Has there been any new developments regarding how to deal with this? If not I might have to restart my tank a second time. I need help with getting my hands on new rock, new coral, everything. I'm asking this club for help because I'm just about done with going it alone. :sad1:And yes I've tried EVERYTHING to cure it.:deadhorse1:
Second dinoflagellate bloom, ready to throw in the towel.
- Thread starter Kurtl000
- Start date
Its a 25 gallon cube with a MP10. Using R/O water from multiple sources never worked. Flow has nothing to do with it, its not cyanobacteria. Like I said I've exhausted all "cures". The only thing I'm doing different was I added a fish yesterday. Yes this tank has been fishless. It was fishless before the last outbreak also. Hmmmmmm...............
cthedaytrader
Active member
How long has your tank been up? How long have you had the problem, diatoms are common in newer tanks and generally run in cycles and can go away on their own with good maintance, but if you are having a chronic problem then there must be other sources feeding the diatoms.
If you are sure your water source is clean of phosphate and silicates aka RO/DI water then chances are your sand bed or if the sand bed is new your rock is leaching them into the water and it will take some time and patience to basically "cook" the rock in your own tank. If you start over you will most likely end up with similar problems unless you find clean or you cook the rock yourself.
Did you use live rock or dead rock to start?
If you have corals and fish in the tank now then I would recomend running GFO, carbon and doing water changes, probaby 5 gallons every few days or so at least once a week and I would say more. It may take a few months but you will eventally leach out the rocks.
You can take a piece or two out and replace it with fresh rock as well, but if its dead rock I would give it an acid bath and pre cook it.
This new tank process can take months or much much longer depdning on many factors such as how "dirty" the rock is, biolad, feedings and how dilligent you are with the water changes.
In my opinion there is no quick fix for these types of early tank problems. But one thing is when you beat it and the tank finally looks clean, its a great fealing lol.
If you are sure your water source is clean of phosphate and silicates aka RO/DI water then chances are your sand bed or if the sand bed is new your rock is leaching them into the water and it will take some time and patience to basically "cook" the rock in your own tank. If you start over you will most likely end up with similar problems unless you find clean or you cook the rock yourself.
Did you use live rock or dead rock to start?
If you have corals and fish in the tank now then I would recomend running GFO, carbon and doing water changes, probaby 5 gallons every few days or so at least once a week and I would say more. It may take a few months but you will eventally leach out the rocks.
You can take a piece or two out and replace it with fresh rock as well, but if its dead rock I would give it an acid bath and pre cook it.
This new tank process can take months or much much longer depdning on many factors such as how "dirty" the rock is, biolad, feedings and how dilligent you are with the water changes.
In my opinion there is no quick fix for these types of early tank problems. But one thing is when you beat it and the tank finally looks clean, its a great fealing lol.
See this is whats so frustrating. People are unfamiliar with DINOflagellates. Not diatoms. Dinos release toxins in the water that irritate corals, especially soft corals, and kill snails almost instantly. And it looks like brown snot. Anyway this is a barebottom tank so no sand. I redid the tank with new live rock about a year ago. This tank is not new. Whats even more frustrating is water changes make it WORSE. Seems dinos use the trace elements in salt as fuel. Whats strange is this problem arose again after I started taking care of the tank again after the summer.
cthedaytrader
Active member
Actually, Dinos and Diatoms are both types of phytoplanktons, and in the reef tank they generally are signs of similiar issues which is why they get grouped together.
Personaly a year old tank is still a new tank.
If your tank gets worse with water changes then I think you have a problem with your water source. Have you invested in an RO/DI unit.
You mentioned RO, are you using RO/DI and multiple sources? What are your sources, if you are using distilled or bottled water its not pure enough I have tested distileld water from the store and its always had ahigh TDS measurement.
Chances are if you dont have a good RO/DI unit and are making it yourself or getting water from difference sources that arent RO/DI and you arent testing your TDS then this is mos tlikley your problem.
Personaly a year old tank is still a new tank.
If your tank gets worse with water changes then I think you have a problem with your water source. Have you invested in an RO/DI unit.
You mentioned RO, are you using RO/DI and multiple sources? What are your sources, if you are using distilled or bottled water its not pure enough I have tested distileld water from the store and its always had ahigh TDS measurement.
Chances are if you dont have a good RO/DI unit and are making it yourself or getting water from difference sources that arent RO/DI and you arent testing your TDS then this is mos tlikley your problem.
I'm using RO/DI from country critters with a TDS of zero. When this happened the first time around I tried rodi from a friend of mine and same results. Here's what I think might be key. Lack of nitrates??? There's no food input into the tank until last night with the intro of a fish. I was reading a few research papers on the subject and they mention dino blooms in eutrophic fishless ponds. Would make sense since they never showed up until I started taking care of the tank. Wish I had measured nitrates before the water change......
Well here is what worked for me.
Daily cleaning with a turkey baster and a brush.
Daily changing of socks
24/7 carbon.
Treatment with chemi clean followed by daily treatments with KZ Coral Snow.... With brightwell MB7 (I didn't have Amy zeobak at the time)
I also switched from pellets to prodibio bioclean (Reefdigest and bioptim).
No more bubbles and no more strings.... If I see a few bubbles I hit it with the baster and a dose of the KZ Coral Snow. Maybe once a week....
Are you using any Zeo suppliments? XTRA and cv overdoses will give you Dino for sure.
I have some brown patches all over my rock that I am dealing with but I can live with that as the coral does not seem effected...
Daily cleaning with a turkey baster and a brush.
Daily changing of socks
24/7 carbon.
Treatment with chemi clean followed by daily treatments with KZ Coral Snow.... With brightwell MB7 (I didn't have Amy zeobak at the time)
I also switched from pellets to prodibio bioclean (Reefdigest and bioptim).
No more bubbles and no more strings.... If I see a few bubbles I hit it with the baster and a dose of the KZ Coral Snow. Maybe once a week....
Are you using any Zeo suppliments? XTRA and cv overdoses will give you Dino for sure.
I have some brown patches all over my rock that I am dealing with but I can live with that as the coral does not seem effected...
Luckily the infestation isnt as bad as I thought it was. A few small patches that nestle themselves in hair algae. I pull out that patch of algae and the dinos seem to be very slow to come back, especially not that spot. Unfortunatly its the hair algae thats wirey and is hard to pull off the rock. Go figure I have hair algae with zero nitrate and phosphate. I think whats bothering me the most is my zoos wont fully open with this. They open to expose theyre discs but refuse to expand theyre tentacles. I guess theyre getting irritated. Kind of like me. I'm getting good coraline growth too so I guess I just gotta keep encouraging that.
James983
Active member
Kurt, If you have hair algae you do not have 0 PO4. The algae is being fueled by something. How are you measuring PO4? You need a low level meter for true reading.
Also, the R.O. water you are using could have 0 TDS, but still have PO4. TDS does not measure PO4. Test your RO water to be sure. If that reads 0, you are fueling the algae from somewhere else.
I fought HA when my tank was new. I believe PO4 was leaching from my dry rock from BRS. I added a second DI chamber and did weekly water changes. In about 2 months things improved. Good luck
Also, the R.O. water you are using could have 0 TDS, but still have PO4. TDS does not measure PO4. Test your RO water to be sure. If that reads 0, you are fueling the algae from somewhere else.
I fought HA when my tank was new. I believe PO4 was leaching from my dry rock from BRS. I added a second DI chamber and did weekly water changes. In about 2 months things improved. Good luck
Gsxr600
New member
hair algae with zero nitrate and phosphates is basically a false reading. my bet is either of them (or potentially both) are say maybe 0.5 and the algae is consuming that little amount giving you a false negative. im pretty sure its your LR though and i can tell you why too lol.. you gunna be at the meeting?
RichardinMa
New member
Actually, this is not correct andthis assumption is why there is so much conflicting information and suggestions on these forums. I dint mean any disrespect however diatoms and dinoflagellates are completely different organisms, feed on different nutrient sources, and typically affect tanks at different stages. Diatoms are normal in new tanks as they utilize silica in their growth which is typical in new tanks. They are easy to get rid of. Dinoflagellates are flagellated protozoans that do not need silica, they do not need much light, and thy can overwhelm a tank that is even nearly devoid of nutrient. This is why so many attempts at getting rid of it that typically work for algaes a d other phytoplsnktons simply do not work. Treat them like everythiung else and you will never get rid of them.
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