I Have Dinoflagellates! Help Me Get Rid of Them...

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#1
So I caught a bad case of dynos recently. I think it all happened after my yasha disappeared and probably decomposed somewhere. I only have two fish in the 10g cube. A lightning maroon and a small goldstripe maroon. I feed pellets once a day. I also have a CUC of hermits and nassarius snails. I do 2g water changes once a week and I just put in a small skimmer in the tank.

What can I do to get rid of them? I'm thinking of bumping up the water changes to 3g. But that's all I can think of. Five gallons would be half the tank, so that may be too much. Any other remedies for dynos?

Thanks!
 

sonnus

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#5
I have tried everything for dinos, the best way to treat them is kalk dosing. I know it's a bit more work than the other methods but it works reliably every time and in my experience stresses the coral out the least.

You will add kalk to your ATO and raise the pH to about 8.5-8.7 over about 3 days (raise it about 0.2 per day). On the 3-4 day the dinos will be gone. This never bothers the fish or corals but you might need to stop dosing 2-part to prevent a significant alkalinity spike.

This really freaks out people at first but even the new reefers are able to handle it without any trouble. I've done this on a few dozen tanks now and I've never had a problem with it.
 

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#6
I have tried everything for dinos, the best way to treat them is kalk dosing. I know it's a bit more work than the other methods but it works reliably every time and in my experience stresses the coral out the least.

You will add kalk to your ATO and raise the pH to about 8.5-8.7 over about 3 days (raise it about 0.2 per day). On the 3-4 day the dinos will be gone. This never bothers the fish or corals but you might need to stop dosing 2-part to prevent a significant alkalinity spike.

This really freaks out people at first but even the new reefers are able to handle it without any trouble. I've done this on a few dozen tanks now and I've never had a problem with it.
Aaron, is there a specific type of kalk you dose?
 
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#9
I have tried everything for dinos, the best way to treat them is kalk dosing. I know it's a bit more work than the other methods but it works reliably every time and in my experience stresses the coral out the least.

You will add kalk to your ATO and raise the pH to about 8.5-8.7 over about 3 days (raise it about 0.2 per day). On the 3-4 day the dinos will be gone. This never bothers the fish or corals but you might need to stop dosing 2-part to prevent a significant alkalinity spike.

This really freaks out people at first but even the new reefers are able to handle it without any trouble. I've done this on a few dozen tanks now and I've never had a problem with it.

Thanks Aaron, I'll definitely try that.
 
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#10
So I caught a bad case of dynos recently. I think it all happened after my yasha disappeared and probably decomposed somewhere. I only have two fish in the 10g cube. A lightning maroon and a small goldstripe maroon. I feed pellets once a day. I also have a CUC of hermits and nassarius snails. I do 2g water changes once a week and I just put in a small skimmer in the tank.

What can I do to get rid of them? I'm thinking of bumping up the water changes to 3g. But that's all I can think of. Five gallons would be half the tank, so that may be too much. Any other remedies for dynos?

Thanks!
I think I have them also :(
 

lowbudget

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#11
What he said
I have tried everything for dinos, the best way to treat them is kalk dosing. I know it's a bit more work than the other methods but it works reliably every time and in my experience stresses the coral out the least.

You will add kalk to your ATO and raise the pH to about 8.5-8.7 over about 3 days (raise it about 0.2 per day). On the 3-4 day the dinos will be gone. This never bothers the fish or corals but you might need to stop dosing 2-part to prevent a significant alkalinity spike.

This really freaks out people at first but even the new reefers are able to handle it without any trouble. I've done this on a few dozen tanks now and I've never had a problem with it.
 
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#12
I have tried everything for dinos, the best way to treat them is kalk dosing. I know it's a bit more work than the other methods but it works reliably every time and in my experience stresses the coral out the least.

You will add kalk to your ATO and raise the pH to about 8.5-8.7 over about 3 days (raise it about 0.2 per day). On the 3-4 day the dinos will be gone. This never bothers the fish or corals but you might need to stop dosing 2-part to prevent a significant alkalinity spike.

This really freaks out people at first but even the new reefers are able to handle it without any trouble. I've done this on a few dozen tanks now and I've never had a problem with it.
Hey Aaron, I got the the SeaChem Kalk. Can you give me some tips on dosing it? How much Kalk do I add to my ATO? And how much do I add to my tank? I'm a little confused.

Thanks!
 

sonnus

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#13
Hey Aaron, I got the the SeaChem Kalk. Can you give me some tips on dosing it? How much Kalk do I add to my ATO? And how much do I add to my tank? I'm a little confused.

Thanks!
Saturated kalkwasser is about 2 teaspoons per gallon.

Day 1:
Add about 1.0 teaspoon per gallon of RODI top off water. This will typically bump up the pH about 0.1-0.3 after 24 hours.

Day 2:
After 24 hours your pH will hopefully be around 8.1-8.4. If your pH is not 8.5 yet increase the saturation to 1.5 teaspoons per gallon of RODI top off water. This will typically bump up the pH another 0.1-0.3 after 24 hours.

Day 3:
After 48 hours your pH will hopefully be around 8.2-8.5. If your pH is not 8.5 yet increase the saturation to 2.0 teaspoons per gallon of RODI top off water. This will typically bump up the pH another 0.1-0.3 after 24 hours.

Day 4:
After 72 hours your pH will hopefully be around 8.3-8.6. If your pH is not 8.5 yet increase the saturation to 2.5 teaspoons per gallon of RODI top off water. Now the kalk water is supersaturated so you will either need to manually shake it every hour or add a powerhead to the top water to keep the kalk suspended in the solution.

Day 5:
If your pH isn't up to 8.5 yet you will need to increase the saturation to 3.0 teaspoons per gallon of RODI top off water. You will either need to manually shake it every hour or add a powerhead to the kalk water to keep the kalk suspended in the solution.

Notes:
  • The limewater must be dripped into the tank continuously. It can never be dumped into he tank! Ideally you could use an Apex to dose the limewater. I do not recommend an ATO for this because if it malfunctions you will kill your coral and fish (I've learned this the hard way).
  • Siphon as many dinos out before you start this treatment. You will need to dispose the water, straining the dinos through a filer sock will not work.
  • A pH increase of 0.2 per 24 hours is what I usually shoot for.
  • You will ultimately need to raise the pH up to 8.5-8.7 (daytime) for about 2 weeks to kill the dinos. It's ok if the pH drops lower than that during the night.
  • This is a rough guide, you really need to watch the tank closely to make sure the pH isn't rising too quickly.
  • You might need to go above 3 tsp/gal of kalk, every tank is different.
  • It is best to dose the display tank directly to prevent your skimmer and return pump from seizing up.
  • Once you figure out how your tank responds to the kalk you can usually increase the kalk saturation faster depending on how fast your pH rises.

This is the Apex code I use for my Kalk doser. I usually use a Tom's Aqua Lifter for a dosing pump. If you have a float switch in your sump you can also tell the pump not to dose if the sump is full.

Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/000:30/004:30 Then ON
If pH > 8.20 Then OFF

Of course you will need to increase the pH limit 0.1 every 12 hours.
 
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#14
Saturated kalkwasser is about 2 teaspoons per gallon.

Day 1:
Add about 1.0 teaspoon per gallon of RODI top off water. This will typically bump up the pH about 0.1-0.3 after 24 hours.

Day 2:
After 24 hours your pH will hopefully be around 8.1-8.4. If your pH is not 8.5 yet increase the saturation to 1.5 teaspoons per gallon of RODI top off water. This will typically bump up the pH another 0.1-0.3 after 24 hours.

Day 3:
After 48 hours your pH will hopefully be around 8.2-8.5. If your pH is not 8.5 yet increase the saturation to 2.0 teaspoons per gallon of RODI top off water. This will typically bump up the pH another 0.1-0.3 after 24 hours.

Day 4:
After 72 hours your pH will hopefully be around 8.3-8.6. If your pH is not 8.5 yet increase the saturation to 2.5 teaspoons per gallon of RODI top off water. Now the kalk water is supersaturated so you will either need to manually shake it every hour or add a powerhead to the top water to keep the kalk suspended in the solution.

Day 5:
If your pH isn't up to 8.5 yet you will need to increase the saturation to 3.0 teaspoons per gallon of RODI top off water. You will either need to manually shake it every hour or add a powerhead to the kalk water to keep the kalk suspended in the solution.

Notes:
  • The limewater must be dripped into the tank continuously. It can never be dumped into he tank! Ideally you could use an Apex to dose the limewater. I do not recommend an ATO for this because if it malfunctions you will kill your coral and fish (I've learned this the hard way).
  • Siphon as many dinos out before you start this treatment. You will need to dispose the water, straining the dinos through a filer sock will not work.
  • A pH increase of 0.2 per 24 hours is what I usually shoot for.
  • You will ultimately need to raise the pH up to 8.5-8.7 (daytime) for about 2 weeks to kill the dinos. It's ok if the pH drops lower than that during the night.
  • This is a rough guide, you really need to watch the tank closely to make sure the pH isn't rising too quickly.
  • You might need to go above 3 tsp/gal of kalk, every tank is different.
  • It is best to dose the display tank directly to prevent your skimmer and return pump from seizing up.
  • Once you figure out how your tank responds to the kalk you can usually increase the kalk saturation faster depending on how fast your pH rises.

This is the Apex code I use for my Kalk doser. I usually use a Tom's Aqua Lifter for a dosing pump. If you have a float switch in your sump you can also tell the pump not to dose if the sump is full.

Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/000:30/004:30 Then ON
If pH > 8.20 Then OFF

Of course you will need to increase the pH limit 0.1 every 12 hours.
Thanks for getting into great detail, Aaron! Is there an easy way to do this without an apex/doser? This is a small tank on my desk.
 

sonnus

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#15
Thanks for getting into great detail, Aaron! Is there an easy way to do this without an apex/doser? This is a small tank on my desk.
How many gallons? Is it at your work? If you're always in front of the tank you could certainly dose it by hand. You would just add a bit of water every hour or so.

You could use an ATO as long as you are completely confident it will not overfill your tank.

Do you have any way to monitor the pH? It doesn't need to be continuous but an electronic pH tester makes life a lot easier. I like the HM PH-80 but there are much cheaper options that work just as good.
 
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#16
It's a 10g nano. It's at my desk, so I'm away from it half the day. As far as the ATO is concerned, it's a tunze nano. It hasn't failed yet, but you know how that goes. I have a hand help pH meter too.
 
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#17
Ok so, after a few days that I wrote this, the dynos disappeared. I have no idea why. I don't think I did anything different. I just did a water change and let it be. I didn't even get to use the Kalwasser I paid at the LFS. What gives? I wish I could figure out what happened...

EDIT: Ok, I did a water change, cleaned the MP10 and placed it more at the front of the tank. Could that be it? Just a simple flow change? I also changed the filter floss daily that contained a lot of the floating dynos. Thoughts?
 
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#18
Try this product called algone. They sell it in small boxes of 6 pouches. Its cost around 10 bucks. This stuff really works well with algae problems. Ive been working at a tropical reef store for 5 years and i really recommend you to try it. Reef safe, it wont harm nothing. I guarantee you it will remove those dinos. It worked on tanks that i serviced that had bad gha, dinos, etc.
 
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#20
I had a very bad case of dinoflagellates and tried all the recommended anectodatal remedies and none of them worked. I tried black outs, water changes, h202, no water changes, siphoning, raising ph, algon, fauna marin algae x. I even sent them for analysis to a lab in Massachusetts. In my experince nothing worked. Finally broke down the tank for 8 months. Just set the tank back up and hoping they do not come back.
 

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