dino experiment

[jkopp36]

Yea..I wish there was a pump like my osmolator pump that runs on an outlet..so I can hook it up to my APEX to keep the level up. I'll have to find a small pump that is good at this. Something like the osmolator pump would be perfect.

I am using my Apex to do all the Kalk dosing functions. Here is what it does:

>Doses kalk to tank via 50ml/min BRS doser for 3min 20sec 4 times per hour using the OSC command
>Stirs kalk via a pump for one minute every hour
>Turns RO/DI on to fill reservoir 4 times per day for 20 minutes each time (dosing is skipped once during this since the stir pump also comes on for the last 10 of the 20 minutes)
>Shuts down kalk dosing if pH gets to a certain point (right now I have it set at 8.6)

The higher output BRS doser is more than enough to put plenty of kalk into the tank. This schedule keeps my tank topped off almost perfectly and is easily adjustable. The reservoir is a DIY unit using a 6.5g salt type bucket. I dump a few cups of kalk in wheneve the pH seems to be lowering. I will say that I am unable to get my pH over 8.4-8.5 without spiking alk to over 10 which I do not like to that high. I also dose 2-part using BRS 1.1ml/min dosers but have not had the alk doser on for quite awhile and the calc doser runs for 20% of what it use too when I ran them both.

This system has been very stable and mostly foolproof although the 50ml BRS doser just quit on me (BRS says that is rare and that I in no way overworked it) and they are out of them. I rigged up a aqua-lifter to get by and for comparisons sake I have it running for 20 seconds 4 times an hour instead of 3min/20sec. It is not as accurate as the BRS doser but close enough.

If you would like more info or some pics of the reservoir/setup I would be happy to do so. One thing I do have as a worry is that if the Apex freaked out and kept it turned on I would be in trouble. I really do not see that happening - not anymore chance then something going wrong with any other system really.

 

[t4zalews]

after sucking out the top of my sand again yesterday...I've been keeping my Ph pretty high and dosing peroxide in the morning. My lights have been on for 1.5 hours today..and usually I see bubbles, no real signs of bubbles yet. I'll have to wait til 2.5 more hours and see if it stays that way but tank looks real clear. I also set up my UV sterilizer a couple days ago. I'll post any changes

 

[t4zalews]

4 hours of halides..minimal bubbles...maybe a turning point with elevated pH...too early to tell tho

 

[t4zalews]

holy cow...zero signs of dino's. sandbed is white and no brown algae anywhere. elevated Ph may have just fixed my problem completely.

 

[t4zalews]

Am i cured!!???

Am i cured!!???

Took a pic of my tank after 5 hours of halides. I've kept my pH the majority of the time above 8.5. I've ranged from 8.2-8.7 trying to keep it in the higher end.
This is the first time in a year that I have had my lights run for this long with zero sings of dino on my sandbed...usually the sandbed is loaded with them. I have noticed a new whitish clear film that has accumulated under some of my rock overhangs. May be dead bacteria. But I see NO signs of dinos. I'm going to try and keep my Ph elevated for another week and boost my lighting period up to 8 hours. I've havent seen these kinds of results with anything else.

 

[Rodrigo_BG]

Taylor good job!

My Dinos seems to be going away too, finally... As I said before I quit peroxide and start other things. What did I do? First lights of for 3 days and now I running only the blue bulbs. I have also started dosing tropic marin bio magnesium every day in order to increase my mg which was around 1100. And last I made a DIY Kalk reactor to keep my pH as much higher as possible. Dinos are dying fast now I hope they don't return when I turn all the lights on again.

 

[t4zalews]

Yea..I'm excited to start looking at corals to restock my tank again. I lost a lot during the process and need to replenish my aquarium.

Since monday, I've been mixing up a small cup of kalk slurry...probably 2 tsp..and mixing it and dumping it into my sump to raise my Ph. My alk hasnt raised about 9 throughout the whole process. I top off with kalk...1 tsp/gallon. As I said before, my Ph ranged from 8.2 to 8.7, mostly in the higher range. I put back on my UV sterilizer 3 days ago (this may have helped, but I think the high Ph had the most to do with it). I did actinics only on monday and then was running my halides for 4 hours for 5 days, today I bumped up my halides to 5.5 hours, and on tuesday I will boost it up to 7 hours...then saturday 9 hours. That will be my total lighting period.

 

[mille239]

Any updates Taylor?

 

[dohc97]

I did lights out for 2 days at the same time i used chemiclean, thought it did not do a thing when the lights came back on but 2 days after going back to a normal lighting schedule dinos disappeared overnight and so far im good. I also started using a reactor with gfo so maybe that was the key for me.

Jose

 

[t4zalews]

I put in new radium bulbs and my lighting schedule is at 8 hours. No algae has accumulated on the sandbed..its still white and clean. I still have some bubbles coming from the rocks but have zero brown algae forming, so I'm not to worried about it. I've still been mixing up kalk slurry and dumping it in the morning and night to keep the Ph up. I'm also using kalk water for top off. My tank is really clean again, I'm in the process of restocking it with corals. I can take a picture when I get home.

I havent dosed peroxide for almost 2 weeks. I will not dose it anymore. My ORP is around 390 in the morning and drops to 360 during the day. If I ever see signs of dino's again I will just do 24 hour light off with high ph to deal with it. Elevated Ph solved my problem. Good luck to all of those that have dino's.

Equipment wise I still use my UV sterilizer as it has really improved my water clarity and am not using carbon or GFO. I may turn off the sterilizer and run some carbon in my tfl again, but for now I'm not changing anything

 

[t4zalews]

My gig moved up top and is gaining back its color. My corals are starting to gain more color again ever since going back to original lighting photoperiod. Sand is sparkling and no brown snot algae. I took a beating SPS wise, so the tank is pretty bare right now, but im currently restocking the tank with SPS

 

[dublo8]

Glad to see you guys are having good luck with this. Just about 2 weeks ago I noticed dino's in my tank. They are specific to one rock and to the glass. They have been releasing and tying up some of my corals and it's starting to tick me off so I'm in the boat with you guys as of now. I'm going to go the elevated ph and mag route to see if this clears things up. I hate this stuff. Before I start my regimen, this tank (not my first of course) is a somewhat new tank. I started it back in feb. I used dry rock from BRS, Bimini pink sand and some LR from my other tank. I never had this problem before. Should I wait it out and see if they go away on there own or should I nip it in the bud and go with the elevated PH, mag route?

t4zalews, what was the cause of the loss of the sps? I am semi heavy on sps, so you have me worried, was it the dino's or the increased ph, peroxide etc?

Just to make sure this is what I'm dealing with as I'm pretty sure it's dino's here is a pic. sorry my wife was sleeping and I couldn't grab my macro lens for it, did the best I could with my 50mm

 

[dublo8]

On a side note. Has anybody tried contacting somebody from say sea world, monterey bay aquarium or the likes to see if there is anything we can do? I'm just trying to think outside the box with this. All of this experimenting seems to be going in the right direction, but somebody has to have answers for us.

 

[t4zalews]

Dublo,

Does the algae produce bubbles? If not, you may just be having a diatom flare that is common in new tanks. I'd say I lost a lot of corals due to extreme light outs and me trying a lot of different things that were probably bad for the tank.

The elevated Ph had no effect on the corals, clams or anemone. I started on a Monday, sucked the dinos off my sandbed on wednesday and by friday the tank was clear. Make sure you add the kalk in a high flow area, I dumped it in my overflow, so that pieces of kalk dont fall onto your corals. My Ph had been as high as 8.8 so don't worry if your Ph goes above 8.5. When I dosed it my Ph probe woudl go up to 9.8, but then settle to the 8.6-8.7 level when it finished mixing in the tank. I suggest toping off with kalk as well, this makes the ph not drop as fast.

 

[jimmy frag]

is the dino start on only the new rock or both

 

[dublo8]

I do not see bubbles on the algae. I thought it was diatoms at first but this stuff stuff is strangling a couple corals. In the pic above behind the acan is a Kenya tree that is covered in it. I also have a galaxea that is covered in it. I cleaned them both off and it came back the next day. Same for the rock. Scrubbed it off and it came back the next day. One notable thing to mention Is my emerald crab will eat it.


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[t4zalews]

doesnt sound like dinos, I'm guessing its diatoms. With dino's you will see long strands coming off of it, usually with bubbles. It will look like you have a microbubble problem comign from the rocks and sand. They go away at night and come back when the main lights are on. Usually called snot algae cuz it looks like snot.

 

[dublo8]

doesnt sound like dinos, I'm guessing its diatoms. With dino's you will see long strands coming off of it, usually with bubbles. It will look like you have a microbubble problem comign from the rocks and sand. They go away at night and come back when the main lights are on. Usually called snot algae cuz it looks like snot.

Thanks, hopefully it's not dino's. Either way I know somebody down at the monterey bay aquarium and I sent them some info for you guys and a link to the thread. She will forward it on to one of their biologists for me. IF I get a response back I'll be for sure to post it up for you guys.

 

[t4zalews]

Hmm..maybe they can get a more definitive solution to dinos. Its weird how with how far technology has come regarding the reef hobby how some things dont have definitive cures.

 

[llewoh05]

Are you guys still using activated carbon and/or gfo while doing peroxide?