Kinda's Large Tank Adventure (LTA)

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Hope you had a nice vacation.

Thanks, I did.

 

1 hour ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Phosphate seems to stay around 0.10, I could put half a phosphate remover pad in the filter but my understanding is that 0.10 is ok so I was thinking about not doing anything for the phosphate. (Except testing it once a week)

Yeah, phosphate around 0.10 shouldn't be an issue, so I wouldn't use a phosphate remover at that point.  When using a remover, or if cyano increases, I would test more frequently.

 

1 hour ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Nitrates are somewhere between 5 and 10, do I stop dosing?

That level is good; so yes, I'd stop dosing.  But keep checking levels so that it doesn't go too low (or too high).

 

1 hour ago, Kindanewtothis said:

About the cyano, could it be brown algae?

Sometimes it's hard to see what color it is when your reef lights are on.  Look at it under natural light (even a flashlight if necessary).  There is a shake test which you can do to determine if it's dinos or something else.  However, it's highly likely (based on tank age, live rock, and your feeding schedule) that this is just common cyanobacteria.

[Kindanewtothis]

[Kindanewtothis]

19 minutes ago, seabass said:

Sometimes it's hard to see what color it is when your reef lights are on.  Look at it under natural light (even a flashlight if necessary).  There is a shake test which you can do to determine if it's dinos or something else.  However, it's highly likely (based on tank age, live rock, and your feeding schedule) that this is just common cyanobacteria.

What is the shake test? What color is cyano?

[seabass]

Cyano is usually (but not always) red.

 

Diatoms are usually tan or golden brown.

 

Dinos are usually slimy, brown, often stringy, and often trap air bubbles.  To determine dinos without a microscope, you can take a sample (usually including some sand) using a turkey baster.  Then shake the sample (to disperse the group of cells).  Strain the sample through a paper towel (this will filter out the sand and other debris, but allow any dino cells to flow through).  Then place the filtered sample under your tank lights (or sunlight) for at least an hour.  If dino cells start to group together, then you likely have dinos.

 

But it looks like you might just need to do some sand bed maintenance.

[Kindanewtothis]

35 minutes ago, seabass said:

Cyano is usually (but not always) red.

 

Diatoms are usually tan or golden brown.

 

Dinos are usually slimy, brown, often stringy, and often trap air bubbles.  To determine dinos without a microscope, you can take a sample (usually including some sand) using a turkey baster.  Then shake the sample (to disperse the group of cells).  Strain the sample through a paper towel (this will filter out the sand and other debris, but allow any dino cells to flow through).  Then place the filtered sample under your tank lights (or sunlight) for at least an hour.  If dino cells start to group together, then you likely have dinos.

 

But it looks like you might just need to do some sand bed maintenance.

Ok I tought it was red also so it's really not cyano or most of it is not. There are many small bubbles that get trapped in it. When I vaccum the sandbed it comes back the day after.

[Kindanewtothis]

It this what you call regrouping?

 

How do I get rid of it if it's dinos?

[seabass]

13 minutes ago, Kindanewtothis said:

It this what you call regrouping?

Unfortunately, yes.

 

14 minutes ago, Kindanewtothis said:

How do I get rid of it if it's dinos?

I wish that I knew.  There really isn't a known cure for it.  It's generally thought to be due to an imbalance or, maybe more accurately, a lack of competition to keep it in check.

 

Actually, relatively high phosphate (and nitrate) levels is often recommended as a way to support other life to compete with dinos.  And generally, people recommend no water changes while dinos are present.  There are numerous threads on the subject, but there isn't a clear consensus on how to get rid of it.

 

Wish I could help here.  I'm dealing with dinos as well.  If you find a treatment protocol that works, be sure to let me know.

[Clown79]

55 minutes ago, Kindanewtothis said:

It this what you call regrouping?

 

How do I get rid of it if it's dinos?

I documented every step i took to get rid of dino's in my lagoon journal. Starts page 7 March 28, 2019. 

 

Its work but it worked.

 

Best thing i did was seed my tank with a lot of pods, rotifers from canada copepods and dosed phyto.

 

https://copepods.com/

 

I stopped waterchanges.

 

Removed all phos reducers

 

Reduced lighting period

 

No additives besides phyto, feedings, and dosing alk/ca. 

Top ups. 

 

Dino's are a pain, the faster you get a game plan, the faster you get them under control.

 

The longer you wait the worse they get and the harder it is to get rid of them...this happened in my qt tank. I let it go and they took over.

[Kindanewtothis]

50 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

 

Best thing i did was seed my tank with a lot of pods, rotifers from canada copepods and dosed phyto

Talk to me like I'm an idiot. What are pods and why dose phyto?

[Kindanewtothis]

What about adding tons of snails and hermit crabs? Would that help?

[seabass]

1 minute ago, Kindanewtothis said:

What about adding tons of snails and hermit crabs? Would that help?

Dinos can vary in toxicity from species to species.  Often you will see snails repeatedly turning over on their backs, and eventually dying from the dino toxins.

[PeterU]

22 minutes ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Talk to me like I'm an idiot. What are pods and why dose phyto?

By pods, he is referring to Copepods

Check the URL that he provided, I think that should provide your answers.

[Kindanewtothis]

15 minutes ago, seabass said:

Dinos can vary in toxicity from species to species.  Often you will see snails repeatedly turning over on their backs, and eventually dying from the dino toxins.

My flame angel eats it... guess it's not good

[Kindanewtothis]

5 minutes ago, PeterU said:

By pods, he is referring to Copepods

Check the URL that he provided, I think that should provide your answers.

Ok got it. Missed that url.

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Talk to me like I'm an idiot. What are pods and why dose phyto?

There are verious types of pods in our reefs. They are microscopic mostly. Tisbe, tigger etc. You also have rotifers which are another animal that are beneficial.

 

 

They are all highly beneficial and part of the ecosystem.

 

They are a main competitor to dino's.

 

 

Phytoplankton is what pods eat, corals enjoy it, and so do fish. My fish came out every time i dosed and dosing ia best done at night.

 

Dosing pods is not only good for dino's but its great for the tank, especially a new tank.

[Kindanewtothis]

16 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

There are verious types of pods in our reefs. They are microscopic mostly. Tisbe, tigger etc. You also have rotifers which are another animal that are beneficial.

 

 

They are all highly beneficial and part of the ecosystem.

 

They are a main competitor to dino's.

 

 

Phytoplankton is what pods eat, corals enjoy it, and so do fish. My fish came out every time i dosed and dosing ia best done at night.

 

Dosing pods is not only good for dino's but its great for the tank, especially a new tank.

Thanks, much appreciated. I'll see what they have at my lfs. I think they have something like that kept in a fridge. If not, I'll order from the website you linked.

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Thanks, much appreciated. I'll see what they have at my lfs. I think they have something like that kept in a fridge. If not, I'll order from the website you linked.

Copepods has amazing service and usually at your place in 2 days.

I  highly recommend them and the instructions are very clear on the bottle. 

 

Their pods are tisbe which i found had the best results on dino. Tiggers did nothing.

 

You will need to calculate how many bottles for your tank because 1 won't do it.

 

Plus you need good phyto, not the kind on the shelf sold by seachem. Pods need phyto.

 

 

[Kindanewtothis]

31 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Copepods has amazing service and usually at your place in 2 days.

I  highly recommend them and the instructions are very clear on the bottle. 

 

Their pods are tisbe which i found had the best results on dino. Tiggers did nothing.

 

You will need to calculate how many bottles for your tank because 1 won't do it.

 

Plus you need good phyto, not the kind on the shelf sold by seachem. Pods need phyto.

 

 

Is this the two right bottle (please see picture). Also, I don't see any calculation in terms of number of bottles.

 

Other picture is from my lfs.

[Clown79]

6 minutes ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Is this the two right bottle (please see picture). Also, I don't see any calculation in terms of number of bottles.

Yes thats the correct products.

 

Look at the seed pack option.click down and it will show you how many oz you need for your tank size to seed it.

 

I did like 24 oz of zooplankton and 8 oz of rotifers for my 25g. And of course the phyto. 

 

And then i dosed phyto every other day.

Whatever was left by the freeze date, i froze in small silicone ice cube trays 1-2ml in each cube and when i needed to use it, i just popped out a cube and defrosted it. 

[Kindanewtothis]

So 260$, I hope it works. I really need this much?

 

Guess I could use less since you used 24 oz for 25g

[Kindanewtothis]

It's done, they say it's express shipping, we'll see.

 

Damn this hobby is expensive... but it takes what it takes.

 

@seabass I will of course let you know if it works in my case.

[rough eye]

7 hours ago, Kindanewtothis said:

What about adding tons of snails and hermit crabs? Would that help?

no.

 

if only someone had mentioned something about pods 27 pages ago 🙂

[Clown79]

7 hours ago, Kindanewtothis said:

So 260$, I hope it works. I really need this much?

 

Guess I could use less since you used 24 oz for 25g

Not necessarily you don't need that full package. You can contact them and they will advise you.

 

Ya its definitely an expensive hobby. I spent $100 to seed 2 nano tanks, thats nothing compared to everything else. Lol

[Tired]

Welp, that's a lot of phyto. Personally, I would have started with a bottle of copepods and keeping the nutrients up, seeing what happened. Dinos aren't an emergency if nothing is actively dying, you just have to set about correction measures promptly. 

 

But, hey, that should get you a good jump start going on your pod population! Hopefully that'll knock the dinos right out. 

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, Tired said:

Welp, that's a lot of phyto. Personally, I would have started with a bottle of copepods and keeping the nutrients up, seeing what happened. Dinos aren't an emergency if nothing is actively dying, you just have to set about correction measures promptly. 

 

But, hey, that should get you a good jump start going on your pod population! Hopefully that'll knock the dinos right out. 

Lol its not all phyto. Its 1 bottle of phyto.

 

1 bottle of zooplankton blend won't seed a 50g. 

I used more than 1 for a 25g.

 

3 probably would have been good plus 1 bottle of the phyto for weekly dosing. 

 

I didn't get to respond in time before the op put in the order.