ThePurple12
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Honestly I’m not sure what I did before, and since I haven’t really changed anything, I’m just going to try waiting it out for a week or so. Hopefully the reduced photoperiod will help.
125g 2 in 1 Seagrass Reef
- Thread starter ThePurple12
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I know what you mean. If I got them again, I'd have to go back and re-read what I did, to refresh my memory.
ThePurple12
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Not much improvement on the dinos. I don't want to use UV, but I may have to at this rate. First I need to try raising nutrients. Nitrate and phosphate are near 0, so I turned off the algae scrubber and am feeding more. I also dose potassium nitrate and phosphate.
The Klein's butterfly started pecking at the candy cane corals, and since the candy cane was my first coral, the Klein's has to go. I moved it to my seahorse tank, not sure if it will stay there or if I'll take it to the LFS. Hopefully the damage it caused to the candy canes will heal quickly. I was very disappointed to see it, as I really liked the Klein's butterfly in the 125, and I'm trying to add fish, not subtract.
I did add 2 female lyretail anthias, so I've got a nice group of 3 now. The male chases a female every once in a while, and that's about all the interaction I've seen between them.
As for the algae on the seagrass, it hasn't gotten any better. Time for a fighting conch or 3, once Reefcleaners has them in stock.
By the way, the tank turned 4 years old on Christmas. Happy late birthday!
The Klein's butterfly started pecking at the candy cane corals, and since the candy cane was my first coral, the Klein's has to go. I moved it to my seahorse tank, not sure if it will stay there or if I'll take it to the LFS. Hopefully the damage it caused to the candy canes will heal quickly. I was very disappointed to see it, as I really liked the Klein's butterfly in the 125, and I'm trying to add fish, not subtract.
I did add 2 female lyretail anthias, so I've got a nice group of 3 now. The male chases a female every once in a while, and that's about all the interaction I've seen between them.
As for the algae on the seagrass, it hasn't gotten any better. Time for a fighting conch or 3, once Reefcleaners has them in stock.
By the way, the tank turned 4 years old on Christmas. Happy late birthday!
Happy fourth birthday!
I had a thought on dinos. I never put much stock in the theory that too low nutrients leads to dinos, but I read something recently that has me thinking. Basically it said that the symbiotic algae inside corals were dinoflagellates, and too low nutrients leads to them bailing out of the corals. If this happens in the confines of an aquarium, would you now have dinos loose in the tank?
This sounds plausible but I'm sure I'm overlooking something. Did you have a coral die out or bleach prior to your dinos coming back?
I had a thought on dinos. I never put much stock in the theory that too low nutrients leads to dinos, but I read something recently that has me thinking. Basically it said that the symbiotic algae inside corals were dinoflagellates, and too low nutrients leads to them bailing out of the corals. If this happens in the confines of an aquarium, would you now have dinos loose in the tank?
This sounds plausible but I'm sure I'm overlooking something. Did you have a coral die out or bleach prior to your dinos coming back?
ThePurple12
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That is an interesting theory! The thing about that is dinoflagellates are a phylum, so there are probably hundreds/thousands different species. The ones that occur in corals aren't the same ones that multiply to plague proportions in aquariums. I can't say any corals bleached before the dinos came back.
Looking it up, I found that the dinoflagellates that occur in corals are in the genus Symbiodinium. Dinos that plague aquariums are mainly Ostreopsis and Amphidinium.
What everyone says about low nutrients is that dinos are able to thrive in them while everything else that competes with them are starved and can't compete, so the dinos take over. It makes sense to me, but it's interesting that you beat dinos by lowering nutrients. My guess is the UV really helped?
Looking it up, I found that the dinoflagellates that occur in corals are in the genus Symbiodinium. Dinos that plague aquariums are mainly Ostreopsis and Amphidinium.
What everyone says about low nutrients is that dinos are able to thrive in them while everything else that competes with them are starved and can't compete, so the dinos take over. It makes sense to me, but it's interesting that you beat dinos by lowering nutrients. My guess is the UV really helped?
ThePurple12
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Something I noticed about my dinos is that they mainly grow on living things like hair algae and seagrass. Not so much corals, unless the coral is damaged and the bare skeleton is exposed. They do release into the water column at night, but quickly come back in the day.
Agreed. At least a thousand species. Good point about the different genus. That's what I overlooked. Also, your point about dinos being able to thrive in low nutrient environments does make sense. That also applies to seagrasses v algae. Grasses can flourish in low nutrient environments that algae can't, which is why I think grasses make more sense than macros in a reef tank.
The thing that doesn't line up with this low nutrient idea is my own experience, where both of my dino experiences followed high nutrient events. This may point to the scenario of people having algae problems with no excess nutrients showing in their tests. The nutrients are already bound up in the algae.
I do agree that UV was likely the most effective measure I took, but I have no way of knowing for sure, since I did several things. Why are you reluctant to use UV?
Manual removal every other day was also very likely to help.
This is why dinos are so dreaded. There is no clear rule or procedure to beat them, given the many species, and the many anecdotal accounts of success and failure.
Since it seems clear that light plays a big role as well, a blackout is also another effective option, at least in my experience. My battle plan included several measures to wear them down, as well as what I called knock-out punch measures to finish them off.
One thing I saw in every case was that there is no quick fix. Good luck!
The thing that doesn't line up with this low nutrient idea is my own experience, where both of my dino experiences followed high nutrient events. This may point to the scenario of people having algae problems with no excess nutrients showing in their tests. The nutrients are already bound up in the algae.
I do agree that UV was likely the most effective measure I took, but I have no way of knowing for sure, since I did several things. Why are you reluctant to use UV?
Manual removal every other day was also very likely to help.
This is why dinos are so dreaded. There is no clear rule or procedure to beat them, given the many species, and the many anecdotal accounts of success and failure.
Since it seems clear that light plays a big role as well, a blackout is also another effective option, at least in my experience. My battle plan included several measures to wear them down, as well as what I called knock-out punch measures to finish them off.
One thing I saw in every case was that there is no quick fix. Good luck!
ThePurple12
New member
The big reason I don't want to use UV is that I want to do this naturally without killing pods or any other beneficial things in the water. Not to mention price...
I've heard plenty of success stories without UV, but UV seems to be the most convenient and fastest way to eliminate dinos.
A blackout is a good idea, it's just that my corals and anemone are recovering from low alkalinity/nutrients/too much light and a 3 day blackout might finish some of them off!
I've heard plenty of success stories without UV, but UV seems to be the most convenient and fastest way to eliminate dinos.
A blackout is a good idea, it's just that my corals and anemone are recovering from low alkalinity/nutrients/too much light and a 3 day blackout might finish some of them off!
I'm with you on expense! If I hadn't already had a UV unit, I may not have tried it. I'm also a big fan of natural methods, and I used several in my battles.
"They do release into the water column at night, but quickly come back in the day." This does support the argument for UV, as you need them in the water column for UV to work. This also points to the reason most pods are unaffected by UV. The vast majority of the pods we have in our tanks are benthic, so they are in little danger. Only the pelagic pods are endangered. If I had a large population of pelagic pods I'd think twice about UV. On the other hand, you can buy more.
I would imagine you'd want your corals to be flourishing before adding the stress of a blackout, so maybe later down the road, when everyone's happy it could work.
"They do release into the water column at night, but quickly come back in the day." This does support the argument for UV, as you need them in the water column for UV to work. This also points to the reason most pods are unaffected by UV. The vast majority of the pods we have in our tanks are benthic, so they are in little danger. Only the pelagic pods are endangered. If I had a large population of pelagic pods I'd think twice about UV. On the other hand, you can buy more.
I would imagine you'd want your corals to be flourishing before adding the stress of a blackout, so maybe later down the road, when everyone's happy it could work.
ThePurple12
New member
Yep, once my corals recover and if I still have dinos a blackout will be a good tool.
I actually do have lots of pelagic pods that I see at night, and I'd really like to keep them. Not sure how I have so many. One thing I might try before UV is hydrogen peroxide, as it's much cheaper and does sort of the same thing. Someone on clay-boa dosed 1 ml per gallon every day (night?) and beat dinos in a week. Others have used hydrogen peroxide with no success.
I actually do have lots of pelagic pods that I see at night, and I'd really like to keep them. Not sure how I have so many. One thing I might try before UV is hydrogen peroxide, as it's much cheaper and does sort of the same thing. Someone on clay-boa dosed 1 ml per gallon every day (night?) and beat dinos in a week. Others have used hydrogen peroxide with no success.
ThePurple12
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Clay-boa? Haha, nice one RC! What I tried to say is R 2 R.
ThePurple12
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ThePurple12
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Next time I'm in Florida I'll have to see if I can find any of this algae growing on the local seagrass. I'm certain it came to my tank when I brought home some turtle and widgeon grass.
vlangel
Premium Member
That looks exactly like the algae that is growing on my grasses.
ThePurple12
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Wow, I'm both sorry to hear that and glad I'm not the only one fighting it! I'm hoping a fighting conch will clean it up, because manual removal has no chance of success.
That's weird. Dawn's grasses came from me, and I don't recall seeing that on the grasses in my tank.
I would snip two thirds of the blade off to export most of it, then cut the rest off when they grow back.
I would snip two thirds of the blade off to export most of it, then cut the rest off when they grow back.
ThePurple12
New member
It's worth a shot, but if just one blade of that algae remains, it'll all grow back. I think you're right, though. The seagrass has grown back by now, so I'll give it a try.
It worked for me on my manatee grass. I had stuff similar to that on them, but it didn't cover every blade of the plant, so I could cut the whole blade off, knowing the other blades would keep the plant alive.
Maybe try keeping nutrients low for awhile, and providing a fast growing macro to compete, like ulva would help.
In hindsight, I guess I was lucky. It never coated every blade of every plant. This allowed me the luxury of removing whole seagrass plants, if I saw no hope of getting them completely cleaned.
Maybe try keeping nutrients low for awhile, and providing a fast growing macro to compete, like ulva would help.
In hindsight, I guess I was lucky. It never coated every blade of every plant. This allowed me the luxury of removing whole seagrass plants, if I saw no hope of getting them completely cleaned.
ThePurple12
New member
In most other cases I would agree with keeping nutrients low, but this algae doesn't seem to be affected by it. Up until recently the algae scrubber was on full blast, keeping n and p at 0. The red algae was growing just fine.
So my plan is do another simulated grazing event, maybe by a sea turtle this time, assuming they'll eat shoal grass. Then, get a few fighting conchs and hope they eat it.
So my plan is do another simulated grazing event, maybe by a sea turtle this time, assuming they'll eat shoal grass. Then, get a few fighting conchs and hope they eat it.
ThePurple12
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I think I have a genus ID, thanks to WetWebMedia and Algaebase, for the algae: Polysiphonia.
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