Kinda's Large Tank Adventure (LTA)

[Ratvan]

If I were you i'd set up a pod culture, even outside if the weather is good enough. 

 

I used some old tank water, 1 litre of phyto and about 100ml of pods to kick start this

 

and then double scoop (once to remove dead spiders/twigs etc) the other to seed the tank

 

No lid as rainwater is lighter than saltwater, will be interesting to see if the culture lasts over the winter (should go dormant), i usually feed the culture with banana peel, juice form a tin of peas etc

[Kindanewtothis]

2 hours ago, Ratvan said:

 

No lid as rainwater is lighter than saltwater, will be interesting to see if the culture lasts over the winter (should go dormant)

Not sure I'll go this way with the kids... also winter is quite long in Quebec.

[Kindanewtothis]

Damn it...

[Melfy77]

1 hour ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Damn it...

Also from Québec province, maybe our  orders are on the same truck...was expecting my new tank today and got that same message...😒 although it said "Out of our control" lol tank is from jl aquatics in BC maybe it has to do with all those fires. Who knows

[Kindanewtothis]

...

[Kindanewtothis]

Nothing to understand, my order is in. Does this go in the refrigerator (I'll use it tonight) ?

[Clown79]

57 minutes ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Nothing to understand, my order is in. Does this go in the refrigerator (I'll use it tonight) ?

There should be instructions with the product

 

The instructions with mine was to keep the bottles in room temp with lid twisted open when using them within a certain amount of hrs.

 

You don't need to keep the box in the fridge

[rough eye]

if that box doesn't fit in your refrigerator you'll have to run out and get a new one.

[Clown79]

10 minutes ago, rough eye said:

if that box doesn't fit in your refrigerator you'll have to run out and get a new one.

Why would it even need to be kept in the shipping box? The bottles are normally kept in the fridge and then room temp before use.

[PeterU]

If you are unable to put it in right away, unbox it into your refrigerator. The cold packs will be getting warm.

[Kindanewtothis]

Here's the thing I'm not home, my gf is home. So I tell her to unpack it and place it in the fridge?

[PeterU]

2 minutes ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Here's the thing I'm not home, my gf is home. So I tell her to unpack it and place it in the fridge?

Yes

[Melfy77]

1 hour ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Nothing to understand, my order is in. Does this go in the refrigerator (I'll use it tonight) ?

Weird but awesome!!! Wish my tank would be here as well😅

[Kindanewtothis]

It's in the tank. Cleaner shrimp seemed pretty excited about the phyto. Gonna let the pump off for an hour.

[Kindanewtothis]

16 hours ago, Ratvan said:

If I were you i'd set up a pod culture, even outside if the weather is good enough. 

 

I used some old tank water, 1 litre of phyto and about 100ml of pods to kick start this

 

and then double scoop (once to remove dead spiders/twigs etc) the other to seed the tank

 

No lid as rainwater is lighter than saltwater, will be interesting to see if the culture lasts over the winter (should go dormant), i usually feed the culture with banana peel, juice form a tin of peas etc

Need to log on to see the pics

[rough eye]

7 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Why would it even need to be kept in the shipping box? The bottles are normally kept in the fridge and then room temp before use.

sorry it was a joke.

[Ratvan]

5 hours ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Need to log on to see the pics

tub above and sieve below

[Kindanewtothis]

In 3, 2, 1 I'm a dumbass.... forgot to seed the 10g. I'll get more pods. They have apocyclops panamensis at my lfs. Since it seems that there is no dinos in the 10g, would these pods do or should I get tisbe as well?

 

Was too excited about seeding the 50g, I really hope it works.

[seabass]

Remember that pods were likely part of the solution, and that it took Clown79 months to get rid of her dinos.  If tisbe pods were the silver bullet for decimating dinos, we'd probably be hearing a lot more about it.  Don't get discouraged, be patient, and put in the work.

 

I'm guessing that it might take more than one dose of pods.  But hopefully you'll be able to sustain what you have with the live phytoplankton.  Obviously buying live phyto and pods gets expensive; that's why we brought up the possibility of culturing one or both.

 

I feel that people often look at dealing with dinos similar to an algae bloom; and they make adjustments like they might do to reduce algae.  However, I believe that you need to flip that thinking.  Most people who have successfully beat dinos, reported doing so after green algae started to return.

 

It's all about the competition and supporting that life.  That means introducing it when needed, and supporting it with food and nutrients (and potentially light).  I've started to look at my tanks like, "How can I encourage algae growth?".  Sounds pretty easy; but as people fighting dinos will tell you, beating them is harder than you might think.

[Kindanewtothis]

17 minutes ago, seabass said:

Remember that pods were likely part of the solution, and that it took Clown79 months to get rid of her dinos.  If tisbe pods were the silver bullet for decimating dinos, we'd probably be hearing a lot more about it.  Don't get discouraged, be patient, and put in the work.

 

I'm guessing that it might take more than one dose of pods.  But hopefully you'll be able to sustain what you have with the live phytoplankton.  Obviously buying live phyto and pods gets expensive; that's why we brought up the possibility of culturing one or both.

 

I feel that people often look at dealing with dinos similar to an algae bloom; and they make adjustments like they might do to reduce algae.  However, I believe that you need to flip that thinking.  Most people who have successfully beat dinos, reported doing so after green algae started to return.

 

It's all about the competition and supporting that life.  That means introducing it when needed, and supporting it with food and nutrients (and potentially light).  I've started to look at my tanks like, "How can I encourage algae growth?".  Sounds pretty easy; but as people fighting dinos will tell you, beating them is harder than you might think.

So how can I encourage algae growth?

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Kindanewtothis said:

So how can I encourage algae growth?

First off you need adequate inorganic nutrients (nitrate and phosphate).  When fighting dinoflagellates, some people recommend a nitrate level of at least 10ppm, and a phosphate level of 0.10ppm.  Next, I realize that blackouts are pretty common during treatment, as they tend to (temporarily) disperse groupings of dinos; however, this does not encourage algae growth.  Algae requires light to grow (plus your corals and anemone need this light too).

 

There are other elements which encourage algae growth.  However, I fear that some of these elements might also benefit dinos (iron for example).  I've read and watched numerous threads and videos about how people have beat dinos (using UV sterilizers, micron filters, raising the temperature to 83°F, adding pods, high phosphate levels, dosing nitrate, dosing silicate, blackouts and/or reduced light cycles, DrTim's dino bundle, Dino X, Vibrant, no water changes, removing your sand bed, etc); however, I've found that these don't always work equally well for everybody, or for every species of dinos.

 

IDK, some of these "solutions" might even work against each other.  Like I said earlier, I wish that I had (or knew) the magic cure for dinos, but I don't.  However, I have looked into it fairly extensively.  My current thinking (along with many other reefers) is competition and support of that competition (usually along with removal of dinos in some form or another); although, what that really means isn't always clearly defined.

 

It's a real pain.  I don't envy you having to deal with this as a beginner.  It's hard enough for experienced reef keepers to deal with dinos (which can last for numerous months, and can even force diehard reefers to give up).  I really hope that all goes well for you; and I feel that you've gotten some good advice from everyone here.  Good luck!

[Kindanewtothis]

24 minutes ago, seabass said:

raising the temperature to 83°F

That seems easy enough (I'm not saying it will fix the problem but if it helps). I suppose you only keep it at 83 for a couple of days? Isn't it too hot for the fishs and corals?

[seabass]

I don't believe that a couple of days would make much of a difference.  If you are going to try it, I would leave it there indefinitely (until dinos are no longer a problem).

 

Actually, 83°F is pretty common in the wild.  Given no problems (like a power outage), everything should be perfectly fine at that temperature.  However, at any level, try to keep the temperature stable.

[Murphs_Reef]

17 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Why would it even need to be kept in the shipping box? The bottles are normally kept in the fridge and then room temp before use.

Lol i would go out on a limb and say it was a jest 

[Kindanewtothis]

16 minutes ago, seabass said:

I don't believe that a couple of days would make much of a difference.  If you are going to try it, I would leave it there indefinitely (until dinos are no longer a problem).

 

Actually, 83°F is pretty common in the wild.  Given no problems (like a power outage), everything should be perfectly fine at that temperature.  However, at any level, try to keep the temperature stable.

Trying it. I'll see if my heater keeps it stable (it's the one I had in the 30g) it does the job right now.

 

Edit: I'll also restart to dose nitrate to bring it to a solid 10. Phosphate is now always around .10.