Dinoflagellates is EVIL!

C

Cheech

Global Moderator
Jan 13, 2000
3,454
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Montreal, Canada
It completely took hold of my tank. Growing everywhere...
Looks like slimy mucus loose light brownish disgusting stuff, all over my rock, sand, glass...


Anyone have to battle this?

Tank parameters are all fine... PH 8.4, nitrates=0, phosphates=0, kh 8 calcium 380.

I use RODI 6 chamber (with chlorimine remover) water.

I was using cheapo ebay MH bulbs, (2X250) but I changed those 2 days ago.


Anyway, right now I'm going to lower the light period to 4 hours a day, (hoping my corals won't suffer too much).. I'll also be adding carbon in my sump, I'll increase my weater changes to weekly 10%.

besides that, does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of this disgusting plague?


thank you! ...


A very discouraged fishkeeper..
 
dino's aka brown slime algae feed on nitrates and silicates. best thing to do is reduce lighting cycle to 4 to 6 hours per day, siphon out as much as you can everyday, starve the tank for the next 7 to 14 days (feed fish small amout of food every 2 to 3 days for the next 7 to 14 days) and don't feed corals, don't do a water change till this cleans up...you will only be feeding the dino's, test your tds and your nitrates of your rodi water. it is not uncommon for phosphates and nitrates to test as 0 if you are having an algae breakout
 
hi cheech, did you see SantaMonica's scrubber thread yet? cleaned up my small tank just fine with an outlay of around 50 euros(lighting), still waiting for dramatic results on the big tank,only set it up a month ago. for relatively low spend it could lend a hand while you address underlying problem(the gunk will pretty quickly transfer itself to the screen where its much easier to control)
 
Cheech, unfortunately, dinoflagellates are amongst the most stubborn of "algae" to get rid of. You'll find that while nitrate, phosphate, and the like will influence growth, dinos seem to do well in relative scarcity (i.e. I've seen bad infestations in tanks with NO3- undectable and PO4 ~.02 ppm). I have found that a complete blackout of ~3 days is the best way to be completely rid of them. Seems stressful to your corals, but they will recover just fine, assuming they are in good health from the start. They may seem pale for a day or two, but hardly a cause for alarm, as they will color up relatively shortly.
 
Thank you very mch for the info.

I'll test the parameters on the tank again tonight and see if I might have messed up those tests. I have reduced the lighting period to 4 hours (today being the first day).

I'll also add some carbon and see if that helps in any way.

If nothing works in the next few days, I'll do as you suggested, Amph, and cover the whole tank for three days with no light.

This stuff's a mess... Fortunately nothing's died yet...


I'll keep you updated.


c
 
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