Using Dino X (Ultra Algea X) to solve GHA

[VJV]

Hi, after several months of trying to win the war on GHA the "natural" way I decided to try Fauna Marin Dino X (previously named Ultra Algea X). I will post my results here so that others may learn from my experience.

Tank total displacement is about 280 liters so I will be dosing 13ml every two days. I have setup a dosing pump to do so because I work abroad during the week.

Today will be my first day. I did a large 20% water change today in order to vacuum as much as I could so that I can minimize the impact of a massive die-off.

Changed my photoperiod (radion xr15 pros) to 8h of blue light of which 6h 18k. Lights turn on at 2pm and go into night mode at 10pm, finally shutting of at 1am. Night mode is just 4% Royal blue and barely visible.

Removed GFO and turned UV off.

Fingers crossed...

Pictures to follow...

 

[VJV]

Some pictures following the water change.

 

[WilRams]

Can't wait to see your results. Not battling it now but I'm sure at some point in my reefing I will encounter it.

 

[twilliard]

Wouldn't peroxide be less invasive in this situation?

 

[VJV]

So, this morning after the first treatment I do not see any difference, which I believe is to be expected. Good news is that all fish and inverts seem to be doing OK. Well, I need to check if the serpent starfish is ok, as it seems that in some cases these are affected. Will postictures later today when the lights come on.

 

[VJV]

Can't wait to see your results. Not battling it now but I'm sure at some point in my reefing I will encounter it.

Stay tuned [emoji4]

 

[VJV]

Wouldn't peroxide be less invasive in this situation?

Based on what I have read I would not dose H2O2 in the tank. I considered removing the rocks to treat them outside but given these are three solid structures I see a couple of problems:

1- taking them out could significantly disturb the substrate and release a lot of nutrients into the water column

2- given these are 3 large structures, I am concerned that the H2O2 kills the bacterial filter of the treated structure and would have a too big impact in the overall biological filter potentially leading into an Ammonia spike that would kill of the fish.

Essentially I would wipe out 1/3 of the biofilter all of a sudden but the fish load would remain the same.

3- given the size of the structures I would need to treat them in 60 liter containers. So in order to make a 1:2 or even 1:4 dilution I would need 15 to 30 liters of H2O2 [emoji15]. Unfortunately where I live they do not sell it on bulk so I would need to go to the pharmacy and ask for 30 or 60 bottles of the stuff [emoji2].

Anyway, for now I will try this and see how it goes. If it does not work I may have to stock-up on H2O2 [emoji39].

 

[miyags]

I count 11 fish and 2 shrimp in a 73 gal tank.With your bio load of fish & shrimp and the amount of food needed (several times a day) to keep them well. Your going to allways have a hard time with algae.

 

[Bugger]

Subscribed

 

[twilliard]

@brandon429 thoughts??

 

[brandon429]

why thanky



hey i need to learn that trick btw, i haven't tagged someone before and if you hadnt i wouldnt have seen this. my opinion is this

http://reef2reef.com/threads/reef2reef-pest-algae-challenge-thread.187042/

thats regarding in tank treatment, there is no known overdose you could add to kill any filtration bacteria aerobic or not, peroxide is simply not antimicrobial in the reef tank.

From the pics above, id have the algae treated in tank via underwater spot treatments from the thread and pretty much clean in a week.

This chemical above, although unpronounceable as an ingredient w prob do the same, so would spiking mag, etc. Its not that one is better than another, its that a bass guitarist goes to a bass guitarist not a drummer for bass lessons ha! whichever mode one wants, find the guy finger tapping that mode and hit he or she up. The fauna marin has a thread in RC that is probably 6 yrs running and 2000 entrants, its fair stuff to use with its own pros and cons, its oxidizing much like peroxide but through alt chemistry to do so.


If there are no lysmata shrimp, peroxide is fine for this or any other method w a good following

 

[VJV]

Thanks Brandon! I do have a couple of lysmatas in there. If this does not work I will prob try peroxide but for now I will use this thread to document the results so that others may look it up if considering the same treatment. By the way, as much as I have searched I have not seen any large threads on this in RC or other forums and that was one of the reasons for starting this. I'll see if I can find the one you mention.

 

[VJV]

By the way, I have read a couple of your threads on the subject and do agree with a lot of your conclusions, namely regarding the traditional view that the problem is always the source. In my case, I simply never had detectable phosphates, even before having algae so that can not be the source of my problems. I use Hanna Phosphorus test that measures in parts per billion so it is very very sensitive. And I went through a 10 week period where I left the tank fallow (that's zero fish) and even than the algae did not go away.

Thanks!

 

[brandon429]

And I wouldnt even say its 100% of cases, but we found over the years that *enough* were in your condition to warrant other etiologies. as of now, my stance is that the more algae allowed, the more it self perpetuates, and in roughly 1/2 to 1/3 of algae issue tanks, nutrients never were a cause and they sure aren't in many natural dive sites Ive seen, take Cayman main island for ex.

pristine because of grazers, and where there wasn't grazers I saw GHA, those reefs arent runoff ruined they are great but something still feeds grazers food growth on the purest reefs, say GBR for example, there are areas there cleaner than the caymans and algae still grows.

nearly all problem algae tanks are missing grazer matches, so we cheat accordingly ha

 

[brandon429]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1595003

see if this was the thread. ive no trouble outlinking to anywhere that has pertinent info to a topic, being information free ranging makes us powerful and confident. its merely a reference to consider and we continue chatting here about its implications.

 

[VJV]

Thanks Brandon. I believe that thread is about AlgaeFix, not Fauna Marin Ultra Algea X.

 

[twilliard]

Thank you Brandon for giving your input. You were the first to come to mind.
If you want to tag someone just start with @ @brandon429

 

[VJV]

So, an update after the first week (3 doses).

Things look slightly better though I have to say I expected the Algae to look less healthy (green). A couple of things could impact the effectiveness of DinoX:

1- I was using the same container and tubbing that I was previously using for dosing NOPOX. I had rinsed it thoroughly but in any event, after consulting with Fauna Marin I changed the tubbing.

2- I missed one day. The problem is that you need to dose every other day and the dosing pump allows you to select which week days to dose. However, given there are 7 days in a week the actual dosing days change every week and I did not account for it. For example, if you dose Mon-Wed-Fri-Sun one week, the next week you need to change the settings to Tue-Thu-Sat. Not sure if I made it clear.

I have also now upped the dose to 14ml. My serpent starfish and sand sifter look ok.

 

[VJV]

Pics!

 

[VJV]

Some coral pics.

This Euphylia is not looking very good. To be honest though, it has not looked too well ever since I moved a overhead closer. Will keep an eye on this one.