That's It!!! I give up!`

[dtiedke]

Well...it looks like my dinoflagellate problem is going win this battle. I have been fighting it for over 2 months, and it just keeps getting worse.

I guess I will be spending the next few days breaking down my 135g FOWLR, housing all my livestock in my QT, removing the crushed coral bed (wanted to do that anyway), scrubbing all 150 lbs of rock, etc...

What would be the best way to clean the glass inside? I assume no chemical cleaners, but what about ammonia, bleach, or both...just kidding!

Note to children: NEVER mix bleach with ammonia!



Dave

 

[LFS42]

Sorry to hear that,
Hope it takes care of them

 

[reefNewbie]

what does a dinoflagellate problem look like?

 

[craw]

I cannot belive that you have been batteling this for 2 months. You have to be missing some thing. Have you checked you make up water? Is your make up water Ro/Di? What kinda of filters are you running? Do you have any old carbon in the sump? There has to be something. I really hate to see anyone tear down a tank when they are having a problem.

Mike.

 

[LFS42]

Reefnewbie,
I believe they look like flaky skin on a fish.
The best method of getting rid of them is freshwater dips.
But sometimes they get out of hand.

 

[craw]

I'm not sure what LFS42 is talking about, but a dinoflagellate bloom would look like a blanket of golden algae on your rock and substrate. A fresh water dip would not be the way to go. Most tank when going through one of it cycles will experiance this. Here is a picture of one. I belive its under some type of microscope.

 

[Anonymous]

Are you sure you aren't talking about diatoms?

 

[dgasmd]

I am sorry to break this to you, but tearing down your tank is not going to be the solution. Likely is when you start it back up after doing whatever cleaning you think is necessary it will start just the same. I agree that you must be missing something or many things here. Why don't you give us more details about what you ahve, what you have done, and how you are doing it. The water and tank stuff that is :lol: :lol:

 

[dtiedke]

Well....my wife nixed the break-down idea. Said it would be too much work and she wants to keep trying....

Here is some specs and what we have done so far:

135g FOWLR, 4-5" Crushed Coral bed
4x95w VHO Actinic, 2x250w Iwaski
Velocity T-4 at about 1070g per hour turnover from sump
All numbers are right on Ammonia=0, Nitrite=0, Nitrate=5, Phosphate=0, KH=7, Calcium=450, SG=1.024 (refractometer)

The bloom looks like brown/golden snot/slime, tons of bubbles, and really thick! A couple of days after siphoning, it reutrns and eventually comes off the bed in sheets and clogs the overflow.

I have added a sump (30g), a EuroReef cs8-2, and I pass all water through a sock filled with new Kent Marine carbon for 4 days, then switch to new KM phosphate sponge for 3 days. I purchased a RO/DI, and have been using it for top-off (2.5 gals per day) for the past week (prior to that I was using tap water that tested zero for phosphates).

I have also purchased a 30g acrylic tank for a refuge, but do not have it online yet. All of my fish (yellow tang, comet beta, lawnmower blennie, 2 Maroon and 2 perc clowns) all seem happy as can be. No signs of stress, or illness. I have a LTA and a BTA for the clowns, and my wife just picked up 2 3" clams today (guess that's why she doesn't want to break it down.

I have read a few comments about redox, and how it could contribute to my problem. Where do I get a redox meter, how do I raise the redox, and what exactly is redox anyway...

I am contemplating a massive water change (70-80%), and removing all the rock to scrub it. Any other ideas?



Thanks for your help....

Dave

 

[dtiedke]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also taped cardboard all around the tank, and ran it completely dark for 3 days. That was great! When I removed the cardboard, the tank looked pretty good...for 2 days :evil:

I also bought 50 hermits (red and blue legged), 20 turbo and 10 astrea snails for cleanup.

They are basically doing nothing, and the turbos are IMO useless....

 

[LFS42]

Sorry,
I had it confused with somthing else.
I found this article, you probable already saw it,
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/t_crail2.html

have you tried anything like chemi-clean.
It cleaned up my tank of cyano real good, It also claims to oxidize trapped organic sludge and sediment.
It might work on the dinoflagellate.
I used it on several tanks, with no damage to corals or fish.
I never noticed any rise in ammonia or nitrate, so I think it wont kill your bacteria.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... CatId=4122

 

[Basssa]

The Chemi-cleen was brilliant on my Cyano, I second the motion, and would give it a try. Less than 24 hours later it was dissolving and lost its hold on my rock. I used a powerhead to "blow" much of it off and my skimmer is going berzerk!
Wonder product? Maybe.

 

[dtiedke]

I will try chemi-cleen....

Will post before and after pics when it arrives...


Dave

 

[smokin reefer]

I will try chemi-cleen....
Don't do it, at least not yet.
prior to that I was using tap water that tested zero for phosphates).
I think this is your problem. A week is not enough time to fix the problem here. Have you done at least a 50% water change? If not do it now or ASAP. Then give it a week and do another. Then 25% water change monthly. Keep putting in the carbon for at least 1 month. I have the magnum filter which I swear by for these situations. Blow all the substance off that you can, collecting it with your fish net. Mabe even get a small hose and vacum the top layer of your LR. Cut down on feeding. Cut lights back to 4hrs a day the first week, then gradually add 1 hour a week. This is more work than chem_clean, but this is what I would do. Just my .02 cents.