Dinoflagellates.

A hopeful find today; I added one drop of SeaChem Stability to 10 drops of tank water with some active dinos. Within 30 seconds they stop moving and appear to be dead! Looking at roughly 100 of them; and not a single one is moving.

Next I'll add a single drop of seachem to an ounce of tank water and examine it within a couple of hours. It is not an instant death as it was with soda ash so maybe the bacteria need time to go to work?
 
Another interesting find; one drop of ammonia per 2 oz tank water = instant death!

Anyone know how I can produce some nitrates?

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8gmBY3MFhVU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
DNA said:
That's how to do it. Well done seamonster124.

Judged on the reports from the participants in this thread we can safely say AlgeaX and DinoX are useless on Ostreopsis dinoflagellates.
It should say so on the bottle and in their ads since Ostreopsis is likely to be the most common dino species that plague our tanks.
Click to expand...
So how can one identify the dinos accurately? I know a microscope, but they are pretty expensive..any tips on which to buy?
 
mannyhernz said:
So how can one identify the dinos accurately? I know a microscope, but they are pretty expensive..any tips on which to buy?
Click to expand...

No expert here but i too found my self in your shoes when my wife somehow managed to make it out of high school without ever looking through a microscope. I figured id buy one to show her a world shed never seen ( was my excuse for getting one) :lol:

I googled best reviews on microscopes and to my surprise there are several under $200 that appeared "high end" to me .I chose this one because the reviews were good and i found it used for $150 with shipping on ebay. Its more microscope than ill ever need. Im more than happy with it. I work around a research facility and looks like the type of scopes they use.
Just google best reviews and look at price range . There were even some under $100 that were 5 stars and top 10 microscopes for 2013 when i was looking for one.

This is the one i bought.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...005TJ5CEG&linkCode=as2&tag=bestprodtag7659-20
 
mannyhernz said:
What kind of tank? By that i mean sps, lps? I have an sps dominated tank and looking into using it but afraid it would kill off some of my pieces
Click to expand...

It was a mostly spa tank before the Dinos killed off all of my acroporas. I have a rainbow monti and a small frag of birds nest in there now along with a few lps and some zoas. So far I haven't noticed any negative effects on any of the livestock.
 
mannyhernz said:
Even though it's cheaper, not really cheap for a one time use..
On a side note, I have notice that my tailspot blenny loves eating them.. Is that a good thing?
Click to expand...

Like i said before, find one in your price range. Look for best reviews wether your spending $ 30 or $ 300. Its up to you.

My lawnmower blenny eats them along with my blue tang and several snails (turbos, ceriths, nassarius, and a fighting conch). No ill effects yet. Ostreopsis is supposed to be one of the more toxic types of Dinoflagellates. I don't think mine are that toxic or id have some casualties by now. Not a single one yet that i know of.
Others have reported many snail deaths rapidly.
 
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Fish Keeper82 said:
Like i said before, find one in your price range. Look for best reviews wether your spending $ 30 or $ 300. Its up to you.

My lawnmower blenny eats them along with my blue tang and several snails (turbos, ceriths, nassarius, and a fighting conch). No ill effects yet. Ostreopsis is supposed to be one of the more toxic types of Dinoflagellates. I don't think mine are that toxic or id have some casualties by now. Not a single one yet that i know of.
Others have reported many snail deaths rapidly.
Click to expand...
So what is the magnification that i need minimum?
 
Update:
there has been an explosion of microscopic creatures in my tank water. 24 hours ago I could see nothing but dino seeds.
I could be wrong but it appears these creatures are eating dino colonies from the inside.

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mu3P32b2bVQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Anyone care to ID these?
<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/13k5dWn1btQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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I've had my Dino's in check for maybe two months or more now. The dirty method was very successful for me (never was able to ID mine unfortunately). I'm now dealing with algae and an outbreak of what I think is cyano. Assuming the lack of Dino's is resulting in increased nitrates and phosphates.

My question is: when is it safe to use water changes and GFO to reduce nitrates and phosphates? The two things that triggered my outbreak originally I'm hesitant to begin doing again. But don't see other options than continuous siphoning. At some point it's gotta be safe to perform WCs and run GFO again.

Thoughts ?
 
I would love to see some copepods eating dinos under a microscope :)

Im wondering if its possible to train copepods to eat dinos? Say culture copepods in a tank, then dump in some dinos every so often.
 
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