BigJohnny
Active member
Not a problem, thanks
Dinoflagellates.
- Thread starter DNA
- Start date
PorkchopExpress
New member
how would he start a culture from dead phytoplankton?
karimwassef
Active member
results from the clean method:
before:
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/C64EE2BF-AD68-4075-B149-3DF317D5E5B1_zpsn8ov3ei5.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/C64EE2BF-AD68-4075-B149-3DF317D5E5B1_zpsn8ov3ei5.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo C64EE2BF-AD68-4075-B149-3DF317D5E5B1_zpsn8ov3ei5.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/72193F9F-E103-4DEE-B241-8D30BB7F7E99_zpse3ev5q2v.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/72193F9F-E103-4DEE-B241-8D30BB7F7E99_zpse3ev5q2v.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 72193F9F-E103-4DEE-B241-8D30BB7F7E99_zpse3ev5q2v.jpg"/></a>
and after:
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/DF4A880F-2F6C-4719-BAF9-A0375E50F6A0_zpsq6aig0fj.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/DF4A880F-2F6C-4719-BAF9-A0375E50F6A0_zpsq6aig0fj.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DF4A880F-2F6C-4719-BAF9-A0375E50F6A0_zpsq6aig0fj.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/6083FA1C-BF78-4EE2-9DBF-381FAFA79C4D_zpsvclkzhfu.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/6083FA1C-BF78-4EE2-9DBF-381FAFA79C4D_zpsvclkzhfu.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 6083FA1C-BF78-4EE2-9DBF-381FAFA79C4D_zpsvclkzhfu.jpg"/></a>
before:
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/C64EE2BF-AD68-4075-B149-3DF317D5E5B1_zpsn8ov3ei5.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/C64EE2BF-AD68-4075-B149-3DF317D5E5B1_zpsn8ov3ei5.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo C64EE2BF-AD68-4075-B149-3DF317D5E5B1_zpsn8ov3ei5.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/72193F9F-E103-4DEE-B241-8D30BB7F7E99_zpse3ev5q2v.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/72193F9F-E103-4DEE-B241-8D30BB7F7E99_zpse3ev5q2v.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 72193F9F-E103-4DEE-B241-8D30BB7F7E99_zpse3ev5q2v.jpg"/></a>
and after:
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/DF4A880F-2F6C-4719-BAF9-A0375E50F6A0_zpsq6aig0fj.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/DF4A880F-2F6C-4719-BAF9-A0375E50F6A0_zpsq6aig0fj.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DF4A880F-2F6C-4719-BAF9-A0375E50F6A0_zpsq6aig0fj.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/6083FA1C-BF78-4EE2-9DBF-381FAFA79C4D_zpsvclkzhfu.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/6083FA1C-BF78-4EE2-9DBF-381FAFA79C4D_zpsvclkzhfu.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 6083FA1C-BF78-4EE2-9DBF-381FAFA79C4D_zpsvclkzhfu.jpg"/></a>
Billybatz9
New member
Did you do water changes?
karimwassef
Active member
Not for a month
BigJohnny
Active member
There not dead, the live version is just fresher. Also I'm not using phytoplankton to culture phytoplankton, I'm using it to culture pods. Phytoplankton doesn't need to be "alive" to be used by organisms. Also it's micro algae, so its not all alive in the traditional sense anyway.
BigJohnny
Active member
Awesome, what were all the steps you took?
karimwassef
Active member
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2307000&highlight=dino&page=52
Slow flow High Power UV
Lights out
Constant skimming
I also had a macro algae refugium with pods.
Slow flow High Power UV
Lights out
Constant skimming
I also had a macro algae refugium with pods.
DNA
New member
When I say plankton I'm thinking of a vast mix of bio diverse small creatures, but not just a single strain of a random species.
Many of them just need to be introduced in small numbers to got get a foothold and hopefully stay for good while others will perish.
It's all about the right conditions and finding ways to keep them alive.
I was thinking more like we should aim for ways for plankton to thrive instead of just keep buying them online.
Diverse plankton in reef tanks is the holy grail of reefkeeping and not having it is the reason why much of our livestock is not self sustainable.
Many of them just need to be introduced in small numbers to got get a foothold and hopefully stay for good while others will perish.
It's all about the right conditions and finding ways to keep them alive.
I was thinking more like we should aim for ways for plankton to thrive instead of just keep buying them online.
Diverse plankton in reef tanks is the holy grail of reefkeeping and not having it is the reason why much of our livestock is not self sustainable.
karimwassef
Active member
I had some bubbles caused by my overflow siphon not being able to keep up with my surge. The emergency overflow runs making bubbles.
Thank You
Thank You
I just spent most of my precious, precious Sunday reading through this thread. For the past few years, ever since I started my 65 gallon tank, I've had corals and snails die off and seen little to no growth in my corals. I figured it was something I was doing wrong - too much/too little light, phosphates too high, bad quality salt, wild param swings, etc. So I chased a fix. Upped/reduced lighting; dosed; skimmed; added a calcium reactor; added a phosphate-removing reactor. But still nothing...
All this time I've also seen no coralline growth, except in shaded areas, and a nice "film" of brown "algae" on my rocks, back wall and sometimes on the sand bed. I would scrape it off and blow it off only to see it return. And the stink from the water changes led me to believe my sand bed was bad...
So I tore it down a month ago, cleaned it with fresh water, replaced the sand but reused the live rock. Lo and behold, the "algae" is back and I had a nice goopy explosion on my sand bed just yesterday. Only this time, there were bubbles. Dinoflagellates! What I didn't realize was that I've had them for years - it explains the alk swings with few corals; the lack of coralline growth; the lack of coral growth.
After reading these 81 pages, I've now realized something else - my microfauna are gone. And my snails (mainly Astrea) died off. No spaghetti worms, no feather dusters in the sand bed (I do have them on the rock), all bristle-worms and micro brittle stars are gone and there are zero pods. I figure at some point the Dino's released toxins that killed everything, or maybe I starved them out even though I feed decently...
So until today and after reading all of your posts, I had no clue. Now I have one and at least some plans of attack. I'm thankful my situation isn't as bad as some of yours, but I'm envious of some of the gorgeous tanks out there. I want what they have. With all of your posts these past few years, I may finally be on my way to that level of success. Keeping fingers crossed!
As an aside, before my upgrade, I ran a 40 breeder with a 250 watt halogen, no sump, no skimmer and just a modified Aquaclear with chaeto. Had amazing life in that tank (corals didn't really grow but that's probably because I should have dosed to get my parameters up).
Thank You
I just spent most of my precious, precious Sunday reading through this thread. For the past few years, ever since I started my 65 gallon tank, I've had corals and snails die off and seen little to no growth in my corals. I figured it was something I was doing wrong - too much/too little light, phosphates too high, bad quality salt, wild param swings, etc. So I chased a fix. Upped/reduced lighting; dosed; skimmed; added a calcium reactor; added a phosphate-removing reactor. But still nothing...
All this time I've also seen no coralline growth, except in shaded areas, and a nice "film" of brown "algae" on my rocks, back wall and sometimes on the sand bed. I would scrape it off and blow it off only to see it return. And the stink from the water changes led me to believe my sand bed was bad...
So I tore it down a month ago, cleaned it with fresh water, replaced the sand but reused the live rock. Lo and behold, the "algae" is back and I had a nice goopy explosion on my sand bed just yesterday. Only this time, there were bubbles. Dinoflagellates! What I didn't realize was that I've had them for years - it explains the alk swings with few corals; the lack of coralline growth; the lack of coral growth.
After reading these 81 pages, I've now realized something else - my microfauna are gone. And my snails (mainly Astrea) died off. No spaghetti worms, no feather dusters in the sand bed (I do have them on the rock), all bristle-worms and micro brittle stars are gone and there are zero pods. I figure at some point the Dino's released toxins that killed everything, or maybe I starved them out even though I feed decently...
So until today and after reading all of your posts, I had no clue. Now I have one and at least some plans of attack. I'm thankful my situation isn't as bad as some of yours, but I'm envious of some of the gorgeous tanks out there. I want what they have. With all of your posts these past few years, I may finally be on my way to that level of success. Keeping fingers crossed!
As an aside, before my upgrade, I ran a 40 breeder with a 250 watt halogen, no sump, no skimmer and just a modified Aquaclear with chaeto. Had amazing life in that tank (corals didn't really grow but that's probably because I should have dosed to get my parameters up).
DNA
New member
I wonder how many reefers like you are still in the dark not knowing why success seems to be for everyone else.
They spend countless hours and do all they can to take care of their tiny part of the ocean only to have it wrecked by a microscopic organism that likes to dominate it and call it home.
They spend countless hours and do all they can to take care of their tiny part of the ocean only to have it wrecked by a microscopic organism that likes to dominate it and call it home.
karimwassef
Active member
Should we start a campaign to educate the masses on the dangers of dino? Recognize the symptoms and take action! Don't be another faceless victim of the scourge... 
Should we start a campaign to educate the masses on the dangers of dino? Recognize the symptoms and take action! Don't be another faceless victim of the scourge...
I really think Dino ID is important. I can't tell you how many local reefers I have visited to buy frags and have it. 90% of the time they think it is cyano that they cannot get rid of and just live with it.
BTW, just wanted to give an update on mine. My dino is starting to die off. I reached out to Dr. Tim and asked for advice. He recommended Re-fresh and Waste away treatment. I don't want to jump the gun here but this appears to be working. It's basically dosing a high amount of Bacteria into the tank. Whats odd is I tried doing something similar in my last tank with other bacteria products and had no luck. Maybe these strains are stronger and compete better. Only time will tell if this works
DNA
New member
Should we start a campaign to educate the masses on the dangers of dino? Recognize the symptoms and take action! Don't be another faceless victim of the scourge...
That is a very good idea, but doing it properly takes some effort.
Do you have a plan?
I've tried this with the locals, but they are in denial and most don't even have SPS so it's not a big concern.
BigJohnny
Active member
Dinoflagellates can cause alk swings? I'm confused
If you had a mass bloom of Dino it could cause the alk consumption to go down which would could cause you to have a large swing upwards in alk if you dose ALK/CA or have a calcium reactor at a set interval. Large blooms can stress your corals and other consumers of Alk/calcium
