Another (maybe) dino question

[Aquattro]

I'm complaining about a new outbreak of dinos in a 4 month old tank, but reading some of the posts, I'm not sure it is.

I understand that they should break apart once blown off rocks, etc, but my algae float to the surface and have a filamentous appearance. Almost like a fuzzy head with a longer tail.

Does that sound like dino? I've just done the paper towel test and will see what I get from that, but this algae almost completely vanish overnight, and return with lights on.

 

[Potsy]

Sounds like dinos, but you need a microscope to be 100% certain. Any cheap scope would do - dinos are fairly large microbes. If they disappear at night and reappear throughout the day, they are likely ostreopsis dinoflagellates, the most common nuisance dinos in our tanks. I had them start to pop up after adding some new coral and running gfo. A Jebao 55 watt uv sterilizer wiped them out in a day.

 

[Aquattro]

Sounds like dinos, but you need a microscope to be 100% certain. Any cheap scope would do - dinos are fairly large microbes. If they disappear at night and reappear throughout the day, they are likely ostreopsis dinoflagellates, the most common nuisance dinos in our tanks. I had them start to pop up after adding some new coral and running gfo. A Jebao 55 watt uv sterilizer wiped them out in a day.

No scope handy, I had a dissecting scope, but it died. The paper towel trick gave me some dinos out the other side, and yes, they vanish at night, returning as the lights ramp up. I did notice a big decrease today over yesterday, I've been dosing peroxide for a few days, perhaps that actually did something for once
I think I may have a UV unit around somewhere, I'll see if I can dig it up.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Essentially, UV and peroxide accomplish the same thing - sterilizing the water. UV is probably safer for the more sensitive organisms in your tank. UV worked well for me, but it took some time.

 

[Aquattro]

Essentially, UV and peroxide accomplish the same thing - sterilizing the water. UV is probably safer for the more sensitive organisms in your tank. UV worked well for me, but it took some time.

I think I discarded my unit, but the Jebao 55w unit mentioned above is fairly inexpensive. The bloom seems to be subsiding, so I'll give it a couple more days, and if not gone, I'll grab a UV unit.