Dinoflagellates... Son of a...
- Thread starter Haulin Oates
- Start date
So sorry to hear Jack. I know all about contemplating getting out. I've lost about 16 fish between my QT and now my display. Some of them were fish that I'll have a hard time replacing, like my Whitetail Bristletooth Tang. Don't give up man. Keep going forward. This will just make you slow down a bit and be more deliberate with things that are put into the tank. I know I'll be going fishless for a couple months once I can catch the last 2 fish in my tank. Will be hard to do that, but I know it's what needs to happen for the well being of the tank and the fish in it.
Jack - Pods are easy to replace, and rebuild the population. I rebuilt my tank with dry rock, and I dip everything with FWE and Coral RX, and I have pods in my tank. Once things calm down, you can get a bottle or two from algae barn. I would try to battle through the algae. Maybe add a large phosban/gfo reactor in addition to the measures you already have in place. If you need a canister filter, I have one you can borrow. You can pack a ton of GFO in there and limit the flow so it doesn't tumble around.
Dinoflagellates... Son of a...
Thanks everyone for the encouraging words! To my utter amazement... The mandarin is hanging in there!! I put him in the refugium yesterday, thinking that would be the most likely place for him to find pods. My wife said he was dead while I was at work, so when I got home I went to get him out and he swam away! Then the same happened to me this morning! So I'm letting him hang down there for a few days. I've been running phosgaurd for about 2 months now, and as soon as I get a free day, I'm gonna get all of the colored pebbles out and do a 50% water change. Then ill find some pods to start repopulating my refugium.
Thanks everyone for the encouraging words! To my utter amazement... The mandarin is hanging in there!! I put him in the refugium yesterday, thinking that would be the most likely place for him to find pods. My wife said he was dead while I was at work, so when I got home I went to get him out and he swam away! Then the same happened to me this morning! So I'm letting him hang down there for a few days. I've been running phosgaurd for about 2 months now, and as soon as I get a free day, I'm gonna get all of the colored pebbles out and do a 50% water change. Then ill find some pods to start repopulating my refugium.
Sooooo glad I stumbled upon this thread!!! I have been trying to deal with the same stuff for a few weeks now without any success. Got some Hydrogen Peroxide during my lunch break going to give it a shot when i get home. Wanted to check on a couple of things before i took a plunge... Do i keep running my skimmer? I have a bag of chemipure elite in my fuge would i need to take it out for the time of the treatment? Do i have to kill the lights for three days to go along with dozing the tank? THANKS!!
Dinoflagellates... Son of a...
I continued to run my skimmer and continued the use of carbon and phosgaurd. I noticed my zoas closed up right after dosing but soon opened back up. I did not cut my lights, for fear of damaging my SPS... But that might be an option if you feel your tank inhabitants could handle it. I also found my pod population completly died off, for yet unknown reasons, so if you have a dedicated pod eater, have a backup plan for them in place.
I continued to run my skimmer and continued the use of carbon and phosgaurd. I noticed my zoas closed up right after dosing but soon opened back up. I did not cut my lights, for fear of damaging my SPS... But that might be an option if you feel your tank inhabitants could handle it. I also found my pod population completly died off, for yet unknown reasons, so if you have a dedicated pod eater, have a backup plan for them in place.
As I read on other forums about lighting. Even the ocean has cloudy days and week long storms. Plus the way we bombard coral with light isn't natural anyway. You wont lose coral in 3 days. Some people say its even healthy. I finally turned my lights off and some stuff actually looks bigger. Give it a shot...
PS
SPS is fine!
PS
SPS is fine!
Has everyone checked pH? Just curious...I'm wondering if the cold temps that have everyone keeping the heat cranking and windows closed are causing pH drops and fueling the growth of dinoflagellates.
I noticed them popping up in my 20 long maybe 2 months ago...I added an mp10, which caused plenty surface agitation (for gas exchange) and they started disappearing.
Here's an interesting read on the topic of pH if you haven't come across it yet.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php
I noticed them popping up in my 20 long maybe 2 months ago...I added an mp10, which caused plenty surface agitation (for gas exchange) and they started disappearing.
Here's an interesting read on the topic of pH if you haven't come across it yet.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php
Dinoflagellates... Son of a...
Ok, so I've gotten the upper hand on these guys! It's not over, but I've definitely hit on some things I think helped:
Flow: adding the mp10 to the display was by far the best thing I think I did. My koralias on a wavemaker were just not cutting it. However, I believe whole-heatedly now that flow is the key. I put the koralias in my sump after putting the mp in my DT. They are all aimed up to agitate the surface:
I've noticed my pH isn't dropping as much and nothing can settle anywhere except my filter sock.
Keeping it from building up anywhere. I used a turkey baster to blast it off of anything it settled on.
Hydrogen peroxide. It did seem to help. I think mine took longer to help because I found out my bottle was about 6 years old. I could not find an expiration date or anything on it, but I suspect had I bought a new bottle, the effects would have been much faster.
Ok, so I've gotten the upper hand on these guys! It's not over, but I've definitely hit on some things I think helped:
Flow: adding the mp10 to the display was by far the best thing I think I did. My koralias on a wavemaker were just not cutting it. However, I believe whole-heatedly now that flow is the key. I put the koralias in my sump after putting the mp in my DT. They are all aimed up to agitate the surface:
I've noticed my pH isn't dropping as much and nothing can settle anywhere except my filter sock.
Keeping it from building up anywhere. I used a turkey baster to blast it off of anything it settled on.
Hydrogen peroxide. It did seem to help. I think mine took longer to help because I found out my bottle was about 6 years old. I could not find an expiration date or anything on it, but I suspect had I bought a new bottle, the effects would have been much faster.
Just started dozing my tank last night, noticed that zoas closed within 30 seconds or so but then opened up again and look fine now, the ones that are not covered in dino that is. My big outbreak happened a few weeks ago. I did a 25% water change before leaving for vacation and when i came back 10 days later my tank i mean everything: live rock, sand, glass looked like someone took a huge dump and it covered everything. From the link that was in the beginning of the thread found out that water change can fuel the outbreak by bringing in new nutrients. Definitely something to keep in mind as I almost attempted to do another wc. I will try the black out in a couple of days if i see no or very little change.
Dinoflagellates... Son of a...
I'm not sure how much flow that is, but I had a 1050, 750, and 2 425s in my 40 breeder, plus the ~400 from my return. It seem counter-intuitive, but the mp making the wave action will actually suspend the particles in the water until it goes into the overflow. I also saw a huge outbreak in my fuge, which had about 100 gph of flow and no surface agitation. Since adding the koralias to the sump area, it look bunches cleaner, and they're almost gone from my fuge.
I'm not sure how much flow that is, but I had a 1050, 750, and 2 425s in my 40 breeder, plus the ~400 from my return. It seem counter-intuitive, but the mp making the wave action will actually suspend the particles in the water until it goes into the overflow. I also saw a huge outbreak in my fuge, which had about 100 gph of flow and no surface agitation. Since adding the koralias to the sump area, it look bunches cleaner, and they're almost gone from my fuge.