Seeking advice for starting over...damn dinos

[falcooo]

After months of off and on battles with the dreaded dinoflagellates, I’m starting to notice serious signs of coral loss. What would be the safest way to save the corals and fully break the tank down?

 

I am dealing with a 10g tank, but also have a lesser lit softie pico 5g tank. Is there a way to temporarily house the corals in the 5g without transporting the dinos along with them? Or is better to set up a separate emergency tank? (Though that would need time to cycle) Would a coral dip between tanks be enough to ensure no dinos hitchhike on? I’m also open to removing all sand and rock from the 10g display, is that even a possibility? 

Any input or advise from the community is much appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

 

[jeffmr4]

Its a good idea to not reuse anything (particularly sand and rock) and anything that you do reuse clean with vinegar and water.  Its going to be hard, I think, to reuse the corals if they have any dinoflagellates but you could set up a hospital tank like you said.  I'd make it small, barebottom, use bio-spira for bacteria and those marine balls for places for the bacteria to grow.

 

You could re-start your tank and then after a few months, if you don't see any growth of dinoflagellates in the hospital tank, slowly start moving corals back to the main tank.

 

I wouldn't put the corals in the pico unless it is only being used as a hospital tank.  If it is only being used as a hospital tank I'd remove the sand as well.

 

Good luck.

[Clown79]

What did you do to try to beat dino's?

[falcooo]

1 hour ago, Clown79 said:

What did you do to try to beat dino's?

Daily manual removal, Dino-X treatment, black outs, no water changes, added pods...most recently, also tried increasing tank temperate per a recent ReefBuilders article. It’s been an ongoing battle for the past 8 months or so. And I’m at my wits end, even more so now that I’m starting to lose corals. 
 

I am thinking about setting up a cheap 10 gallon build, with a HOB filter and powerhead, some spare dry rock, no sand, and a bottle of bacteria. Once it’s cycled, salvage as much coral as I can from my tank, dip, and place into the new clean tank. At that time, get rid of all old rock and sand, run water/vinegar through the tank, and thoroughly clean. Hopefully, there are no dinos in the new tank, and begin to transition things back to the 10g. 

[Tamberav]

Did you ID what type of dino you have? Some types are fairly ez to control with UV. 

 

Dipping won't rid the dino. Although, likely every single tank already has dino, it's just that certain conditions cause them to overpopulate. The same can be said for cyano and GHA. 

 

Do you know your Nitrate and Phosphate? 

 

 

[Clown79]

4 hours ago, falcooo said:

Daily manual removal, Dino-X treatment, black outs, no water changes, added pods...most recently, also tried increasing tank temperate per a recent ReefBuilders article. It’s been an ongoing battle for the past 8 months or so. And I’m at my wits end, even more so now that I’m starting to lose corals. 
 

I am thinking about setting up a cheap 10 gallon build, with a HOB filter and powerhead, some spare dry rock, no sand, and a bottle of bacteria. Once it’s cycled, salvage as much coral as I can from my tank, dip, and place into the new clean tank. At that time, get rid of all old rock and sand, run water/vinegar through the tank, and thoroughly clean. Hopefully, there are no dinos in the new tank, and begin to transition things back to the 10g. 

How long did you stop the waterchanges for?

 

When removing them manually, did you run the water through a filter sock and then return the water to the tank?

 

What filter media was/is being used?

 

Are you using any amino/vitamins?

 

Do you know what strain of dino you have?

 

What are nitrates and phos at?

[falcooo]

I stopped testing so much since abandoning WC’s, but most recently and fairly regularly the Nitrates were around 30, and Phosphates almost 0. My LFS confirmed it was dinos, but I don’t know which specific type. When I manually removed, I would run through several filters and reuse the same water. Now that I am trying Dino X again, only filter media is floss, as the directions say to remove any chemical filtration.

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, falcooo said:

I stopped testing so much since abandoning WC’s, but most recently and fairly regularly the Nitrates were around 30, and Phosphates almost 0. My LFS confirmed it was dinos, but I don’t know which specific type. When I manually removed, I would run through several filters and reuse the same water. Now that I am trying Dino X again, only filter media is floss, as the directions say to remove any chemical filtration.

Dino x doesn't work on all strains. Most people have had little success with the product.

 

What you need is to get your phosphate up above 0.08. And more biodiversity.

 

When you seeded your tank with pods did you dose phyto because they need that to eat and reproduce. And how much pods did you seed the tank with? 

[Tamberav]

Does the dino mostly disappear at night? If so...I would add a cheap UV and raise PO4 (you can get bottled PO4 or phyto). Probably add some good live rock too if you can get it and I would use some carbon as some Dino's are very toxic.

 

If the dino doesn't mostly disappear at night then don't bother worth the UV. Some strains go into the water column at night hence the UV can kill them.

 

 

 

[mcarroll]

Ditto every comment so far, and then some more from me below... 😃

 

Before that, check out this link and try to digest the whole first post, and as much of the linked material in there as you can.  This has worked for MANY many people and goes into all the specifics:

Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

Take notes and post questions if you have any!  👍

 

On 7/4/2020 at 7:54 PM, falcooo said:

After months of off and on battles with the dreaded dinoflagellates, I’m starting to notice serious signs of coral loss. What would be the safest way to save the corals and fully break the tank down?

Unfortunately, in every case I'm aware of, a reboot only leads to dino's re-blooming in the new setup.

 

On 7/4/2020 at 11:43 PM, falcooo said:

Daily manual removal, Dino-X treatment, black outs, no water changes, added pods...most recently, also tried increasing tank temperate per a recent ReefBuilders article. It’s been an ongoing battle for the past 8 months or so.

Daily manual removal is usually more for looks than necessity, and it's a lot of work.  We've learned that the rest of those things are more like a list of "what not to do". 

 

On 7/4/2020 at 11:43 PM, falcooo said:

And I’m at my wits end, even more so now that I’m starting to lose corals.

It's almost mandatory to run activated carbon during a bloom as insurance against exposing you and your livestock to dino toxins.  Toxins are what usually do in livestock during a bloom.

 

I generally recommend an "aggressive" activated carbon treatment where you run 1/4 of the recommended amount of carbon, but change it 4X as often....usually weekly instead of monthly.

[Tired]

Can you get some good live rock? The really good stuff, right from the ocean, packed with things. That'll add way more biodiversity than just pods. Plus, you get cool things on it. Starlet corals and such.