Dinoflagellates.

Dfee said:
Only Dino I see is some brown film on wave makers and chaeto. I guess it could be anything. But my nitrates got up to about 30 and phosphate read 0 on api test. I'm sure if I do a w/c the Dino's will appear more. I'm thinking about carbon dosing but have never tried it and only briefly read up on it. How else can I reduce nitrates? I don't think the chaeto in my new refugium is growing (probably because Dino's are taking out all the phosphate???).
Input anyone?
Click to expand...

Billybatz9 said:
I have nitrate problem also. Would like to see what you do. I did water change and nitrates are still up
Click to expand...

Billybatz9 said:
Cyanobacteria building up on rock work (probably from over feeding). Did water change because of nitrates, and boom! Dino explosion all on sandbed. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...
I've kind of jumped around around on this thread, started from the beginning , mostly to see just how active it still is. I'll need to go back and read it in its entirety. Lots of good info, reaffirming what I've kind of felt for a while now.
I'm not sure if it was ever covered, but has anyone tried dosing phosphates when they have elevated NO3 and little to no PO4?
I have a tank that has minimal livestock (couple of snails and crabs, a few small softies that don't really seem to grow). But after a long period of neglect, I had TONS of snot all over everything. Glass, rocks, sand, powerheads, you name it. Snot everywhere, but not so much as a speck of algae, including coralline. Nitrates were around 40 , PO4 was .01 to .02 (Hanna low range checker, the old style, the blue brick).
I started dosing phosphates, no other changes. Within a week or so they were 90% gone. Coralline started to grow, and a few small patches of algae.
(As a sidenote, a little cyano started to pop up)
 
Yes, but there's a difference between "adding" and "dosing" :) That's why I asked - Tigé21v specifically said "dosing." If it was possible to dose phosphate in a measured and consistent way I'd prefer that, because if I'm going to dose something specifically to attempt control of a dino outbreak then I want the input to be measurable (so it can be repeatable).
 
There are a variety of sodium and phosphate compounds that might work. The best approach would be to find a food-grade additive. They are used in cooking, and Amazon lists a few products along this line.
 
Cool, thanks for the info.

On the subject of siphoning excess dinos from the tank through a filter sock and putting the water back: I tried this approach the other day but it did not work out well. The filter sock, a 200 micron BRS felt sock, didn't capture all of the dinos and the water was full of brown strands. Is that supposed to be normal? It looks like a lot of matter to put back in the tank so I ended up replacing the removed water with new saltwater.
 
Dfee said:
DNA- you have sps, right? Why do you do water changes? Have you tried carbon dosing? I want to try carbon dosing , but haven't found a good answer yet for how Dino will behave
Click to expand...

I took the bio pellets off line because of the dinos, but did a period of Vodka later just to find out if the dinos would react to it.

Water changes used to cause a dino bloom, but they don't do that any more.
My dinos are annoyingly stable living their visible lives on the sandbed.
 
What is the relationship between Cyanobacteria and Dinoflagellates?
Most of us have them both.

I had already found a way to see the Cyano strands in the water column using extremely bright light and a dark background.
There is a lot of it in there during the day so I tried a new method last weekend. I filled my bathtub with tank water and let the water settle there for three days.

The purple cyano was clearly seen against the white tub and some of it got left behind after it got drained.
 
I too had both Cyano and Dinos. I contribute the initial bloom of cyano to Selcon since I was adding that to fish food often( much too often like every day). I used red slime remover to rid the cyano..... that's when my Dinos really took hold and covers a thin slime everywhere. You have to look closely to see it but its every where and only bad in two spots on the sand floor. During both these blooms PO4 and Nitrates are extremely low. The lower they went gradually Dinos got worse. Now Dinos seems to be at a stopping point in terms of growth. Don't get worse or better just stays the same.

I'm going to up the feeding and see if other algae will out compete the Dinos.
 
csammis said:
Cool, thanks for the info.

On the subject of siphoning excess dinos from the tank through a filter sock and putting the water back: I tried this approach the other day but it did not work out well. The filter sock, a 200 micron BRS felt sock, didn't capture all of the dinos and the water was full of brown strands. Is that supposed to be normal? It looks like a lot of matter to put back in the tank so I ended up replacing the removed water with new saltwater.
Click to expand...
Most dinos are 60uM or smaller so ideally you need a 10 to 20 uM sock. I used a brs media reactor with a 5uM sediment filter and a maxijet 1200 pump and pumped the water in the tank. Keep the pump and filter running in the sump so it doesn't turn rotten and you can use it a bunch of times before it plugs up.
 
Removing sandbed next week if dinos dont get any better. I feel like they love the sand. but why? Any relationship the sand that they love?
 
I think sand allows the accumulation of waste. Without sufficient motion or cleaning, this decay allows bacteria to take over. That's usually cyano. Algae has a hard time sticking to sand, so an unhealthy sandbed is like a buffet for dinos... They seem to coexist well with bacteria and this is an ideal zone. They consume the waste before it makes it up to the rocks and glass where algae can use it. Then, they slowly take over the other spaces... Consuming up as they go... Until they get to feast on any waste without leaving any space or waste for algae... Tank domination!!!

Just my theory... It works better with the war music in my head.

So... Either fix the sand or remove it.
 
Billybatz9 said:
Removing sandbed next week if dinos dont get any better. I feel like they love the sand. but why? Any relationship the sand that they love?
Click to expand...

They make cysts which are like seeds. So, once the sand is full of cysts the stupid dinos can just keep on returning.

You folks using dino X scare me. Please keep us updated on your progress as often as you can.

Cyano and dinos are both extremophiles, they survive when nothing else can. Cyano can photosynthesize, make nitrate, and store P, dinos are mixotrophic. So in our out of balance tanks they can manage to get a foothold.

I haven't been able to find any papers on this but I wonder whether dinos can actually consume cyano? They are known to eat bacteria, and cyano would be a big source of N and P.

ivy
 
karimwassef said:
I think sand allows the accumulation of waste. Without sufficient motion or cleaning, this decay allows bacteria to take over. That's usually cyano. Algae has a hard time sticking to sand, so an unhealthy sandbed is like a buffet for dinos... They seem to coexist well with bacteria and this is an ideal zone. They consume the waste before it makes it up to the rocks and glass where algae can use it. Then, they slowly take over the other spaces... Consuming up as they go... Until they get to feast on any waste without leaving any space or waste for algae... Tank domination!!!

Just my theory... It works better with the war music in my head.

So... Either fix the sand or remove it.
Click to expand...

I would have to say I disagree with many of your posts, but I also welcome them since we need varied ideas and views.
 
I've changed my tank info below and suggest frequent posters here do the same or mention their dinoflagellate species on every post.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
25G softy reef
Replies
6
Views
244
griss
griss
B
  • Question Question
Soft Water
Replies
13
Views
367
wvned
wvned
DjPhato
Zoas feasting on my torch? 😒
Replies
2
Views
180
Reefing102
Reefing102
Radicaljbr
Monitoring and dosing
Replies
1
Views
105
Uncle99
Uncle99
J
PO4 can't get it right
Replies
3
Views
1K
Timfish
Timfish
Back
Top