dinoflagellates.. help!

[Phoenix7506]

Ok.. so I originally thought I had a cyano problem in my biocube but after some research I have come to find that it is dinoflagellates.. not cyano. To whoever posted the algae guide with all of the pictures, thank you!

Wow.. so this is the real deal I gather. Ive noticed that my hammer coral hasnt been opening up all the way and I'm pretty sure the algae is to blame. The problem came pretty much overnight  All of my water perimeters are right where they are supposed to be and I just did a 20% water change tonight and the week prior but apparently that doesn't matter to this kind of algae. Ive been removing it as much as I can every day.

I did some research on ways to get rid of this and there seems to be 3 different ways to get rid of it depending on what type you have. This is what I came up with.

1. Drip dose Kalk and raise the PH to 8.4-8.6 and keep it there until it goes away and there are no signs for at least a week... Some strains dont like high PH

2. Raise nitrates by not doing water changes until it starves itself out of the trace elements it needs.... This will take awhile

3. Shut off the lights for 2 days and run a LOT of carbon. Do a water change after and clean all your rocks out

Ive decided to try the 3rd option but Ive read that running too much carbon can cause lateral line disease, hole in the head, or cause bleaching of SPS corals. I'm going to guess that the fish diseases are from prolonged use and the bleaching is due to PAR changes?

What do you guys think? Am I ok to run a lot of carbon for 2 days? Help with anything would be greatly appreciated!
2.   

[bbtm64]

I wonder if Elite Chemi-Pure would work as well as carbon? I know its better than carbon in most respects.

[lazylivin]

Dinoflagellates are very easily dealt with. This should give you all the info you need to take care of the issue. Good luck. http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-discussion/52084-dinoflagellates-my-experience-h2o2-reefing-tool.html

[Boonjob]

+1 ^^^^

[Neogenesis]

I've also seen it caused by a low voltage electrical leak.....and it being fed by the water using to top off with.  Just two other things to keep an eye on.

[Phoenix7506]

Thank you all for the quick responses! Great link. I did my first hydrogen peroxide dosing today. I dosed 1.25ml in my 14g cube. It may be my water feeding it. I live in an apartment and I've been buying my ro water from a local place that sells it and I just recently started buying it from a different place. Do you think this is a good possibly? Should I bite the bullet and buy my own to unit? I haven't picked one up because I was trying tosave some space. I have things all over the place getting the 75 around. Just trying to keep the wife happy lol

[charlieweaver]

I would just get a rodi unit will save you tons   and a decent one is only around 139 now.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW

[Steve]

I would just get a rodi unit will save you tons   and a decent one is only around 139 now.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW

+1 can't live without the RO/DI unit

[Phoenix7506]

Thanks. I will order one this friday. Is the unit that BRS sells for 140 a good unit or should I buy one thats a little bit higher end? Which unit do you guys use? Also, Since I have my tank coming this week should I wait for the unit to get here or just fill it with the water I already have. I guess my main question is, while my tank cycles will it use up the nutrients? Should I risk it? I will keep you posted on how the peroxide dosing goes.

[Neogenesis]

I would wait to fill your new tank with RO/DI.  Why put possibly dirty water in there and start things off wrong when you KNOW your ordering your unit in just a few days?  Standard shipping puts it to you middle to late next week....worth the wait in my opinion.

I personally would stay with a 5 stage.....deluxe kit if you can swing it....the pressure gauges and built in TDS meters will help you keep everything in line and know when to change filters.  Well worth the extra $$$ in my opinion.

Just realized your in Findlay.....what's your water pressure run in the winter as I know mine drops way off, a booster pump was needed for my installation.  Not what you wanted to hear, but something to keep in mind as next winter approaches.

If your not wanting to buy online.....there is a new reef store opening in town.....not quite ready yet but they are doing pre-sales of dry goods.  Look up Changing Tide Aquatics.  My sister just ordered a RO/DI system from them, which was ordered directly from BRS.  Prices are dead on.

Also, where were you buying your stock from?  I'm curious if there may be a link.

[Phoenix7506]

I live in an apartment and I haven't noticed any drop off in water pressure in the winter. As far as an RO/DI unit is concerned I just want to make sure I get something that is easy to hook up and won't take up too much space. I guess I have some research to do lol

Its good to hear that there is another saltwater store opening up here! Ill PM you with the other info.

[Phoenix7506]

On another note, after the dosing this morning my branching hammer coral has opened a bit more than it has the past 2 days. This seems to be the only coral that the dinos completely attacked. The coral is about halfway out but one of the heads looks like its mouth is gaping open. Should it come around? What should I do? let it be or cut the head off and pitch it?

[Neogenesis]

Leave the hammer, they are pretty tough and will most likely recover.

[charlieweaver]

I live in a small place and have 5 stage unit and was very easy to hook up and took no space at all. 

Tap water in control value make it a semi permanent soultion



Waste water in taped in to my drain line of dishwater with a very easy to do saddle valve


And whole unit fits under sink and is out of way and when its fill up time for my 55 gallon drum I have a 25 foot line I run to the closet for a day. Not the best or most convenient setup but works and was cheap and out of the way.


Sent from my HTC6435LVW

[Phoenix7506]

Thanks guys! Does anyone from Findlay know if I need the unit that removes chloramines? I may have to wait another week for funds :/

[charlieweaver]

Almost any unit should remove chloramine. Any 5 stage or ever 4 stage should have a carbon block filter in it. But any unit that make 0 tds is the same as any other 0 tds.  Like 0tds is 0tds. So fine the cheapest one you can it will do the job better than your current source. Check out. Thefilterguy.biz   they are pretty affordable and have that cool facet connection I have with them

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[Ashlar]

Actually, chloramine (the ammonia part) is a small enough molecule to get by the typical carbon block and RO membrane.

If you live in an area where there's strong chloramine dosing of the water, it pays to use a chloramine buster pre-filter.

Many reef-keepers here in Fort Worth TX lost their tanks a couple of years ago because of heavy chloramine dosing when they switched to a new water source.

[Phoenix7506]

Well. I'm at the end of the second day with dosing hydrogen peroxide. Along with doing this I only ran the lights for about 3 hours last night after I got off of work and I did the same today. I was just hoping to kickstart everything so to speak. I just got home tonight and turned the lights on and wow! I can't find a trace of dino anywhere! I'm going to keep dosing for the next 5 days to make sure it doesn't come back.

My corals aren't open all the way yet because I just turned the light on. My branching hammer is looking better than it has. The gaping open mouth on the one polyp looks like its shut tight at the moment.

I noticed that my monti colony has lost some color but I'm thinking that it is probably due to a lack of light. Do you think this is a good possibility? I was thinking about just turning on my lights on for the full 10 hours tomorrow. Would this be a good idea or should I ramp up to it?

I also know that there is a small crab living in my monti. Could this be irritating the coral too much? Ive been monitoring him to see if he's harming anything. He seems to be nocturnal. Id like to keep him if I can but if he starts hurting anything he has to go.

heres a picture of the tank 

[Phoenix7506]

I just turned on the light in the picture. Things arent open yet.

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to check into it tomorrow!

[lazylivin]

Running your lights for the full duration should not be a problem.

[Phoenix7506]

Cool thanks again for the help! I can't believe how easy that was to treat!

[lazylivin]

Glad it worked out well. Did you notice how clear you water is with the h202 treatment? I put a little in my tank every now and again if things look a bit hazy. I often wondered if dosing at a maintance level such as 1 ml per 10g per day would be good long term. It seems to have similar effect as ozone.

[Ramathorn937]

I read the article that lazy posted, and believe that I have the same thing! I think mine may have come from OD MB7, I started doing H2O2 this evening at 6pm, and will let you guys know how it goes, also I'll be setting up my GFO reactor when I get home

Sent from my Galaxy S3

[Phoenix7506]

I did notice a difference in clarity. I ended up read that entire 16 pages of posts lol. A regular dose might be good but like you said, we don't know about long term effects. You could try a lower dose and see if you still get the same ozone type effect. It might be worth experimenting with.

[Phoenix7506]

I read the article that lazy posted, and believe that I have the same thing! I think mine may have come from OD MB7, I started doing H2O2 this evening at 6pm, and will let you guys know how it goes, also I'll be setting up my GFO reactor when I get home

Sent from my Galaxy S3

Let us know how it works for you. Good luck!

[Phoenix7506]

Everything is fully open and looking its chipper self except the hammer. He still isnt opening all the way. It looks like there may be some decaying tissue on one of the polyps. It could be debris but I'm hesitant to blow at it with the baster. I thought about dipping him but again, I'm hesitant. I couldnt really get a good picture but here it is. My sexy shrimp is a camera hog. lol

[Phoenix7506]

Well earlier today was my last day of dosing and I will be doing a water change in a couple minutes. No sign of dino for 4-5 days now.

My hammer looks happy once again 

[lazylivin]

Looks great good job

[Bucknutz]

Looking very good Phoenix.

[Neogenesis]

Awesome!!!  Glad to hear it cleared up so quickly.  What method did you end up going with?  Just dosing peroxide?

[Phoenix7506]

Thanks guys. I only ran the lights for 4 hours the first 2 days but I don't think I needed to. Just dosing the peroxide seems to do it.

[Ramathorn937]

Apparently what I have is some kind of brown slime hair algae, and not dino, cause I dosed for 4 days and it did absolutely nothing, besides making my water look Crystal clear

Sent from my Galaxy S3

[lazylivin]

You can use algaefix marine for brown/green hair algae.

[Ramathorn937]

Suppose I'll try that next, for now just stepped up security with a GFO reactor, some chemipure in my filter, and twice weekly water changes instead of once a week, really busy this weekend perhaps next weekend I'll make it to store and get some algaefix

Sent from my Galaxy S3

[lazylivin]

Just make sure it is the Marine version.

[Bucknutz]

I too ended up with dino but didn't want to say anything until I was sure. Tonight was my 6th night dosing with h202 and the tank is about completely cleared up. I bought a piece of challice from Pet Supplies Plus a couple weeks ago and didn't dip it because it had death on it (this is another story about that place now) and I didn't want to stress it anymore. This challice is the only thing I could figure I got the dino from. Stopped in PSP tonight and this is what I spotted in their 180 show tank that had the lights off in it.



PSP in Findlay is a sad sad place now after letting Heath go. They should be reported for animal abuse as they're letting all the coral die. Every time i'm in there I see dead fish, and fish with ich. I tried to get a Naso that was half dead from them to save in my quarantine tank tonight and they wanted full price. This fish won't make it thru the weekend.

The challice I couldn't let stay in that tank and die, and in turn gave my tank dino lol.

[lazylivin]

That is a good picture of dino's Buck. I seem to get them about once a year and have to do a h202 treatment. This last time I cleaned the sand in my frag tank that was about 2.5" deep and within a few days it was all over it and the frag rack. I think it was Paul that told me it was likely from exposing the anaerobic bacteria to two much oxygen causing a die off and feeding the dino's.

[Phoenix7506]

I'm just glad that it is so easy to get rid of. I'm going to try and steer clear of that place as much as I can. It is hard to not walk out with something you think you can help though.

[Bucknutz]

I'm just glad that it is so easy to get rid of. I'm going to try and steer clear of that place as much as I can. It is hard to not walk out with something you think you can help though.

It's my fault for not dipping the coral. Like I said it was dying and I took a chance not wanting to stress it anymore.