intensity has been verified to help. When people reduce all but blue the overall light intensity decreases which I believe give people the illusion that blue is better. It's not better, reducing intensity overall is. Reducing intensity reduces the demand for nutrients which helps raise them faster and gets quicker results. Still not going to happen overnight. Just remember it took time to get yourself into this mess, so it makes sense that it will take time to get out of it.

Many creatures will eat dinos but NOTHING can live on a sustained diet of dinos due to the toxins they also ingest with them. Ultimately they will die from it. Some just take a little longer.

...Do you run any type of GFO, carbon?...

GFO will add trace amounts of Fe which will help dinos bloom more. GFO is not recommended during a dino bloom. Plus bottoming out phosphates is what sparks nearly all dino blooms in the first place. So anything that reduces phosphates would be counterproductive while trying to beat dinos.

Running GAC is recommended because most strains of dinos release toxins into the water. In terms of snails, I have found astrea and turbo snails to have the least tolerance for dino toxins. The GAC will help with toxins but use half the recommended dose and change weekly to keep the efficiency up.

I find even when i run blue lights the dinos are still thriving.. ahhhh right now im just going to feed heavy. Dont run skimmer.. stire up 1/3 of the sand every noght and run uv see what happens oh and dose hydrogen peroxide every night

Dinos are a type of algae. Algae uses light, especially blue. This goes back to reducing light intensity being way more important than limiting light spectrum.

Stopping skimming is a good idea as it too reduces nutrients, which bottoming them out is how we get in this situation in the first place.

I don't recommend feeding heavy as your source of nutrient dosing because food is made up of more than just nitrates and phosphates. You are adding a ton of other undesirable stuff like S, DOCs, and who knows what else. The competing algae have an easier time absorbing inorganic sources of nutrients than dinos. Thus why I recommend dosing something like Seachem Flourish for phosphates and Spectrocide stump remover for nitrates. Spectrocide sounds horrible but it is pure 100% KNO3. People who dose inorganic sources rather than over feeding get results sooner.

 

[merereef]

Corals will use it. I don't recommend adding corals during a dino bloom or shortly after because other algae usually bloom after dinos are gone. Plus if you aren't running GAC then dino toxins could be building up and would stress a new coral out even more than normal acclimation stress. Impulse purchases usually lead to mortality. It's soooooo hard but resist the urge to add anything until you are through this.



Amphidinium dinos can't be effectively stirred into the water column. You'd be kicking up what ever is in your sand bed. If you don't have sand cleaning organisms in your sand then who knows what would be released. Plus any sediments would irritate corals. Amphidinium will respond favorably to bacteria dosing like MicroBactor 7. If you are up for it, then you can remove and rinse your sand like in Brandon's thread. Just make sure that if you do rinse the sand you follow his instructions carefully and don't cut corners.



I beat my dinos over a year ago and they never came back. I used the nutrient dosing method. I dosed nitrates and phosphates to maintain at least 5 ppm nitrates and 0.1 ppm phosphates. People get dinos due to bottoming out nutrients and usually with higher intensity lighting. I used to fit that category. Now I just maintain nutrients by inorganic dosing and NOT over feeding. More on that below.



Water changes usually add a little iron which helps the dinos. It is believed that other algae can outcompete dinos in an Fe deficient environment.

I haven't heard of anyone verifying that blue light only helps with dinos but reducing light intensity has been verified to help. When people reduce all but blue the overall light intensity decreases which I believe give people the illusion that blue is better. It's not better, reducing intensity overall is. Reducing intensity reduces the demand for nutrients which helps raise them faster and gets quicker results. Still not going to happen overnight. Just remember it took time to get yourself into this mess, so it makes sense that it will take time to get out of it.

Many creatures will eat dinos but NOTHING can live on a sustained diet of dinos due to the toxins they also ingest with them. Ultimately they will die from it. Some just take a little longer.



GFO will add trace amounts of Fe which will help dinos bloom more. GFO is not recommended during a dino bloom. Plus bottoming out phosphates is what sparks nearly all dino blooms in the first place. So anything that reduces phosphates would be counterproductive while trying to beat dinos.

Running GAC is recommended because most strains of dinos release toxins into the water. In terms of snails, I have found astrea and turbo snails to have the least tolerance for dino toxins. The GAC will help with toxins but use half the recommended dose and change weekly to keep the efficiency up.



Dinos are a type of algae. Algae uses light, especially blue. This goes back to reducing light intensity being way more important than limiting light spectrum.

Stopping skimming is a good idea as it too reduces nutrients, which bottoming them out is how we get in this situation in the first place.

I don't recommend feeding heavy as your source of nutrient dosing because food is made up of more than just nitrates and phosphates. You are adding a ton of other undesirable stuff like S, DOCs, and who knows what else. The competing algae have an easier time absorbing inorganic sources of nutrients than dinos. Thus why I recommend dosing something like Seachem Flourish for phosphates and Spectrocide stump remover for nitrates. Spectrocide sounds horrible but it is pure 100% KNO3. People who dose inorganic sources rather than over feeding get results sooner.

Thank you very much for the detailed response was very helpful, i have rinsed the sand before using brandons method.. however i am now thinking to just remove the sand completely.. in fact i will... tonight!!! And leave it barebottom untill the dinos go..

 

[merereef]

Yes for sure, on reefcentral there’s a thread in the chem forum from poster DNA about dinos, it might be the longest running thread on them/7 yrs or so and in that they’ve used dinoxal a bunch, like any form of dino doser it’s hit or miss if it works, and it has worked in that thread for some. If you try it I recommend using half dose and working up to stated doses so you can see if corals are ok with it

yeah true dino x didnt work.. im not going to bother anymore spending more money on other stuff that MAY not work

 

[carrico]

Have you tried chaetomorpha?

As I mentioned in another topic, this past week I had the worst dinos attack... One of the ways I decided to try was to set up a chaetomorpha refuge... The result could not have been better. My ORP is at a solid 325, my overnight pH above 8.1.
It's already 5 days free of dinos and any algae in the glass and rocks.

 

[merereef]

Have you tried chaetomorpha?

As I mentioned in another topic, this past week I had the worst dinos attack... One of the ways I decided to try was to set up a chaetomorpha refuge... The result could not have been better. My ORP is at a solid 325, my overnight pH above 8.1.
It's already 5 days free of dinos and any algae in the glass and rocks.

Really? Doesnt cheato reduce the nutrients though? Why do you think adding cheato worked for you?

 

[carrico]

It really seems like a contradiction. From the beginning, after adding the chaetomorpha, I am daily monitoring NO3 and PO4 (10 and 0.08 - 5 days without dosing NO3 and PO4) and they have not changed at all. The chaeto is growing a lot ...
I made another change, I removed my skimmer for up to 250g and put one for 80g. My reef has 100g.
Somehow, even reducing nutrients, chaetomorpha is a potential competitor, directly interfering with the growth of other organisms.
I know it is in a difficult situation with so many suggestions, but if you have space for chaetomorpha, I believe it will not harm the system and even reducing nutrients, it happens gradually and naturally.

 

[merereef]

It really seems like a contradiction. From the beginning, after adding the chaetomorpha, I am daily monitoring NO3 and PO4 (10 and 0.08 - 5 days without dosing NO3 and PO4) and they have not changed at all. The chaeto is growing a lot ...
I made another change, I removed my skimmer for up to 250g and put one for 80g. My reef has 100g.
Somehow, even reducing nutrients, chaetomorpha is a potential competitor, directly interfering with the growth of other organisms.
I know it is in a difficult situation with so many suggestions, but if you have space for chaetomorpha, I believe it will not harm the system and even reducing nutrients, it happens gradually and naturally.

You know this got me thinking... see years back people ran refugiums all the time hardly every heard of dinos... but now people are carbon dosing etc to lower nutrients and now you hear a lot more about dinos... maybe there is something too the cheato that consumes something that dinos feed off in return killing them.. so you simply added cheato and it went away within 5 days?

 

[Alexreefer]

just checked my phosphates. Come in at .61, lower than before but this is also a big feeding and coral feeding. Still not sure about my nitrate tests. Nyos comes in at 25 and salifert comes in at 50 ppm. Really wish @Hanna Instruments would make a nitrate test or maybe I just dont know about it

 

[merereef]

So the dinos where kind of going away in some spots... i decided to blast the rocks and clean the glass last noght and the dinos came back with a vengeance today... i was going to take out the sand but i just dont have the time to do it right now... so i spent no lie 2 HOURS syphoning the sand... 2HOURS deep syphoning, now going to dose hydrogen peroxide

 

[Calpoly2103]

Took me a while but I finally defeated my dinos.... Tried hydrogen peroxide method.....and didn't work, tried Dino X, also didn't work. What finally worked for me, was diligent water changes of about 30-40% every week for several weeks, plus every single day I would come home from work and loosen the dino's from the rocks/sand into the water column. Also, and I can't stress enough I think this is what helped me solve the problem, I would replace the filter floss every day which was covered in dino's. I stopped messing with my sand as I would syphon through it a lot too (I think that was making it worse by removing bacteria). After a few weeks of doing this every day, i stopped seeing dino's.

Also, i got a live rocks/spores from my LFS which helped add more diversified bacteria. This happened to my tank around 6 months in, and due to bottoming out Nitrate/Phosphate. Now I feed a lot more, worry a lot less about getting perfect numbers and my tank is doing great.

 

[merereef]

Took me a while but I finally defeated my dinos.... Tried hydrogen peroxide method.....and didn't work, tried Dino X, also didn't work. What finally worked for me, was diligent water changes of about 30-40% every week for several weeks, plus every single day I would come home from work and loosen the dino's from the rocks/sand into the water column. Also, and I can't stress enough I think this is what helped me solve the problem, I would replace the filter floss every day which was covered in dino's. I stopped messing with my sand as I would syphon through it a lot too (I think that was making it worse by removing bacteria). After a few weeks of doing this every day, i stopped seeing dino's.

Also, i got a live rocks/spores from my LFS which helped add more diversified bacteria. This happened to my tank around 6 months in, and due to bottoming out Nitrate/Phosphate. Now I feed a lot more, worry a lot less about getting perfect numbers and my tank is doing great.

Thank you... so just to clarify you stopped messing with the sand bed and noticed improvement? I did too untill i decided to blast the rocks last night

 

[Alexreefer]

Stopped dino x and startes seeing some dino sporta right away. Will start dosing some bac and plan on loading my fuge with cheato and ulva. Also will dose phyto daily after i get a steady population