Dinoflagellates.
- Thread starter DNA
- Start date
My coraline receded quite a bit while I was battling and has come back quite nicely now in only a few weeks, I noticed a brown film on the rocks, barely noticeable, and it wouldn't blow off with the baster that could have blocked some light. Could be a toxin thing as well.
Quiet_Ivy
New member
Mine's definitely receding. Lots of odd gray spots on the rock where it was.
DNA
New member
I'm sure Salifert is not consistent as the kit ages.
Below is from this thread.. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2273650
14 months have passed and today I got 3 new Salifert test kits.
The old calcum test kit gave a reading at 340
The new calcum test kit gave a reading at 375
The old alkalinity test kit gave a reading at 5,7
The new alkalinity test kit gave a reading at 5,7
The old magnesium test kit gave a reading at 1185
The new magnesium test kit gave a reading at 1350
There is a tendency for the calcium kit to drop as it gets older.
Three comparisons have revealed 40, 20 and 35 lower numbers in the older kits.
The kit that showed higher value the year before will become the lower next year.
Alkalinity stayed at 5,7.
Magnesium I'd say is more correct for the old kit compared to my Ca and Alk levels.
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This issue with my low calcium readings and the massive amounts of added calcium without any coral growth is a side effect from the dinoflagellates combined with the Saliferts kit inconsistency over time.
For a very long time I had white coraline coverage on all well lit areas and purple everywhere else.
For the last few months everything has turned purple like it's meant to be.
I've had a derasa clam for more than a year. It seems to be healthy, but I can't tell if it has grown at all.
Below is from this thread.. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2273650
14 months have passed and today I got 3 new Salifert test kits.
The old calcum test kit gave a reading at 340
The new calcum test kit gave a reading at 375
The old alkalinity test kit gave a reading at 5,7
The new alkalinity test kit gave a reading at 5,7
The old magnesium test kit gave a reading at 1185
The new magnesium test kit gave a reading at 1350
There is a tendency for the calcium kit to drop as it gets older.
Three comparisons have revealed 40, 20 and 35 lower numbers in the older kits.
The kit that showed higher value the year before will become the lower next year.
Alkalinity stayed at 5,7.
Magnesium I'd say is more correct for the old kit compared to my Ca and Alk levels.
---
This issue with my low calcium readings and the massive amounts of added calcium without any coral growth is a side effect from the dinoflagellates combined with the Saliferts kit inconsistency over time.
For a very long time I had white coraline coverage on all well lit areas and purple everywhere else.
For the last few months everything has turned purple like it's meant to be.
I've had a derasa clam for more than a year. It seems to be healthy, but I can't tell if it has grown at all.
DNA
New member
I've had plenty of dead corals from "bleaching" to tell you the coraline is not dead yet.
The coral would turn light gray and could stay that way for months. Most reefers would think it dead and throw it away. When the coral finally dies it would turn bright white.
DNA
New member
In my tank coraline repels dinos.
In my tank I noticed that the brown film that was growing on my glass was also on the rocks and coraline, and when I swabbed it and put it under the scope they were the same, about 90% diatoms and 10% dinos and I couldn't blow it off but I could wipe it off.
This was after I removed the sand bed, before it was probably mostly on the sand.
mathman7728
New member
is dinoflagellates or cyno????
is dinoflagellates or cyno????
is this dinos or something else? to be clear…i don't see long strings or air bubbles and this is mostly on the sand. although i have seen some spots of the ruby red stuff on a few rocks. i can blow it off with the power head. also, if i use a power head on the stuff on the sand, it will roll up like its one piece…almost like a mat….
is dinoflagellates or cyno????
is this dinos or something else? to be clear…i don't see long strings or air bubbles and this is mostly on the sand. although i have seen some spots of the ruby red stuff on a few rocks. i can blow it off with the power head. also, if i use a power head on the stuff on the sand, it will roll up like its one piece…almost like a mat….
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DNA
New member
Doing a simple Google search using "cyanobacteria in a reef tank" reveals that the most common cause for cyanobacteria in reef tanks is dinos.
A lot of diatom pictures seem to be dinos as well.
Does anyone have a solid way to eyeball diatom mats from dino mats on the sandbed.
A microscope would be the best way and there could be a mix at any ratio of the two.
If fish are eating the stuff and staying alive it's sure to be diatoms.
Not to forget that diatoms stay for the night.
A lot of diatom pictures seem to be dinos as well.
Does anyone have a solid way to eyeball diatom mats from dino mats on the sandbed.
A microscope would be the best way and there could be a mix at any ratio of the two.
If fish are eating the stuff and staying alive it's sure to be diatoms.
Not to forget that diatoms stay for the night.
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PorkchopExpress
New member
Those are the same ways I try to tell from simply eyeballing brown algae. If it stays overnight and if the fish eat it it's probably diatoms. I've also had a little bit of luck blowing some brown algae over a small area on the sand or on power heads with my flow shut off completely to see if the brown algae form snotty strings in the calm water. If they do it's dinos.
And then obviously the bubbles can mean either cyano or dinos. I think that comparison is a little harder to make because it can also be both dino with cyano. However, my cyano mats have been a lot thicker than when I had a bad dino bloom.
DNA
New member
I was more thinking of a fast id from a decent picture.
The reefing community is oblivious to what dinos can do to reef tanks.
Reefers keep struggling and don't get it why their corals don't thrive.
Cyano and diatom problems are much more common than dino problems, but are they just that?
It does not take a big dino bloom to do havoc, a few patches here and there can make the SPS experience miserable.
We are not doing enough about it. It will take more than a hobbyist from Iceland to get the blue whale in the lagoon out of there.
The reefing community is oblivious to what dinos can do to reef tanks.
Reefers keep struggling and don't get it why their corals don't thrive.
Cyano and diatom problems are much more common than dino problems, but are they just that?
It does not take a big dino bloom to do havoc, a few patches here and there can make the SPS experience miserable.
We are not doing enough about it. It will take more than a hobbyist from Iceland to get the blue whale in the lagoon out of there.
TampaSnooker
Active member
When I was fighting dinos two years ago in our propagation systems, the Ca and Alk were wonky. Couldn't add enough Ca to budge it. We were dosing up to 10 gal a day of kalkwasser into a 400 gal system and couldn't budge Ca from 320 or so. We weren't sure if something was consuming it at an enormous rate or something was affecting the test results. Test kits were typically API with Salifert tests run and a professional lab analysis to confirm. There was no precipitation.
Adrnalnrsh
New member
Does anyone know if some dinos kill Shrimp or is it only snails?
Adrnalnrsh
New member
Thanks ! Neither did my Peppermint and was wondering if that means my dinos weren't the toxic kind.
