I have a DINOFLAGELLATES outbreak. Now what?!
- Thread starter RussC
- Start date
It’s not always the case but I suspect most people who battle Dino have very low nutrients. I know in the past when I have had it my no3 & po4 would read zero. Raising my nutrients was the biggest factor in me beating it imo. What are your nutrients testing at? That will somewhat determine what route to take to try & beat it. It never surprises me when someone says they have Dino & test 0 on no3 & po4. More times then not that is the case.
I have found that u need other algea to outcompete the Dino. When battling Dino u want to see green algae. When u wipe the glass every few days u don’t want it to be brown, u want it to be a green haze on the glass.
Dino also fuels off of water changes. So it a good idea to skip water changes why battling Dino.
I have found that u need other algea to outcompete the Dino. When battling Dino u want to see green algae. When u wipe the glass every few days u don’t want it to be brown, u want it to be a green haze on the glass.
Dino also fuels off of water changes. So it a good idea to skip water changes why battling Dino.
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I would start by trying to raise them & stop doing water changes. U can also get a 10 micron filter sock to syphon as much of it out as possible. U just place the sock in the sump & syphon through it so u don’t lose any water & have to do a water change.
Dino tends to like sterile tanks, so u can introduce more microfauna & try dosing phyto. I wouldn’t do it immediately but if u get to a point to where u have it under control but just can’t quite get rid of it then u may want to remove the sandbed. Once your Dino free for a month or two ithen u can replace the sand if u want. I would save that as somewhat of a last resort.
Some strains of Dino can be a real pain to get rid of. They have people who have battled it for years. I have battled for about a year on a couple different occasions. Like I sai, I would start by getting your nutrients up & trying to get some green algea to grow. Dosing phyto can also be a good idea. Stop doing water changes. Do that & once u start seeing some green algea u can go from there.
Dino tends to like sterile tanks, so u can introduce more microfauna & try dosing phyto. I wouldn’t do it immediately but if u get to a point to where u have it under control but just can’t quite get rid of it then u may want to remove the sandbed. Once your Dino free for a month or two ithen u can replace the sand if u want. I would save that as somewhat of a last resort.
Some strains of Dino can be a real pain to get rid of. They have people who have battled it for years. I have battled for about a year on a couple different occasions. Like I sai, I would start by getting your nutrients up & trying to get some green algea to grow. Dosing phyto can also be a good idea. Stop doing water changes. Do that & once u start seeing some green algea u can go from there.
MGP
New member
Step one : get uv sterilizer
Step two : four day lights out
Step three : dose hydrogen peroxide
Step four : increase your feeding or bio load
I wouldn’t bother trying to suck them up and recycle water, Dino’s can swim through the water column so you will just be spreading them. After the 4day blackout they will gradually recede durring the following 3days. Important during this time to not change water. Make sure to feed fish and coral well, encouraging other algae to outcompete.
Step two : four day lights out
Step three : dose hydrogen peroxide
Step four : increase your feeding or bio load
I wouldn’t bother trying to suck them up and recycle water, Dino’s can swim through the water column so you will just be spreading them. After the 4day blackout they will gradually recede durring the following 3days. Important during this time to not change water. Make sure to feed fish and coral well, encouraging other algae to outcompete.
Read this thread for an example of what a dino battle looks like.
Before doing anything you need to identify what type of dinos you have. A $12 microscope on Amazon is enough, or if you have access to a better microscope that is better. Take a sample, put it under the microscope, take a video of the dinos. Post the video here and I'll identify them for you, and then you can come up with the right battle plan.
I don't recommend multi-day blackouts unless you have a clear rationale for doing it (which you wont unless you have the dinos identified). Otherwise you are just stressing out your corals and the dinos will come right back afterwards. I also wouldn't recommend hydrogen peroxide as there are lots of safer treatments and I'm not sure how effective hydrogen peroxide has been proven to be.
Before doing anything you need to identify what type of dinos you have. A $12 microscope on Amazon is enough, or if you have access to a better microscope that is better. Take a sample, put it under the microscope, take a video of the dinos. Post the video here and I'll identify them for you, and then you can come up with the right battle plan.
I don't recommend multi-day blackouts unless you have a clear rationale for doing it (which you wont unless you have the dinos identified). Otherwise you are just stressing out your corals and the dinos will come right back afterwards. I also wouldn't recommend hydrogen peroxide as there are lots of safer treatments and I'm not sure how effective hydrogen peroxide has been proven to be.
jd371
New member
What worked for me was hooking up a spare canister filter to a UV and temporarily setting it up to run at night when the Dinos are in the water column. The canister pulled water directly from the tank with the PH's adjusted so there was more flow being directed towards the intake. The canister/UV drained into a filter sock that was replaced every day. To speed things along I would spend a couple of minutes before the lights shut off to blow the Dino off the surfaces in the tank with a turkey baster.
By the third week the Dino was gone and continued another week before breaking down the set up and putting it away.
By the third week the Dino was gone and continued another week before breaking down the set up and putting it away.
Currently dealing with and beating dino right now.
Like others in the thread have said, the key so far has been increasing nutrients. Specifically I have been dosing nitrate and phosphate to a target of nitrate 5ppm, phos .03-.05. I was reading 0, 0 when dino started to take hold. Also, I got a big UV sterilizer, but I don't think that would have done it by itself.
The idea is that dino can survive in low nutrient environment, while its competitors cannot. By providing more nitrate/phos, you're encouraging growth of things to out compete dino.
Like others in the thread have said, the key so far has been increasing nutrients. Specifically I have been dosing nitrate and phosphate to a target of nitrate 5ppm, phos .03-.05. I was reading 0, 0 when dino started to take hold. Also, I got a big UV sterilizer, but I don't think that would have done it by itself.
The idea is that dino can survive in low nutrient environment, while its competitors cannot. By providing more nitrate/phos, you're encouraging growth of things to out compete dino.
