Dinoflagellates and pH Poll

Dinoflagellates and pH Poll

  • I have had dinos, and my max pH is below 8.0

    Votes: 6 5.4%
  • I have had dinos, and my max pH is 8.0 to 8.2

    Votes: 37 33.0%
  • I have had dinos, and my max pH is 8.2 to 8.4

    Votes: 19 17.0%
  • I have had dinos, and my max pH is above 8.4

    Votes: 3 2.7%
  • I have never had dinos, and my max pH is below 8.0

    Votes: 2 1.8%
  • I have never had dinos, and my max pH is 8.0 to 8.2

    Votes: 22 19.6%
  • I have never had dinos, and my max pH is 8.2 to 8.4

    Votes: 20 17.9%
  • I have never had dinos, and my max pH is above 8.4

    Votes: 3 2.7%

  • Total voters
    112
  • Poll closed .
Very interesting, is this stuff cleared up by chemicals like ChemiClean?

I think that you should put a classic picture and some uncommon pictures of the disorder. Some people might become confused of what you are actually trying to fight.

Put it on your original message.
 
Interesting poll, Randy! Looking forward to the article.

I've never seen dinos in my display tank, but they're pretty common on the walls of my refugium.
 
I have them now for a year i try everything they still there today.
I vote ph 8.0-8.2 i try with higher PH for two weeks i got it up to 8.3- 8.4 but they still hanging in there .
I hope you have the answer to kill this pest soon.
 
Randy I would like to change my vote

Changed, thanks. :)

I think that you should put a classic picture and some uncommon pictures of the disorder. Some people might become confused of what you are actually trying to fight.

I'm sure that is true. Distinguishing dinos from other pests is not easy, and I'm no expert on identifying them. :)
 
@redspot321

My pH is always around 8,4 - in the early morning and in the evening.

I dose only caliumchlorid, hydrogencarbonats, mineral salt and magnesium supplements to hold my Ca-level at 450-480 mg/l, Mg-level at 1.400 mg/l and KH-level at 8 dH°.

A strong skimming, heavy streaming on the surface of the water and especially strong lights help to increase the pH.

Many tanks, what I have seen with low pH, had to less streaming in the surface of the water, too less light or sometimes too much CO2 in the room, where the tank stands.
Open the window regulary - don't smoke too much in that room etc and search the CO2 source in your tank.

If you have no sucess to increase your pH with such methods you should try to increase your pH with a algae refugium or by dosing "kalkwasser".

Sudad
 
Windows always open this time a year .
I dose Kalc 24/7.
I got strong lights .
A very large deltec skimmer .
A larger refuge full of tumbling chaeto in reverse lighting schedule.
The PH is always around 8.0-8.4 still have dynos everywhere.
Now everyday i get a Small brush on a wooden stick and brush them off the rocks.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8288836#post8288836 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Randy Holmes-Farley
The PH is always around 8.0-8.4 still have dynos everywhere.


I winder if you'd be better of if the pH did not drop so low. :)
When you have all the widows close and in a small home like mine living in very humid state it is almost impassible to keep up with the ph drooping specially with a large Calcium reactor at night .
i have to work so i can not stay home a keep the PH at 8.4 all day.
But when i'm home i try is much as possible to keep it there.
As it gets cooler around hear. Now for the second week my PH is been very close to 8.3 -8.4 and is no diffrece with the dinos so far but i have no more cyno.
Now i'm going to try another way to get outdoor air in to my tank i was going to run a air lines a two 1/2" air hoses to my skimmer intake i did this before but i stop because in the winter time the cold outdoors air full of moisture it will turn to solid water in to the air lines hoses when it hits the warm inside air .
When i use two part ten years a go it was no problem getting the PH at 8.2 even at night time but things change i now have very high calcium demand so i need a large reactor even running the outflow in to the refuge so the C02 can be absorbed by the Cheato it is still not enough to have any impact to the tanks PH .
But soon as i open the window in one day the tank PH is up to the normal #.
I don't know what to do so far. i know it is the low ph that fuels the Dinos. i will try harder to get my PH up more toward the 8.2-8.4 when i'm home let see what will be the out come .
Also so you know the most of the dinos are right at the sump return outlet and where the sump return water reflects of the rocks so that tell me it is the extra C02 from the reactor and the lower ph water coming from the sump.
Thank you and keep up the good work.
 
Also so you know the most of the dinos are right at the sump return outlet and where the sump return water reflects of the rocks so that tell me it is the extra C02 from the reactor and the lower ph water coming from the sump.

Interesting. Anyone else notice such a correlation?
 
Randy,

I wish I would have kept better track when I was first getting the tank going. But there was so much to worry about, pH was not the thing I kept track of, just noted that it was within range.

At about month one, I had a terrible infestation that covered everything, including the tank walls. I think the pH was around 8.2 then. I noted that it would start to subside and then would explode again after a 40-50 gallon bi-weekly water change.

I left on vacation near the six month mark and there was no water changes, only top off for seven weeks. When I returned, it was almost gone.

Now I have cut water changes back to once a month and I have two rocks, closest to the MH lighting that keep the Dino around. Sometimes it is almost gone and other times it comes back on those rocks. It also starts to creep over the back pane which I don't scrape. I have just now started playing with the pH to try to eradicate it and so far raised ph from 8.2 to 8.28. I'm taking it slowly.

This and vermitid snails are my two pains right now. Maybe I should try raising pH quicker, but I've really been taking it slow. I only want to hit the point were the dino goes away:) Then again, I'm the exact opposite as a chemist!
 
Hop, I was at a FMAS meeting recently where Julian Sprung was speaking. He said dinoflagellate growth after a water change is enabled by the silicate in the salt mix. Nothing wrong with the salt mix, it's just that dino growth is limited when silicate gets depleted in between water changes.
 
Yep, that would be diatoms. I supplement silica to promote such growth (for the snails that eat it and need silica), as well as sponges. :)
 
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