Dino Issues

[jimandjen]

Hello you guys!

We were on about a month ago with issues with our QT ammonia problem and you guys were great help! And our two clowns and blue hippo are still doing well and our levels finally calmed down! Thank you for all of your insight and help during that ordeal. Now on to the next one...

We are in Dino hell in our 90 gallon display tank. We first noticed the problem about a month ago, but being the newbies that we are, we thought it was good algae Now we have the slimey snotty crap everywhere! It's covering the sand and live rock (we have almost 100lbs) and our green star polyps have stopped "waking up" in the mornings.

This is what we have done thus far...We used SeaChem SeaGel, which is a combo of phosguard and matrix carbon. We ran that under our polyfiber under the overflow for about a week. Today we siphoned (with a turkey baster) the dino off of the rocks and soft corals, did a 15 gallon water change and replaced the SeaGel with 250ml of Phosguard and 450ml Black Diamond Media.

Our Nitrate is unusually high, it is at 20ppm's and it is typically around 2-3ppm's. Our KH is always been low (approx 125ppm). In our water change today we are attempting to get the KH to above 180ppm. We will be decreasing 2x250w HQI Metal Halides to about 4 hours a day (they are typically at 6 hours per day) and we are going to leave our 2x96w Actinics to their normal 8 hours per day.

We are aware of the extreme measures (such as no lighting and raising the pH with Kalk to above 8.6) and we do not want to subscribe to those methods just yet. We have an incrediable amount of soft corals that we do not want to subject to these measures. Our pH is currently 8.3, Nitrite is 0ppm, ammonia/ammonium is 0ppm, CA is 430ppm, Mg is 1290ppm, and we have proceeded to drop the salinity from 1.026 to 1.024 in the past week. Today we purchased a Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizer, 18W, 250 Gallon,

Whew...with that being said, is there anything you guys can think of that we haven't or anything that we are doing that we should not be?

Thank you so much!
Jim and Jen

[HighlandReefer]

Does it appear that the dinos are intermixed with algae (like to algae are the backbone of the mass)?

[jimandjen]

Hi Cliff,

No, there doesn't appear to be any algae mixed in with the dino, it is feeding off of the nutrients in the water and live rock (we think). On a side note, we just read the article about PhosGuard and releasing aluminum into the tank. Unfortunately we have already used a total of 500ml during the past week in our fight against dino. Before placing the PhosGuard into the media bag, we rinsed it off for nearly 2 hours with RO/DI water so hopefully no significant damage has been done. We are planning on switching to Pura Complete with PhosLock. Do you have any information on this ferrous media or any further direction that we should take to rid our beloved tank of this slimey gunk?

Thanks,
Jim and Jen

[HighlandReefer]

The same procedures used to control algae can be applied to dinos. Keeping the dino masses out of your system on a regular basis is important.

This list may help:

1) Wet skimming with a good quality skimmer. Clean your skimmer cup at least once per week.

2) Reduce your nitrates and phosphates to a zero reading using the hobby grade test kits. See Randy's articles regarding this:

Phosphate and the Reef Aquarium
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...t2003/chem.htm

3) Proper lighting. I find that the higher wavelength bulbs are less conducive to algae growth. I now run 20,000 K bulbs from using 10,000 K bulbs.

4) Proper day length is a good thing also. I would not run your lights for more than 12 hrs total. Keep in mind that light entering from a window nearby is added to this figure.

5) Running GAC is a good practice in my book. It will help reduce the total dissolved organic carbons in your tank water and this is a food source.

6) Proper 30% per month total water changes will help export the DOC as well as some of the pests in the water column. It will help maintain the micro-nutrients as well.

7) Physical removal of the pest by hand, scrubbing and siphoning is important as well. If the amount of pest in your aquarium is overwhelming, perhaps dealing with one section at a time is a better idea.

8) Proper water circulation in your tank to prevent dead zones. When dealing with cyanobacteria pests increasing the flow where it grows seems to help.

9) Use RODI water for all top-off, salt mixing, additive mixes... etc.

10) Dosing iron may have benefits for macro-algae, but if you are experiencing algae pest problems than I would stop dosing it as it can add to the problem in many cases.

11) If you are dosing other supplements such as vitamins, amino acids, or others that contain a mix of supplements other than the basic alk., calcium and magnesium, I would stop these until you gain control of your pest. This includes many of the store bought products with unknown ingredients. Dosing Vodka or sugar to reduce your nitrates and phosphates would be an exception in my opinion.

12) Proper feeding habits. This can be the number one problem when trying to reduce your nitrate and phosphate levels. Use low phosphate fish foods.

13) IMHO, lighted refugiums may be a problem when trying to deal with an algae type pest problem. They are wonderful when it comes to reducing nitrates and phosphates. However, the light over most refugiums is conducive to the microalgae type pests. If the refugium becomes infested with a microalgae pest, I would clean it throughly of all pests as best as possible, remove the macro and turn off the lights until you gain control of your pest. Re-using the same macroalgae later may serve as a source for re-infestation of your pest.

14) Adding fish and other creatures that will eat your algae pest will help.

15) Running a diatom filter which has been suggested by Boomer, makes a lot of sense to me. It will help remove a lot of organic material in your water column.

16) For some additional thoughts regarding switching an algae based system to a bacterial based system see this thread:
(Using a carbon source with appropriate bacterial dosing may possibly help to push your system to where you want it although this is controversial.)

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1781320

17) There are other items that can be added to this list if others care too share and some of the items listed may be disputed.

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Randy's article provides more insight:

Problem Dinoflagellates and pH
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php