Help: Dinoflagellates

Pura Complete is GFO with activated carbon. It has some resins, too, but they won't work in saltwater. I'd stick with separate media, but the Pura Complete should work well.
 
its gfh not gfo i belive the iron content in gfo feeds a lot of algae plants thrive on iron gfo is rusted iron i dont know what was going on in tank but i happen to come across pura it worked for me i mean the dinos would grow right if front of your eyes i changed the media like every 4 days it worked
 
I've been fighting this stuff for a least a month now in my 185. I changed carbon out, lights out for days, raised the ph to 8.6 during daylight hours and 8.3 in darkness. Filter socks changed daily and rocks cleaned at least once a day. Nitrates at 2 and Phosphates at 0 with Salifert test. GFO and PH seemed to do the best at keeping it from spreading and maybe pushing it back a little? I'm thinking at this point of taking it down and replacing the sand and cooking the rock. The tank has only been running since September so now would be the best time to do it.... Any thoughts? I wish there was a simple pill to dose!!! I have never had anything this bad!!

Mike
 
I hear you but it's been crazy! There should be a support group or something for people that have this junk! I know its causing me to drink more tequila! I'm so tired of the waste land look that this stuff gives to the tank!! In the past, aquariums would help me relax..... now I'm obsessed with weed be gone!!

Mike
 
im in the same boat! i hate that look and i dont want this menace to push me to get out of this hobby! :S (doubt that'll happen lol) i also wish there was just a pill or something that would get rid of it!! but i guess patience is the only thing i can do for a lil bit, up until the holidays have passed and i have that extra green again. ill most likely try pura complete and see how that works.
 
pH is the way

pH is the way

I had a serious outbreak in my 55g that occured about 3 weeks after having started vodka dosing. Dino's are a tough adversary, and I struggled for weeks trying just about everything I read with no success. It was at that point that I decided to try Randy's suggestion of raising the pH. I bought a pH probe, some kalkwasser and went to it. I raised my tanks pH from about 7.9 to 8.5 and I started seeing a huge difference within 3 days. After 2 weeks, they were completely gone. It's been over 5 months now since I've seen any dinos. No ill effects to the livestock from the pH swing, only a clean healthy tank!
 
Since I don't have any corals or inverts in my tank, I'm going to remove my fish and I'm gonna jack the salinity. A good friend of mine that's been in the hobby for years longer than most said his Bio-Chem professor told him that it was quite possible to do it since my friend was dealing with it at the same time. He did it and they were gone within days.

I'm gonna give it a shot. I mean why not? There will be nothing in there except rock, sand and water...
 
I am a bit confused by some of the responses here. I see someone has pointed to brs gfo and dinoflagellate outbreak,also seams atleast part of a the erradication methodology is backing off water changes.

From the above is this an indication that (Fe) is the limiting nutrient?I missing something?

Second ,why would (C) be a bad idea to dose?
-Steve
 
This article covers GFO products:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.htm

From it:

Iron oxide hydroxide can be completely amorphous (having randomly arranged ions), completely crystalline (with an ordered arrangement of ions), or something in between. In nature it can take a variety of different crystalline forms, including goethite, lepidocrocite, and limonite. The detailed chemistry of these materials is beyond the scope of this article, but in short, all of the commercial GFO's sold to aquarists are comprised of a solid of Fe+++ and OH- and O-- ions
I'm skeptical that the Pura product releases any more iron into the water than any other product. In addition, iron is depleted very rapidly in our tanks.
 
i killed them twice within 3 years with the following: (get a read up on it first) vodkadosing + dosing prodibio biodigest (concentrated nitrogen-cycle bacteria) for competition.
start it slow and combine it with total darkness for 3 days.when they survive the first dark period, wait for a few days and then make it dark again.
continue the vodka for some time or be sure to have low nutrients/ competition for those little suckers.

hth, greetings martin
 
Nomad don't kill your rock your tank seems to be cycling again. Chill brother! Drink the tequila, sip the tequila and let the tank run it's course but it sounds like you are doing things right. If within 3 weeks it's not gone you might need to look into other methods.
 
Esteban,
Im not going to do anything drastic! I do want to get rid of this stuff though! I think that they are much more complicated than most problematic algae and there is just not one fix. In all my years, this has been the toughest to beat!

Mike
 
I eradicated the pest 99% in 3 weeks. At least you know its dino's I thought I had cyano for about 2 weeks and was treating my tank with those measures.

Topping off with saturated kalk seems to help. Also reduced photo periods. Lots of gac is encouraged. Change this often I would change it every 3 days.

I also blew the stuff off with a powerhead and used the overflow sock to catch the nasties. After doing this I dosed bio magnet clarifier nightly. Whatever I did it worked and the sand is as nice as the day it was added. The plugs are clear of the pest. And all the rock is free of dino's and in it's place the coraline is coming back.
 
THIS IS ALL MY OPINION AND MY EXPIERIENCE: if your tank has no corals. ill tell you how i got rid of them. siphoning doesnt work, plain and simple. dinoflaggelates arent on the rocks, theyre in the water. phosphates, nitrates, and silicates dont matter(they do feed dinoflaggelates, but dont bother worrying about them) ok. step one: turn all of the lights off for about 2 weeks. step 2: increase skimming if possible. Step 3: run phosphate removers, carbon and a filter pad.(i ran them in an aquaclear) change the filter pad regularly. step 4: no water changes at all. the goal is to destroy the water. get every possible nutrient out of it. snails, crabs, fish, and live rock will be fine. i never bothered with ph but ive heard raising it helps. if your going to try, i suggest a product from the Aquavitro line called 8.4. it SHOULD help, but i dont know. good luck.
 
PH to 8.7 for 3 days no light simultaneously worked for me, I used lime slushy with pickling lime multiple times a day. Hanna PH meter came in handy to keep track throughout the day. No water change at all. When they are dead all will turn gray/white. After that blast them off into the overflow with a turkey baster for your skimmer to get them. I did have some RTN on a couple SPS because of the alk/ph spike but only really lost two frags. Battled them for 4 months before that with other methods but was not successful. Now Dino free for 3 months
 
One of my concerns is the current set up. I bought the tank used and it came with only one stock corner overflow. I dont think the tank can turn over the volume in the display to the sump enough. My last tank was a 180 megaflow and did a much better job. I think more turnover would speed up the process as more water would pass through the sump area contacting the skimmer and reactors. It's been a concern of mine since I bought it and with whats going on, I think I might make a mod to the drains or replace the tank before I get to deep. Right now, its nothing but 200lbs of rock, 4 fish and a ton of snails and crabs. I think a coast to coast would definately be an improvement. I have two Tunze units working in the display but moving water around in the tank only just isn't getting it done. I'm running a Deltec AP702 skimmer on it to do the dirty work.

Mike
 
Nomad,

Cahoolagin seems to have your battle plan worked out. I would do that with out even a second thought. If you had coral its trickier I also am loosing one bad *** coral to rtn because of my alk swing.

My balance was always the WC I did every 7 days I am on week 3 no WC.

The dinos do turn white like Oscarsir said. That is
the best feeling, seeing them die and turn white. And seeing your powerheads not have any pest on them. With out a doubt the dino bacteria is in the water column and it a pita to get rid off, but in no way impossible.

GL and keep the faith that one day you will have the tank you always wanted.
 
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