Fighting Dino's ​😲 ​

[ryans.salty.crew]

2 hours ago, Jakesaw said:

Good luck with Rip Clean. I'm watching to see how things go.  I just saw an old photo of my 2 Hammers - that are all retracted since I started my own personal DINO he77. 

 

Very sad to look at past / present state of the Hammers as they were my favorite coral. 

 

Please post photos if you are able

 

Thanks

 

I will eventually post photos but trust me, there is so little dino algae right now that you cannot see it in a photo

[Jakesaw]

27 minutes ago, 10g4Me said:

I will eventually post photos but trust me, there is so little dino algae right now that you cannot see it in a photo

Sounds good,

 

Mine is slowly getting beaten back - with daily change of filter floss and Turkey baster pulling it off surfaces.  Still in nuisance stage right now for me.  

 

I just want my hammers to revive themselves.  I'm not so sure they won't die off on me though.

[ryans.salty.crew]

Has anyone dosed beneficial bacteria such as Dr. Tim's Waste Away to try to compete with Dino's? BRS recommends doing this and I'm interested. I know that I would have to use a very small amount.

[Jakesaw]

26 minutes ago, 10g4Me said:

Has anyone dosed beneficial bacteria such as Dr. Tim's Waste Away to try to compete with Dino's? BRS recommends doing this and I'm interested. I know that I would have to use a very small amount.

I have not.  

 

The best I can trace my problems to was when I had my tank water about 10 degrees below normal for 18 hours.  Everything seemed fine the next day, but been battling DINO since and all my corals seem to be retracting vs Vibrant & healthy prior. 

 

The dinos seem to be consuming my tank nutrients and they smell nasty when I remove them. - yuk. Have you read that things like Microbacter or other bacterias are helpful.  I would try that. 

[ryans.salty.crew]

1 hour ago, Jakesaw said:

I have not.  

 

The best I can trace my problems to was when I had my tank water about 10 degrees below normal for 18 hours.  Everything seemed fine the next day, but been battling DINO since and all my corals seem to be retracting vs Vibrant & healthy prior. 

 

The dinos seem to be consuming my tank nutrients and they smell nasty when I remove them. - yuk. Have you read that things like Microbacter or other bacterias are helpful.  I would try that. 

Seriously, they smell horrible. Microbacter is interesting. I really do think my problem is having a lack of bacteria diversity. I think I'm going to purchase Dr. Tim's and keep posting here. Currently the dino's just come and go with the light. I don't have any noticeable on my sand bed or tank.

 

I really have to get back into changing filter floss daily again.

[ryans.salty.crew]

Finally got a tank pic I could upload

 

Under the blues

[Toomanymatts]

2 hours ago, 10g4Me said:

Has anyone dosed beneficial bacteria such as Dr. Tim's Waste Away to try to compete with Dino's? BRS recommends doing this and I'm interested. I know that I would have to use a very small amount.

Yes.   I started a thread about it.   Going pretty well over all.

[Jakesaw]

1 hour ago, 10g4Me said:

Currently the dino's just come and go with the light. I don't have any noticeable on my sand bed or tank.

 

I really have to get back into changing filter floss daily again.

I stopped by my LFS ( coral specialty store ), and was advised to just feed more to get my nutrients up and do a 3 day Blackout to kill the DINO.  They had chemicals they could have sold me including Microbacter - but said he'd really like to see me solve it naturally as it's the best option vs adding chemicals. 

 

Sadly, he looked at photo of my 2 headed Hammer and said it was a goner.  The single head Hammer still has a chance to come back. We'll see.  Time for some tank darkness. 

 

Wish me luck

 

 

[spazizz]

Ive gotten ahead of dinos before by feeding heavy and 3 days lights off, then reducing light intensity on my LED when they're back on. If the dinos come back I do 3 days of no lights again but you gotta make sure your corals can handle it, some coral will bleach if to many dark periods happen. My thoughts are, with no light and heavy feeding/nutrients causes bacteria to outcompete/take up the dinos space in the ecosystem. Nothing scientific about this method but it's worked for me, not sure if any one else beats dinos this way.

[ryans.salty.crew]

1 hour ago, Jakesaw said:

I stopped by my LFS ( coral specialty store ), and was advised to just feed more to get my nutrients up and do a 3 day Blackout to kill the DINO.  They had chemicals they could have sold me including Microbacter - but said he'd really like to see me solve it naturally as it's the best option vs adding chemicals. 

 

Sadly, he looked at photo of my 2 headed Hammer and said it was a goner.  The single head Hammer still has a chance to come back. We'll see.  Time for some tank darkness. 

 

Wish me luck

 

 

Goodluck! I'm learning more and more that the best way is naturally by keeping phosphates high and ALWAYS do daily maintenance. 

 

17 minutes ago, spazizz said:

Ive gotten ahead of dinos before by feeding heavy and 3 days lights off, then reducing light intensity on my LED when they're back on. If the dinos come back I do 3 days of no lights again but you gotta make sure your corals can handle it, some coral will bleach if to many dark periods happen. My thoughts are, with no light and heavy feeding/nutrients causes bacteria to outcompete/take up the dinos space in the ecosystem. Nothing scientific about this method but it's worked for me, not sure if any one else beats dinos this way.

I have a similar idea as you! Totally going to add a small amount of "Dr. Tim's" soon and ill keep you posted!

[Jakesaw]

Started blackout today.  Only had 2 hours of light and feeding some frozen food to increase nitrates.

 

My fish don't seem to know how to eat without lights on.  Ambient lights from room doesn't seem to help them much. 

 

Hope they are fat enough to last 3 days or can chew on some algae in the meantime.

[ryans.salty.crew]

Note to self* 

 

Feed heavy 2 days ago and Dino's weren't visible the next day.

[spazizz]

I hope it works for you. Your tank looks great, I almost went with a very similar aquascape in my 10g.

[Jakesaw]

14 hours ago, 10g4Me said:

Note to self* 

 

Feed heavy 2 days ago and Dino's weren't visible the next day.

I'm finishing day 2 of my Blackout trying to kill the DINOs in the water.  May have lost a day of battle b/c HOB filter got a little sun from window ( cringe ).  All blacked out now though.  I'm pulling out 2 filter floss pads a day and they are reddish brown and smelly.  Dropping in frozen food to get the nitrates up as well ( I should test tomorrow to see if they are increasing or not )

[Jakesaw]

3 day Blackout really cleared up my water.  All visible DINO in the tank is gone.  The walls were all clean when lights came back on.  The Snails must've been eating the dead crud as things died dow.  

My nitrates are 5-10 and Phos is currently.03. 

 

My 2 headed hammer looks to be officiallly dead ( from dying stage before ).  The other Hammer is still in meh stage but alive.  Everything else looks like it'll recover.  Duncans are already open. 

 

I see a few tiny hairs of DINO trying to form on wall.  Will see how that plays out.  The entire water column of Red water muck is gone though.

[ryans.salty.crew]

On 4/23/2022 at 9:37 PM, Jakesaw said:

3 day Blackout really cleared up my water.  All visible DINO in the tank is gone.  The walls were all clean when lights came back on.  The Snails must've been eating the dead crud as things died dow.  

My nitrates are 5-10 and Phos is currently.03. 

 

My 2 headed hammer looks to be officiallly dead ( from dying stage before ).  The other Hammer is still in meh stage but alive.  Everything else looks like it'll recover.  Duncans are already open. 

 

I see a few tiny hairs of DINO trying to form on wall.  Will see how that plays out.  The entire water column of Red water muck is gone though.

Update from weekend: 

 

Haven't changed my water in over 2 weeks (usually change 50% every 2 weeks). My tank seems to have been too clean which may have allowed dinos to take over and flourish. I'm going to start today with a smaller water change maybe 20% this week and 20% next week. For now, dinos looked very well kept under control. 

[Jakesaw]

51 minutes ago, 10g4Me said:

My tank seems to have been to clean which may have allowed dinos to take over and flourish

That's generally environment where DINO's take over.

 

I think I was suffering from same issue recently.  Chose to run floss in HOB filter during my blackout.  I think that was helpful in removing some of the water floating DINO.  But removed mechanical filtration and did not do water change after lights came back on yesterday.  

 

Good luck to both of us !

[ryans.salty.crew]

5 minutes ago, Jakesaw said:

That's generally environment where DINO's take over.

 

I think I was suffering from same issue recently.  Chose to run floss in HOB filter during my blackout.  I think that was helpful in removing some of the water floating DINO.  But removed mechanical filtration and did not do water change after lights came back on yesterday.  

 

Good luck to both of us !

Keep us updated! Would love if this thread could be about a bunch of peoples experiences with dinos and what worked for their tank. Not everyone has time to take a tank apart and clean it. 

[ryans.salty.crew]

I had the chance to change my pump last night finally. (It would cut it off to feed and sometimes it wouldn't come back on). I have a clear pipe in the back that brings the water from the pump into the tank and it is COVERED with algae and the first place I see DINO's in my tank is on the RFG nozzle. I'm going to stop by petco today and grab a small scrubber to get down in there to clean it.

 

Anyone have any tips about applying some type of cleaner? 

[Jakesaw]

2 hours ago, 10g4Me said:

Anyone have any tips about applying some type of cleaner? 

I've always cleaned aquarium parts with water / vinegar mix and soak em.  Then scrub with a toothbrush to I use just for aquarium cleaning.  Good thorough Dechlorinated or RO/DI water rinse before going back in aquarium. 

[sadie]

On 4/27/2022 at 8:28 AM, 10g4Me said:

I had the chance to change my pump last night finally. (It would cut it off to feed and sometimes it wouldn't come back on). I have a clear pipe in the back that brings the water from the pump into the tank and it is COVERED with algae and the first place I see DINO's in my tank is on the RFG nozzle. I'm going to stop by petco today and grab a small scrubber to get down in there to clean it.

 

Anyone have any tips about applying some type of cleaner? 

When I bought my turkey baster for my tank, it came with a small brush inside the baster for cleaning.  That little brush works perfect on my tubes and fittings etc.  It's not extremely long, but it gets 80% of everything.

[ryans.salty.crew]

Update : Dino's were looking fantastic last week in my tank. I have continued to feed heavy and did not feed any reef roids last week. Saturday I thought I'd try some RedSea AB+ because I have had it sitting never used for months. BIG MISTAKE, noticed some dinos Monday and almost a full force again Tuesday. I believe that Dino's LOVE ab+.

 

I will be doing a small water change today as well as a physical cleaning of my power head. A water change and physical cleaning takes me about 10-15 minutes which makes fighting these dino's easy.

 

NO MORE AB+ or reef roids 

[Jakesaw]

My DINOs are also sustaining themselves.  After my tank blackout - the DINOs in the water column had died off and most of the visible clingers were gone.  I've been doing daily removal and gotten my nutrients up and my dinos have been creeping back into the tank. 

 

Last night, I also did a vinegar wash of my powerhead.  It always gets mucked up with frozen food & bubble algae recently.  That needed a deep clean.

 

I pull alot out in the Floss pad every night.  If I hadn't done that, I think my tank would be a HOT dino mess.  

 

[ryans.salty.crew]

1 hour ago, Jakesaw said:

My DINOs are also sustaining themselves.  After my tank blackout - the DINOs in the water column had died off and most of the visible clingers were gone.  I've been doing daily removal and gotten my nutrients up and my dinos have been creeping back into the tank. 

 

Last night, I also did a vinegar wash of my powerhead.  It always gets mucked up with frozen food & bubble algae recently.  That needed a deep clean.

 

I pull alot out in the Floss pad every night.  If I hadn't done that, I think my tank would be a HOT dino mess.  

 

Post a tank pic. I'd love to check out your tank

 

Just remember to keep maintaining what works for you to defeat them. Keep up with progress weekly, Dino's take a while to take over and take just as long to get rid of. Don't get discouraged, algae doesn't disappear within a day.

Edited May 4, 2022 by 10g4Me

[Jakesaw]

1 hour ago, 10g4Me said:

Dino's take a while to take over and take just as long to get rid of

Yeah, 

 

I met a 35 year reefer last time I was at the LFS.  Was discussing my DINO tank woes with him.  He told me patience - hurry up and wait !!

 

Doesn't make it easy when you don't have the activity knowledge / experience to know if you're doing things right or not. 

 

My first dino was a cakewalk compared to this one.  I just got my nutrients up off the zero line, my tank grew GHA everywhere and DINO disappeared.  Then added snails to graze away the GHA.

 

First outbreak was a different type of DINO though.  Just clumpy brown scale on my tank walls that had air bubbles develop under it. Current iteration is long stringy things that grow everywhere.  Break up at night and terminator style take shape during the daylight.