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Came home to major dino outbreak.


DevilDuck

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Since the last update, I've added even more biodiversity with 2 cups of Live Sand and some coralline covered shells from Florida. 

 

1 CUP LIVE Sand Aragonite Fine- SEED YOUR SALTWATER TANK!! – Addictive Reef Keeping

2 Pack Coraline Covered Shell- SEED YOUR REEF TANK!!! – Addictive Reef Keeping

 

Now I feel I should have biodiversity in spades, from both Hawaii and Florida! Organisms, FIGHT!

 

I also completed my fish stocking. I've updated my main journal for the fish, I want to keep this thread focused on the dino battle and remission.

 

Visible dinos continue to decrease, thanks in large part to the sand sifting diamond goby and tiger conch.

Forgive the white specks floating in the water column, I just fed the tank with cyclops.

 

PXL_20211025_185426613.thumb.jpg.e15f7cf1a5a1bd51bef511d5181d796c.jpg

 

PXL_20211025_185412568.thumb.jpg.a8e9ef8c3af2f75feeccbbbd7c558675.jpg

 

 

The battle now shifts over to GHA that's growing everywhere. I'm going to let it grow out to a size where I can easily manually pluck it off and train some snails on the remainder.

PXL_20211025_185509438.thumb.jpg.5f8672651842f85406873255c4df2b36.jpg

 

Phosphate consumption is slowing. I plan on letting it continue to drop but the rate is slowing.

Nitrate are still hovering around 20-25 ppm.

 

651131481_ScreenShot2021-10-25at3_10_11PM.thumb.png.cb5010e6f6c16843ed6103b539029c59.png

 

I am expecting both to start dropping now that my refugium is full. Thanks to the generous portions of Ulva (sea lettuce) and red Ogo from ipsf.com

Now the question is, where do I let these numbers end up?


My tank is less than a year old, BRS recommendations: 

1328368504_ScreenShot2021-10-25at4_30_50PM.thumb.png.62348abdf83945f3c62de5ed3835a7f6.png

 

Not sure whether this makes sense, .5 ppm seems very high for Phosphate.  According to BRS, I should be reducing my nitrate a great deal and dosing more phosphate.

Thoughts?

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22 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

Since the last update, I've added even more biodiversity with 2 cups of Live Sand and some coralline covered shells from Florida. 

 

1 CUP LIVE Sand Aragonite Fine- SEED YOUR SALTWATER TANK!! – Addictive Reef Keeping

2 Pack Coraline Covered Shell- SEED YOUR REEF TANK!!! – Addictive Reef Keeping

 

Now I feel I should have biodiversity in spades, from both Hawaii and Florida! Organisms, FIGHT!

 

I also completed my fish stocking. I've updated my main journal for the fish, I want to keep this thread focused on the dino battle and remission.

 

Visible dinos continue to decrease, thanks in large part to the sand sifting diamond goby and tiger conch.

Forgive the white specks floating in the water column, I just fed the tank with cyclops.

 

PXL_20211025_185426613.thumb.jpg.e15f7cf1a5a1bd51bef511d5181d796c.jpg

 

PXL_20211025_185412568.thumb.jpg.a8e9ef8c3af2f75feeccbbbd7c558675.jpg

 

 

The battle now shifts over to GHA that's growing everywhere. I'm going to let it grow out to a size where I can easily manually pluck it off and train some snails on the remainder.

PXL_20211025_185509438.thumb.jpg.5f8672651842f85406873255c4df2b36.jpg

 

Phosphate consumption is slowing. I plan on letting it continue to drop but the rate is slowing.

Nitrate are still hovering around 20-25 ppm.

 

651131481_ScreenShot2021-10-25at3_10_11PM.thumb.png.cb5010e6f6c16843ed6103b539029c59.png

 

I am expecting both to start dropping now that my refugium is full. Thanks to the generous portions of Ulva (sea lettuce) and red Ogo from ipsf.com

Now the question is, where do I let these numbers end up?


My tank is less than a year old, BRS recommendations: 

1328368504_ScreenShot2021-10-25at4_30_50PM.thumb.png.62348abdf83945f3c62de5ed3835a7f6.png

 

Not sure whether this makes sense, .5 ppm seems very high for Phosphate.  According to BRS, I should be reducing my nitrate a great deal and dosing more phosphate.

Thoughts?

I can't go off of videos....  😵💫

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I spent an hour or so toothbrush scrubbing and plucking away the green hair algae. I didn't do a perfect job, but at least it's mostly back to some bare rock.

The sand bed is now 80% clear of visible dinos. Under my cheap toy microscope, dinos are still visible, but their population density is much, much smaller. I actually have to hunt around the slide to find them. What I also do not see are diatoms, even after using up an entire bottle of SpongExcel. I've sent in my ICP test and curious to see how much silica I've added to the water.  

 

I'm cautiously ramping the lights back up to normal intensity and duration.

 

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Some coral and inverts that have been impacted by the dino treatment. My pulsing xenia has died back to one cluster. Most of the xenia turned white, and lost their "fingers"

They seem to be shrinking away. I'm hoping it recovers. It was a fast-growing nuisance, but it's my fiancé's favorite coral.

 

PXL_20211102_195911476.thumb.jpg.6e2792ee8fff3bb5a56c733835629b35.jpg

 

My rose bubble tip anemone hasn't been happy since moving into this tank. I think the reduced lighting during the dino treatment has added even more stress.

It's tentacles have shrunk significantly and no longer bubbley. Fingers crossed it survives. 

PXL_20211102_195927904.thumb.jpg.d364eb044206df5e327af1ea1106dbb5.jpg

 

Finally, we have corraline algae! Those coralline booster plates from ipsf.com and corraline encrusted shells from AddictiveReefing really did a good job seeding the tank.

PXL_20211102_195855556.thumb.jpg.707f91c30281d63fb4a5677e6ea572c9.jpg

 

Right now the tank is trending at .20-ish ppm for phosphates and 20-25 ppm for Nitrates. My alkalinity has been rising, not sure why. I've stopped dosing CarboCalcium for now.

image.thumb.png.c99354cc5a3a159116ec481846650e9d.png

 

 

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Good news across the board!

 

One question:  I think I see a strand of caulerpa in there.  Does it seem to grow or slowly die?

18 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

My alkalinity has been rising, not sure why. I've stopped dosing CarboCalcium for now.

What has Ca been doing?  (A matching trend would appear much flatter than the uptick you see in alk, but still should look like a rise I think.)

 

If you haven't changed your dosing AND there's an uptick (at all) in Ca, then it seems like aragonite formation may have slowed down.

 

Or, due to the oddball dosing scheme, it's conceivable that there was a reserve of alk not being biologically freed up (as the CarboCal intends) due to....?  And now it it's being processed by the system and contributing "excess" alk?

 

Or, is it possible there's an issue with the alk test kit or those particular readings?

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3 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Good news across the board!

 

One question:  I think I see a strand of caulerpa in there.  Does it seem to grow or slowly die?

What has Ca been doing?  (A matching trend would appear much flatter than the uptick you see in alk, but still should look like a rise I think.)

 

If you haven't changed your dosing AND there's an uptick (at all) in Ca, then it seems like aragonite formation may have slowed down.

 

Or, due to the oddball dosing scheme, it's conceivable that there was a reserve of alk not being biologically freed up (as the CarboCal intends) due to....?  And now it it's being processed by the system and contributing "excess" alk?

 

Or, is it possible there's an issue with the alk test kit or those particular readings?

 

The C. lentillifera is sending out runners but the grape like leaves get picked at occasionally by my Tomini tang. I have a bunch more in the refugium along with ulva, which the tomini doesn't seem to want to eat.

 

I have not changed the dosing of the major elements. I use Fauna Marin CarboCalcium for alkalinity and calcium via a doser (Tank consumption is around 2.5ml a day). 

Alkalinity has been fluctuating, but the Mag and Cal has been pretty stable. I tested again today and the Salifert test is reading 10.9 dkh.

 

A possibility maybe a large piece of dry flat base rock that I added into the sump late October. This was in preparation to help support some rock work from the tunneling efforts of 2 pistol shrimps and the sand shifting goby. 

 

image.thumb.png.4112c8f89afee3cd8585104b10060b5e.png

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The majority of the sand bed and rock are free of visible signs of dino. There are still dinos present and can be confirmed under a microscope, but the density isn't there to form the unsightly and toxic stringy mats. With this, I am going to declare this tank in dinoflagellate bloom remission.

 

Of course, there is a good chance that dinos will bloom again, but I believe if I keep biodiversity and competition high and major nutrients stable and measurable, I will decrease the probability of that happening again.

 

For this particular tank, I believe the following actions helped:

  • Increasing nitrate and phosphate by direct dosing. Nitrate at 25ppm and phosphate around .20 ppm.
  • Lowering light intensity and duration to 6 hours - Since dino density is light driven, reducing these helped slow their reproductive rate
  • Running a UV Sterilizer in the display 24/7. I had a combination of difference species of dinos. The UV all but eliminated the water column coolia and ostreopsis but did little if anything against the sand dwelling large cell amphidinium
  • Fauna Marin Dino X - In my case, this product worked as advertised and put a huge dent in the dino population. It did not however eliminate it completely.
  • Sand shifting diamond goby - I hate recommending livestock for these types of temporary problems, but the sand shifting and turning work of this goby was the final thing that put the bloom in remission. It's either eating the amphidinium or the sand turning action pushed the dinos into the water column to be killed by the UV or Dino X
  • Adding biodiversity in the form of live sand and mud from the ocean -- I probably overkilled adding as much as I did but immediately after this was introduced, dino populations plummeted under the microscope. 
  • Fleece filter socks and changing them often - Physical removal of dinos

The following either had little impact or its impact was not noticeable to me:

  • Silicate dosing - After a whole bottle of SpongExcel I saw no diatom competition form to push out dinos
  • Raising the tank temperature to 83 F -- No difference noticed
  • Bacterial supplements: MB7 and Dr. Tim's Waste-Away - Hard to tell if adding these had any impact
  • Live phyto and pods: Also hard to tell if these had any impact directly on dinos. I don't regret the added fish and coral food.
  • Blowing detritus off the rocks daily - Not sure if this had any direct impact on dinos. Having the rocks cleaner helped me feel like there was more progress being made. Also, may have helped gha spread, which was further competition for the dinos.

 

09/22/2021

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11/02/2021

PXL_20211102_195737979.thumb.jpg.4c2c71219fdbe01b4ee05ba70d3e2514.jpg

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Kindanewtothis
16 minutes ago, DevilDuck said:

The majority of the sand bed and rock are free of visible signs of dino. There are still dinos present and can be confirmed under a microscope, but the density isn't there to form the unsightly and toxic stringy mats. With this, I am going to declare this tank in dinoflagellate bloom remission.

 

Of course, there is a good chance that dinos will bloom again, but I believe if I keep biodiversity and competition high and major nutrients stable and measurable, I will decrease the probability of that happening again.

 

For this particular tank, I believe the following actions helped:

  • Increasing nitrate and phosphate by direct dosing. Nitrate at 25ppm and phosphate > .20 ppm.
  • Lowering light intensity and duration to 6 hours - Since dino density is light driven, reducing these helped slow their reproductive rate
  • Running a UV Sterilizer in the display 24/7. I had a combination of difference species of dinos. The UV all but eliminated the water column coolia and ostreopsis but did little if anything against the sand dwelling large cell amphidinium
  • Fauna Marin Dino X - In my case, this product worked as advertised and put a huge dent in the dino population. It did not however eliminate it completely.
  • Sand shifting diamond goby - I hate recommending livestock for these types of temporary problems, but the sand shifting and turning work of this goby was the final thing that put the bloom in remission. It's either eating the amphidinium or the sand turning action pushed the dinos into the water column to be killed by the UV or Dino X
  • Adding biodiversity in the form of live sand and mud from the ocean -- I probably overkilled adding as much as I did but immediately after this was introduced, dino populations plummeted under the microscope. 
  • Fleece filter socks and changing them often - Physical removal of dinos

The following either had little impact or its impact was not noticeable to me:

  • Silicate dosing - After a whole bottle of SpongExcel I saw no diatom competition form to push out dinos
  • Raising the tank temperature to 83 F -- No difference noticed
  • Bacterial supplements: MB7 and Dr. Tim's Waste-Away - Hard to tell if adding these had any impact
  • Live phyto and pods: Also hard to tell if these had any impact directly on dinos. I don't regret the added fish and coral food.
  • Blowing detritus off the rocks daily - Not sure if this had any direct impact on dinos. Having the rocks cleaner helped me feel like there was more progress being made. Also, may have helped gha spread, which was further competition for the dinos.

 

09/22/2021

PXL_20210923_200339888_MP.thumb.jpg.9e6b3a04519e0e2081cd920b3b87bf54.jpg

 

11/02/2021

PXL_20211102_195737979.thumb.jpg.4c2c71219fdbe01b4ee05ba70d3e2514.jpg

Really good post

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  • 2 weeks later...

Post Dino Bloom Water Test Results

 

Since I'm using the ReefMoonShiner's Method with no water changes, I do ICP water tests every month/ two months. 

Here are some interesting results from the latest one: Analysis result (atiaquaristik.com)

 

First thing that catches my eye is my silicon levels, which are so off the wall it must be a mistake. I had been dosing SpongExcel but didn't expect 5.2 ppm worth would be in my sample. 

 

Second is the Zinc level is also off extremely high. Typically, at this level means there is something corroding in the tank. I have a theory on what this maybe...

 

Lastly, Antimony, which was previously undetectable ("u") is now present at a significant amount. This is also indicative of something metal corroding in the tank. 

 

Doing some reading and this seems to be an issue with the impeller shaft from the pump included with the Green Killing Machine UV sterilizer. The rusting impeller also probably contributed to the elevated Zinc in my water also. Since antimony toxicity level is unknown, I'm not going to worry too much about it now. 

 

(3) Elevated antimony - why should I care? | REEF2REEF Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Forum

 

Not too much to be concerned about at the major element side:

 

image.png.174d8392b791aea45dc8a67636294be7.png

 

Fluorine/flouride is also double the recommended levels, typically my tank is very low. I may have overdosed this by accident.

Strontium is high, but from experience I know this will get used.

Magnesium is reported as high here, but I find Fritz blue box salt always give me higher level of magnesium.

Molybdenum is also very elevated, not sure the reason for that one.

 

image.thumb.png.cba50471b274f4242d8ade56fdb19ea5.png

 

Due to supply chain issues, ICP water test kits are sold out everywhere. It may be a couple of months before I am able to get another test in.

Just as a precaution, I've decided to break my no water change rule and do a 20% water change today to being these level closer to the recommended levels.

 

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Some system that! Personally I don't do water changes and only rely on Salifert / Hanna kits and been good since May. Not sure that I would like so deep understanding of my parameters as it might make me do things that just dont need to be done..

 

Sure I have a little cyano, but my water has never been as stable and to be frank crystal clear than now 6 months on from my last water change.. soft coral growth is amazing, LPS is really happy.   No SPS after the last time I water changed it just died in the space of a week or 2.. 

 

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41 minutes ago, Murphych said:

Some system that! Personally I don't do water changes and only rely on Salifert / Hanna kits and been good since May. Not sure that I would like so deep understanding of my parameters as it might make me do things that just dont need to be done..

 

Sure I have a little cyano, but my water has never been as stable and to be frank crystal clear than now 6 months on from my last water change.. soft coral growth is amazing, LPS is really happy.   No SPS after the last time I water changed it just died in the space of a week or 2.. 

 

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a data nerd, so I love these numbers. I think getting a better understanding of the major and minor elements rate of use will eventually get me to the zen state of having the tank on autopilot.

 

Since you are not doing water changes, Do you dose any trace elements? I find that my tank eats through iodine and nickel like crazy and the coral get less happy when it is exhausted.  

 

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Just now, DevilDuck said:

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a data nerd. So I love these numbers. Getting a better understanding of the major and minor elements will eventually get me to the zen state of having the tank on autopilot.

 

Since you are not doing water changes, Do you dose any trace elements? I find that my tank eats through iodine and nickel like crazy and the coral get less happy when it is exhausted. 

 

Don't get me wrong.. I do data big time, everything that can be automated is and I fully plan on when my sump upgrade is done to get either a reefbot, seneye or apex.. but just doing research on each and what I actually want to read. 

I don't dose anything, it was Phosphate for a short time... Soon I will start a 2 part but I'm not there yet as dKH, mg and CA are holding ok though very slowly on the decline.. 

 

I do feed a great mix of live pods, frozen mysis, reef snow and TMC pellets every day for fish, inverts and coral nutrients. 

 

And as well as the ATO RoDi every month I do a half litre of top off of 1.35ish ppm salt water mix as my salinity reduces (only talking 0.005 or so) due to water taken out of the tank via my hands, tools, salt creep etc which brings me back to 1.026ppm.. I know that won't bring up CA, mg or dKH enough to register on test kits though. 

 

I simply don't look at iron, boron, silicates or any of that stuff if I'm honest.. that's all stuff I will leave to the @mcarroll of the world as that level of knowing and worry simply shouldn't sit in my hands  👍🏼😂

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Just a nice new-to-me tidbit of information I learned today, high silicates can interfere with phosphate readings from your test kits!

 

During this whole thread of my struggle with dinos, one of the things I tried was dosing silicates in the form of Brightwell SpongExcel. My silicates spiraled up to 5ppm. 

My phosphate readings from my Hanna ULR checker were also bouncing around. I attributed this to the dinos, but it may have been the silicate level interfering with my phosphate test.

 

Some info in these threads: 

(4) High Silica interference with PO4 measurement | REEF2REEF Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Forum

Silica Interference with Phosphate Tests? - Reef Central Online Community

 

 

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Very interesting!

 

In that post, my good friend @taricha reports a gradual but insignificant inaccuracy that kicks in starting at 2pm of SI, but that the interference becomes as significant as the error rate of the PO4 test by 4 ppm of SI.  

 

This isn't consistent with the erratic behavior you describe in your PO4 numbers.  Plus, importantly, this shouldn't really matter to your success.  (And I don't think it seemed to, at least from my point of view as a reader.)

 

The most crucial doses of PO4 are the big corrective ones that happened at the beginning and those were based on the volume of your tank, not the tested PO4 level (which was zero anyway...so would have matched your dose based on volume).  

 

The rest of the dosing you did to maintain PO4 was relative to your tested change in ppm. Those doses "could" have been impacted by SI levels but were far less crucial to your outcome than the first doses.

 

Plus your maintenance doses were only effected VERY gradually, and only up to the point that it is noticeable in testing.

 

I think the important question in your case is, so what if your tank's "0.14 ppm of PO4" was off at the very end of the SI treatment by +0.02 ppm?

 

This is interesting, but not significant to your dino treatment IMO.  🙂 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Figured I'd tag along on topic with my 10 gal Dino update.

 

Been riding Phos 0 - Nitrate 0 for a long time.  With dino all over walls. Sand clean - Rocks some had DIno some did not. 

 

Got a 2nd fish - increased feedings and Got my

Nitrate up to 10 

Phos is still 0

 

I've some mild to moderate GHA on the walls now, and the Dino has receded aot from tank walls, but still around tank walls but still some left.  The Rock now covered more in DINO than when the walls were full coverage. 

 

I've also started Dosing Brightwell Phos yesterday a couple 3 x drops a day 4 x drops today and doing the daily nutrient Phos / Nitrate measure.  Still Phos 0 / Nitrate holding at 10   / Alk 9 weeks for 2 weeks now

I've got some creeping Purple algae on my rocks, but it's expand slowly. Not a quick fix but I'm hoping this is a process of it DINO receding, but still ugly to look at today on my rocks.

 

I'm paying for spending 8 months in the hobby not measuring a thing.

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2 hours ago, Jakesaw said:

I've also started Dosing Brightwell Phos yesterday a couple 3 x drops a day 4 x drops today and doing the daily nutrient Phos / Nitrate measure. 

I suspect that means you are only dosing something like 3-4 mL of product a day.  That's not much...and the fact that its never registering on a test kit means that it's an insignificant amount.  Leaving the tank in a state with ample nitrate but depleted phosphates can be a VERY harmful state for your corals to be in.  You need to eliminate that 0.00 ppm condition for phosphates asap.

 

Unfortunately, Brightwell seems to have removed dosing instructions from their product....at least judging from the online content....or I'd suggest a more precise dose.

 

Does your bottle tell you how much to dose per gallon to raise phosphates by XX amount?  (Without that the product is actually not useful.)

 

If that metric is on your bottle, you should use it to calculate a dose that will get your tank up to 0.20 ppm in one shot.  

 

Test right afterward to affirm the dose did what you calculated it would do.  

 

Then test again 30-60 minutes later to see how much is still left....the answer might be zero ppp, but if it is anything significantly less than 0.20 ppm then calculate a second correct dose to get the tank back up to 0.20 ppm again.  

 

Then re-test 30-60 minutes later again....if most of the 0.20 ppm is still left, then you're done until tomorrow.  

 

If PO4 is down again significantly, calculate a third dose up to 0.20 ppm and retest later one last time.  (Needing to dose a 2nd or 3rd time is unusual....I haven't seen anyone need to dose a 4th time in one day.)

 

The idea is that you want to permanently end the 0.00 ppm condition ASAP.   Nitrates and every other priority are secondary until this happens.  👍

 

Once you're there, you just have to test and dose once a day....eventually you won't have to test because the dosage will be predictable....eventually it should become unnecessary.

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2 hours ago, mcarroll said:

I suspect that means you are only dosing something like 3-4 mL of product a day.  That's not much...and the fact that its never registering on a test kit means that it's an insignificant amount.  Leaving the tank in a state with ample nitrate but depleted phosphates can be a VERY harmful state for your corals to be in.  You need to eliminate that 0.00 ppm condition for phosphates asap.

 

Unfortunately, Brightwell seems to have removed dosing instructions from their product....at least judging from the online content....or I'd suggest a more precise dose.

 

Does your bottle tell you how much to dose per gallon to raise phosphates by XX amount?  (Without that the product is actually not useful.)

 

I

The bottle is probably as clear as  their website.  Best I could gather was 1 mil per 10 gallon dose.  All my corals seem to be pretty happy except frogspawn which is a bit retracted since I did a 10 percent water change.  

 

Only doing drips per bottle each day ( It has a flip lid with small hole in it ) and measuring after 24 hours.  I figured better to be slow than go over - and taking it slow.  It's been 0 Phos since January so not a new thing for the tank.

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Wow...that's not really usable for you....you'd have to calibrate a dose for yourself.  (Which is possible....dose a gallon of water and measure the PO4.  There's your dosing ratio.)

 

But here are instructions from someone else's bottle of NeoPhos:

Quote

 1 ml NEOPHOS will increase the phosphate concentration in 1 US-gallon (~3.8 L) by ~1.2 ppm; 1 drop from plastic bulb pipette (enclosed within bottle) will increase the concentration in the same volume of water by ~0.06 ppm.

If that's accurate for yours (it was at the very bottom of the instructions on the back of the bottle at the bottom of the "Notes" section.) then for you to target a reasonable level like 0.20 ppm, you'd want to dose something like 10-20 drops.  Less than 5 drops (tank concentration of ≤ 0.03 ppm) may be doing almost no good at all vs the dino's. 

 

Unfortunately, there's no guarantee these instructions are valid for your bottle of NeoPhos....but it would be easy enough for you to verify in a separately dosed and tested water sample.  👍

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My bottle came with no pipette.  That's why I'm using the hole at top of bottle as a dropper.  Instructionwise - pretty disappointing.

 

I'm gonna keep on my path for a few days and see how it turns out.  If I need to up the dose, I'll do that. 

 

The whole Phos - 0 for me still is perplexing.  I'm feeding flakes and pellets to get those levels up, still won't budge naturally from dry food. Nitrate was pretty easy to fix adding that 2nd fish.

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6 hours ago, Jakesaw said:

The whole Phos - 0 for me still is perplexing.  I'm feeding flakes and pellets to get those levels up, still won't budge naturally from dry food. Nitrate was pretty easy to fix adding that 2nd fish.

There're two orders of magnitude less phosphate in the equation than nitrate....so that's the main explanation.  You're only supposed to move the needle from zero a little bit and you're hesitating to move it at all.

 

But in addition to that, dino blooms (like most algae blooms) cause eutrophication.  That's why you have the persistence toward zero.  It has to do with all the bacterial growth that is promoted by the decaying theca (skeleton) of dead dino's from your bloom.  Bacteria, feeding off of these Skeltons as a carbon source, are capable of drawing dissolved nutrient levels down farther and quicker than anything else that is dependent on them....causing problems for everything else.

 

Everything except dino's of course.  Dino's (as you've seen) thrive in this environment and even promote it with their lifestyle and after they die

 

Most dino blooms are harmful, so taking your time with the solution is often inadvisable.

 

Pods and snails are usually the first to be harmed, so pay attention to them.  If they seem fine, then continuing on as you are, taking your time, is probably fine.

 

But if pods, snails, corals or anything else seems in distress, then you should dose as I described earlier and solve the problem...stop the damage and let your tank start recovering.  

 

There is no such thing as phosphate overdose.  The only problem is having the system at zero.

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I upped my dosing to 10 drops this morning.  Still no response on test, Will repeat tomorrow.  Corals and fish all seem healthy and happy.  I'm getting a 2nd head almost complete from a month ago on my candycane coral.  I blew the loose DINO off rocks with Trkey baster and will remove some with fillter floss pad tonight after feeding.

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@Jakesaw I admit the instructions for NeoPhos are confusing. On top of that, they changed the concentration around 2018.

 

The formula is

 

amount of water in your tank in gallons x the ppm of phosphate you want to raise x 3.758 = ml of Neophos to add

 

so if you want to raise a 20 gallons to .2ppm of phosphate

 

20 x 0.2 x 3.758 = 15.12 ml

 

If you unscrew the cap, 1 cap is approximately 5ml to you’ll need about 3 capfuls.

 

The instructions warn not to raise more than .04 ppm a day. I had no problems going .1 ppm a day.

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1 hour ago, DevilDuck said:

@Jakesaw I admit the instructions for NeoPhos are confusing. On top of that, they changed the concentration around 2018.

 

The formula is

 

amount of water in your tank in gallons x the ppm of phosphate you want to raise x 3.758 = ml of Neophos to add

 

so if you want to raise a 20 gallons to .2ppm of phosphate

 

20 x 0.2 x 3.758 = 15.12 ml

 

If you unscrew the cap, 1 cap is approximately 5ml to you’ll need about 3 capfuls.

 

The instructions warn not to raise more than .04 ppm a day. I had no problems going .1 ppm a day.

so

10 gal, x .10 x 3.758 = 3.578 ml dosing should get me 1 ppm per day?  

 

And that would get me to .01 x 3 ppm desired outcome in 3 days ?

 

Thanks

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15 hours ago, Jakesaw said:

so

10 gal, x .10 x 3.758 = 3.578 ml dosing should get me 1 ppm per day?  

 

And that would get me to .01 x 3 ppm desired outcome in 3 days ?

 

Thanks

Added 3 ml today, will test tonight and again tomorrow morning ( 24 hrs ) to see if I can detect a measurable Phos level.

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