Fighting Dinos - Question re: Removing excess Bio-media

[RemoGaggi]

My tank is a IM 20 that is about 6 months old.  I've got a royal gramma, watchman goby w/ pistol shrimp, pajama cardinal, hermit crab, skunk cleaner shrimp and about 5-6 assorted snails.  I started the tank with about 17-20lb live rock and live sand.  After the tank cycled, I got 2 of the IM media baskets and ran the floss balls and carbon that came with it in both baskets.  I also ran 2 bags of Seachem Matrix in the spare chamber.  This matrix has been in there since the beginning.  After about a month or so running the IM carbon that came with my baskets, I started seeing a lot or algae on the glass, sand, and just about everywhere.  I was figured there might be excess phosphates and since my IM carbon was over a month old, I replaced it with Chemipure blue nano.  I also decided to add the GFO that came with the IM media basket (purity pack).  I don't know what I was thinking, but at some point, I also added a small bag of matrix carbon to one of the media baskets.  

 

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a LOT more stringy junk with bubbles all over the glass and my corals and rocks.  I then saw the other current thread on Dinos and read up on it.  I don't know why I never did that before.  I don't currently a Phosphate test kit or microscope - they are on order and should arrive this week.  My nitrates on my API kit are showing zero.

 

I read on the long thread from another forum that common factors for a dino outbreak can include:

Common Contributing Factors
Some of the most common factors that contribute to the dino outbreaks we cover in this thread are:

• the tank being new, rock being immature or the tank being otherwise highly disturbed, such as by other harsh tank treatments
• hard core nutrient reduction tools being used, such as
  • organic carbon dosing
  • excess "bio media"
  • algae filtration
  • nutrient adsorbing media like GFO

These four factors, or excess nutrient removal generally, play – usually in combination; rarely just one factor alone – pretty directly into dino's conversion to the blooming, phagotrophic, mat forming, toxin-producing side of their nature.

 

Two weeks ago when my issue started, I had 4 bags of Chemipure blue, a bag of matrix carbon, a bag of GFO, and 2 pretty good size bags of regular matrix running - meeting at least 2 of the above factors .  (I don't know what I was thinking having so much carbon in there).

 

I've read how Clown79 successfully beat Dinos and last week I lowered my lights to 65 across the board and shortened the lighting period.  I also removed the GFO, Chemipure blue, and matrix carbon.  I still have the 2 bags of matrix in there.  I also didn't do a water change last week.  Up until last week, I've always changed out about 3.5 gallons religiously each week.  I've also increased my feeding this past week to 2-3 times a day - my fish remain hungry all the time (they remind my of my dog at feeding time).  I tested my nitrates yesterday and it still read zero.  My corals seem normal, but my GSP and palythoa grandis don't seem to be too happy.  

 

But, I can see that the amount of dinos during the day have significantly decreased.  It is still there on some of my zoas and rocks, but it is significantly less.

 

So, while I wait for my phosphate test kit and microscope to arrive, I'm thinking of removing my 2 bags of matrix as I think I have a sufficient amount of live rock.  

Should I slowly remove the excess matrix as I think this is likely excess bio-media?  If so, I'm thinking of removing it slowly over the next 2 weeks - is this how you would suggest?

 

Also, should I continue to hold off on water changes for now?

 

Here's a pic of the tank I just took now.  It's coming off the night cycle so the dinos haven't formed visually yet.  I just turned the lights on ("Clean") for a sec to take the picture so show what I've got in the tank.  I just noticed I'm getting some coraline on my MP10, which I didn't notice yesterday.  

 

Any suggests or comments on how I should proceed are greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

[seabass]

16 minutes ago, RemoGaggi said:

I tested my nitrates yesterday and it still read zero.

You might consider dosing small amounts of nitrate until you get your tank to 5 ppm.

 

Also, how's your pod population?

[RemoGaggi]

I'm in california and I"ve read I can't get nitrates to dose here.  I don't have any pods that I know of.  I remember seeing some on the glass months ago, but haven't seen any in a long time.  I started looking into adding pods, but haven't gotten very far with it.  

[seabass]

4 hours ago, RemoGaggi said:

I'm in california and I"ve read I can't get nitrates to dose here.

Really?  I can see ammonium nitrate, but are you saying you can't buy Seachem Flourish Nitrogen?

https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-116062305-Flourish-Nitrogen-500ml/dp/B001EUG7F2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2QESQY331U339&keywords=flourish+nitrogen&qid=1569081058&s=gateway&sprefix=flourish+nitrog%2Caps%2C360&sr=8-1

[mcarroll]

Get your phosphates checked somehow as it's important to have a phosphate source first before (or while) dosing nitrates.  It can make things worse otherwise.

 

Call around to your local pet stores and see if they carry Seachem or Brightwell fertilizers.  Someone will. 

 

But if not, call around to gardening and (even better) hydroponics stores.  Potassium nitrate and potassium phosphate seem common.

 

Sodium or calcium alternatives seem to be OK too.  E.g. Calcium nitrate or sodium phosphate.  Some folks even use Spectracide Stump Remover Granules for nitrate as it's pure potassium nitrate....but I have to think you can find some commercially available fert's somewhere without resorting to total DIY.  🙂 👨‍🔬