Could be just coincidence that as time passes they are just growing in numbers. Raising nutrients alone won’t kill them off. Every tank has Dino’s. It’s the lack of nutrients that gives them a foothold. Raising nutrients is necessary to keep them at bay but knowing what type you are dealing with crucial. They don’t seem to be growing on your sand bed and that’s usually a sign of one of the harder to get rid of so that’s a good sign. They look similar to what I’ve dealt with but without a microscope there’s no knowing for certain. I can post what I’ve done to get rid of them but it only worked for the type that have dealt with.
Here are my notes I’ve gathered from past experiences and research. But again, this has only helped for the type(s) I’ve dealt with. It will take someone with more experience to identify once you post a pic from a microscope.
Dinoflagellates
Dinoflagellates are mixotrophic- they can make their own food and/or eat other organisms. They are a single celled organisms with a flagellum. While trying to ID Dino’s via microscope (@500-100 mag). Also use caution not to confuse with cyano or diatoms
Some contributing factors to a Dino breakout can lead back to; dry rock, carbon dosing, GFO, zero nutrients, lack of biodiversity.
A good link to go to on R2R is “are you tired of fighting all together”
Here is a list of what I go through when I start experience a Dino breakout (not in any specific order, I just check all of this to make sure I’m good) Also a couple of things to keep in mind;
-Things to keep in mind-
-Zero nutrients is a bad thing
-No water changes, they can feed off certain trace elements in the new salt
-Dosing H2O2, metro, Dino X, and blackouts are last resort (every success story with these have just as many devastating stories of killing some or everything in the tank.
-Deep sand beds and other low flow/cryptic areas are a place for Dino’s to hide and reproduce.
-Sand in general is where some species stay during the day and swim in the water column at night.
-Copepods are a great defense against Dino’s but when Dino’s die they can release toxins that can kill the pods and that creates food for the living Dino’s so if you start to get an outbreak get your hands on some Acartia pods right away. Maybe only add half the order at first and then a few days to a week later add the second half.
-A list to go through-
-water parameters to target
NO3- at least .5 ppm preferably 1-5 ppm
PO4- At least .01 and obviously not too high either
pH-8.4 (don’t stress about this one, it’s not the time to be chasing pH if it’s not already there)
*if you’re going to raise your nutrients do it slowly over a 1-2 week period and expect an ugly phase
-Check RODI filters & TDS change if necessary (Tap water is a huge F no in any reef tank scenario in my opinion- seen too many people quit the hobby because they didn’t realize the importance of clean top off water)
-Employ a refugium or chaeto reactor
-Employ Acartia tonsa Pods
-Reduce photo period on display tank and employ UV sterilizer (adults swim in the water column at night so this is when you’ll be able to kill some off- flow set to low flow to kill protozoans, not high flow for algae)
-Remove any natural sunlight from the scenario-**This is a big one**
-Manually remove as much as possible and change mechanical filter daily if not twice a day-**This is a big one too**
-Run carbon and change it frequently. It will help remove the toxins they release when they die.
-Keeping water/nutrient parameters stable is key. (Once you get the nutrients where they need to be that is)
