Grrrr... Dinoflagellates

[nickyblase]

I'm having some serious dino issues, and can't figure out what else I can do.

My wastes are low (indetectable), I don't overfeed, my alk is pretty high, I have no phosphates, and have also tried the 3 days of no light to no avail.

Water changes hasn't helped, nor has carbon. I siphon, and change carbon every 10 days or so, and it just comes right back!

Can't use kalk, because I'm pregnant & have heard it's a bad idea to handle when you're knocked up.

What else can I do?

 

[naturebatslast]

Sorry about the dinos, they suck!!!
I've never heard about calcium hydroxide being any problem, could you fill me in?
Could someone mix it for you in the event there's an issue with the fine dust of kalk powder? I can't imagine the mixed liquid is of any special hazard other than it is very caustic.
It would just be a matter mixing about 5 gal a week, and dripping it continously 24/7, keeping alk and ph up. Handling would be minimal and a set of gloves could be worn. I'm also a big fan dripping it into my skimmer.
I also tuned my photoperiod down a bit and a weekly 10gal WC.
On a chemical sidenote, Anna, suggested a bottle Seagel (for organics and phosphates) for 24 to 48 hours and it did give a leg up for a few days and let me get over the hump with kalk dripping. But the battle is a long one and there's no real siver bullet.
Best of Luck, for you and your bun in the oven.

 

[Cheetos]

How old is the tank and what are your nitrates at?

 

[nickyblase]

the tank has been up since March 2005, and my nitrates are right around zero.

 

[nickyblase]

oh, and thanks NBL!

 

[JohnK]

If you have the $ you could set up a kalk reactor and have someone else add the powder as needed (probally 4-6 wks between refills).

IME kalk drip and keeping a high PH are the most helpful things for dinos. No matter what you do it takes a while to win that battle. Watch out for smothered/melting soft corals and dying snails.

 

[slayne]

what would cause the smothered/melting soft corals since i have started to have a problem with that lately. in the last week and a half i lost 3 hammer corals with no signs of sickness they just shriveled and died in 24 hours. all a couple days of each other.. no signs of parasites. also not sure what Dinoflagellates are or how they affect an aquarium?

 

[naturebatslast]

Dinos resemble snot filled with bubbles. It's similiar to brown aldae/diatoms, but are more tenacious, and can grow back with 2 hours after being siphoned away.
Your problems sound more alk or nutrient based.

 

[JohnK]

I can't exactly explain how/why softies (IME) sometimes get smothered / melt, but it's what I've seen when I battled them a while ago. Could be a different cause, but I've never seen the softie losses like that except during a dino battle.

Hammer corals would be considered LPS but I don't know if the distinction would make any difference or not. LPS are sometimes prone to "brown Jelly" infections, which look like rapidly dying/turning to goo tissue. The goo usually looks brown, hence the brown jelly name. Could that be what your seeing?

Second on natureblast's description, snot with bubbles. Brownish IME. Slimy to the touch (cyano looks slimy, dino's are slimy). Cyano will also trap bubbles but it will look quite different. Easy test, siphon out all of the algae in question that you can. Look at the tank half a day later, if it looks like it came right back it's likely dinos. Cyano will come back but not anywhere near as quickly.

 

[Liam]

how high is your alk Laurie

 

[nickyblase]

haven't tested yet today, but it's pretty consistently around 10-11

 

[Rays]

They look like this.

 

[Reefdweller]

Haveyou tried increasing the circulation. I this problem a whileback and increasing the circulation with a powerhead really helped. One of the reasonsI believe dinos cause coral distruction is by overwhelming or displacing the good zoanthella that are required for coral survival. I had an Sebae anamone that did very well until I had adino outbreak. It turned brown due tot he dinos gettiing into it and then it just withered from there.

All I can think of is to increase the circulation and do water changes to lower the nutient level.