Struggling with dinos and feeling helpless

[Reeferparty]

I've been struggling with dinos and now it's really starting to take hold and my sps colonies are suffering. I blow them off everyday but poly extension is nonexistent. What can I do?! Does dosing peroxide help?

Tank parameters:
Par 250-350
Ph 8-8.2
Alk 7.4
Ca 425
Mag 1350-1400
Po4 .02-.1
No3 <5



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[bertoni]

Most of those parameters seem reasonable to me. I might try a bit of GFO, as it sometimes helps with this type of problem. I'd also add some fresh activated carbon and do a few 20% water changes, to see whether that helps. Spending a few minutes a day for a few days siphoning out as much of the slime as is easy to get might help export some nutrients, too. I would avoid spending more than 2-3 minutes on this, maybe less if the tank is small.

Hydrogen peroxide might help, although it can harm organisms. I would avoid that for the time being. I doubt that I'd dose it into the water column, but it can be used for spot applications.

[premilove]

A few years back I used ultra algae x to fight Dino's and byropsis. See if you can get your hands on some.

[ifarmer]

sometimes its better to start all over again.. not many people have any success with dino.
some people are lucky enough to keep them under control but can never get rid of them.
good luck

[karimwassef]

Have you checked the big Dino thread?

[Livingjewels]

I’ve had them and spent well over twelve months trying to get rid of them..

My advice to you is start again..I have no success stories to tell; however I do beleive with a little more time and a fresh approach things may have been different..

dinos:-I got even with them.. but I don’t believe I beat them..

I got rid of them and ended up with a clear tank, this was done by heating large drums of tank water 25 / 30litres a go..let it cool off then added it back to the tank as warm water..

(Skimmed all the dead stuff out first)

I did it outside btw Dino can be harmful..so a word of warning..

I did roughly 75to 100litres and noticed a distinct difference in my 300liter tank..it did actually go!

It may get you clear of them but I was for some reason never able to keep coral alive afterwards in the same water.. I never got to the bottom of it..

If was to advise anything using the info above to try..

You could clear them like I did, then do a set of large water changes to fully replace the old water.
I’m not sure how hot he water would have to go to have an effect, but I was around 70degrees C

Like I’ve said it was a last ditch attempt at nuking them not something each reefer would consider doing... bearing in mind I’d to make you understand I’d done everything possible prior to that..
Changed salts
Stopped water changing
Blue lights
Removed sand beds
Basted rocks corals
Siphoning
Dino x
Peroxide
Coral snow
Carbon
Bacteria

You name it I’d tried it..

This may give you the insight of what’s ahead, should you continue..

Hope it’s of help..

[karimwassef]

Doesn't sound like you tried UV or an algae scrubber

[Livingjewels]

Go for it...

[karimwassef]

I did. Worked for me
It is a horrible pain though

[DDon]

I've been battling dinos myself since January of 2015 across 2 tanks, as when I did an upgrade I brought them over on my livestock. They are definitely a royal pain. I think I tried just about everything and just recently started having some success...I hope.
As far as the question about peroxide dosing, didn't work for me and I went as high as 3ml/10 gal twice a day.

Some things I learned recently:
UV does work, or so not seems, on some types of dinos as long as it is a big enough unit, your flow rate is correct and you are treating a large enough portion of your water to make an impact.
I ran a 57 watt AquaUV at slow flow, with independent pump taking a suction on skimmer section of sump, on first my 240gal tank them my 270g with no noticeable results. I was getting ready to do a full reset and was pulling my remaing corals and trying to treat before moving to a 50g cube I set up. I decided to make 1 last ditch effort and purchased a 114 watt AquaUV unit and plumbed it into my return line. I had purchased a microscope recently so I knew exactly what I was dealing with and found at least 5 different species of dinos, Ostreopsis, Coolia, Prorocentrum and 2 species of amphidinium (most likely A. Cartarae and another larger cell species). A week after installing the larger UV and blasting the rocks with a power head every night after lights out I was unable to find any Ostreopsis, Coolia or Prorocentrum. The amphidinium though continue to live, I don't believe they enter the water column as readily as the others.

With the corals I was pulling, which were removed prior to installing the larger UV; I was performing a low salinity dip (1.008 sg) followed by a peroxide dip (first 8 parts water to 1 part 3% peroxide then switching to a 4:1 ratio. Corals were then placed in a treatment/qt tank for monitoring. I could find no living Ostreopsis, Coolia or Prorocentrum following the dips, though I did find some encysted Coolia which I assume were still viable. Both amphidinium species though we're alive and well.

I had purchased a bottle of Dino-X and thought I would test it out. First I added a drop on a slide with amphidinium and they immediately stopped moving. Then I added 2 drops to the cup with my sample to test a more diluted dose and had the same results. I then decided to dose my 50g which had some of the corals I had moved from my treatment tank but still had the amphidinium dinos. It took 8 doses over 16 days but after I could find no living amphidinium.

On my 270g with the amphidinium remaining I am trying to out compete them by maintaining elevated nutrients (0.1 or greater phosphate and 5+ ppm nitrates. I may end up treating the tank Dino-X to take care the the amphidinium if this fails.

I believe dinos can be defeated but different species require different treatments. Hope this helps and good luck.

[bertoni]

That's an interesting writeup on the Dino-X. I'm glad it worked for you. How long has the tank been Amphidium-free?

[DDon]

Originally Posted by bertoni

That's an interesting writeup on the Dino-X. I'm glad it worked for you. How long has the tank been Amphidium-free?

It's has been 3 weeks, though I haven't checked a sample under the scope for almost a week now.

[bertoni]

That sounds like excellent progress. I hope the dinoflagellates don't reappear.

[DDon]

Thank you very much. Now to finish them off in my main tank.

[alfaowner]

My advice after spending 2 years of FIGHTING it and trying everything is to start over again. Run the tank with Empty with aquarium cleaner for a day and rinse thoroughly. It will be in your pumps. Your pipes. Everywhere. I dumped everything except my fish and hardware and started again. You cannot risk bringing it over again. However. Are you sure you have never killed it and are just suffering the brown dust diatom that looks similar and smells similar??

Are you 100% checking?
Do you have the long snotty bubbles?



I ask as


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[taricha]

Originally Posted by DDon

I've been battling dinos myself since January of 2015....

100% endorse this playbook. Except the Dino-x vs amphidinium part which I can't confirm, but is tantalizing.

[ajm83]

I battled for over a year, in the end it was adding nitrate (in the form of potassium nitrate) to keep the level at 2-5 PPM which did for them. It didn't make them disappear over night, but they stopped growing. Before that I'd been nuking them with bleach, peroxide, total blackouts (8 days at a time, Dino X etc. They'd all work but would come back days later.

Funny thing is, the tank seemed to go through its initial algae cycle again after I did this. I had cyano, then diatoms, then hair algae, but they all subsided in time and ... no more dinos. And they've never come back since.

Also don't bother tearing down the tank without addressing the issues, they could well come back. I did 3 times and they came back each time. Came damn near throwing in the towel every time. Such a waste of money too.