About to give up

[ZANYMASTER]

This Dino Flagellate problem has got me to my wits end and I can't blame the lack of Water changes(once a week) or using Phosban reactors for both carbon and phosban,I do the 24 hour lights off and it comes back,My sump is full of this stuff and it's hard to clean because of the baffles .I can't replace the skimmer cause it's too tall(Urchin Pro) and can't replace the sump cause it won't slide out from the cabinet which leaves me to start from scratch.I would really hate to sell off my coral and my Sohal but the rock needs to go and so does the sump and the skimmer.I would need someone to hold my coral while I remove all the rock and the inverts.Looking to start over with Base rock or something that won't have hitchhikers(pain in the butt).Please don't ask me if I use RO/DI cause that's all I use and it's zero.Any input would be useful.I believe the skimmer is not doing a good job for that size tank(90g)

 

[Bob 1000]

Just take it slow and rethink all possible outcomes and solutions....


Hey It's not going to cause a red tide or something???,,,, Right???

 

[ZANYMASTER]

It's driving me Nuts Tobin,It's already killed some of my corals.Probably just down grade to a Solana or a RedSea Max.

 

[DCG1286]

Just take it slow and rethink all possible outcomes and solutions....
Hey It's not going to cause a red tide or something???,,,, Right???

I agree with Tobin on this one ...

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/diatomalgcontfaq3.htm

Here is some reading for you ... the article also contains people that fought dinos as well not just regular diatoms ... I can't stand having to go through everyone's questions over and over again (you learn alot from them) ... but I got A LOT of useful info over on wetweb ... it's worth a try!!!

Don't give up!

 

[Galantra]

I know what you are going thru, had the same problem from dec. till feb. I tried almost every methods scrubbing the rocks, blacking out the tank, and even using chemicals. There are a lot of post about it but i can honestly say not much really help that much. I ended up adding more volume of water to my tank with an additon of adding little bit more live rock and more cheto that were lite for over 24hr. Unsure if that was the trick but it eventually started to thin out till it was completly gone. Have you tried baking your rocks? or using little bit more GFO? maybe try my method i had a 40g container that i added to my current system for bout 2-3 weeks

 

[Aquatic Life Direct]

have you tried a UV yet?

 

[aznt1217]

I got a UV you can borrow if needed.

 

[RAYISKING]

i know this gonna sound crazy but can you put a turf scrubber in your sump

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Don't give up. You have a battle going but you will win the war in time. Try to see if you can upgrade the skimmer. Try the uv and or the turf scrubber. Read the wet web media stuff and if all else fails there is always the MR team to help out you just need to post a thread and buy some refreshments and you will get some visitors to help.

 

[artie1209]

You can also try Ozone Has a germicidal effect and will make your skimmer more effective. Often we try to do too much and upset the balance. Too many water changes may be bad as well. Have you considered switching salt brands, stop adding trace elements. What else is going in the tank that may be feeding the problem. Good luck this is a great hobby but can be very frustrating. Please keep in mind that patience is king here nothing good happens fast on the reef.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Have a UV but to no avail.Resources are low and have mixed thoughts about continuing.

 

[Acro76]

What are your parameters?

 

[morphiii]

Why don't you drain out the tank and start over with fresh rocks and water?

Give you an excuse to upgrade.

 

[emmanuel]

I had the same problem after months of weekly water changes and a brush I made that hooks up to the siphon hose to scrub the crap off my rocks with every water change one day I (pay attention) replaced all my ro filters even though they were fairly new, added between 100-200 tiny blue leg hermit crabs went away for a 3 day weekend and came back to the cleanest tank I ever saw no algae no slime not a trace this is no bs I could not believe my eyes I think it was the ro filters the other day I noticed 2 little patches of algae in my tank checked my rodi filters that were about 6 months old except the sediment filter that was 2 months old and the housings were nasty I changed everything even though they recommend changing the membrane every 2 years . Try it what do you have to lose $100 in ro filters? the money and head ache you save will be worth it I think our water system is tainted

 

[brianx45]

Try Brightwell Aquatics Reef Biofuel and MicroBacter7, works prettyy good if you follow the directions. You might want to make sure your test kits are working properly or try a differrent test kit and see if you get the same readings.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

I did have the Microbacter but not the Biofuel.My PH is always low around 7.9/8.0.Been using Kalk to get it up but it starts to drop overnight which is normal but has trouble maintaining during the day.Hermit crabs won't touch that stuff being it's toxic and neither will snails.Might consider breaking it down because cooking the rock will only be a temporary fix while my sump is covered in that craps so it needs to go too.Can't really afford buying new stuff right now.

 

[morphiii]

Do you use Ozone? I found this in one of the article by Randy Holmes Farley

"How much ozone, and for how long, is required to kill suspended organisms in seawater? In one study of a suspended dinoflagellate algae (Amphidinium sp. isolated from Australia's Great Barrier Reef), it was found that 5-11 ppm ozone for six hours of exposure was required to kill 99.99% of the organisms.[SIZE=-1]37[/SIZE] While that kill rate is impressive, that exposure is far higher than is ever achieved in a reef aquarium application. Lower doses and shorter contact times had smaller effects. A dose of 2 ppm and a short contact time (with the time not stated in the paper) showed a reduction in bacteria of abut 98% (which is still quite significant, but would not be referred to as disinfection)"

Maybe you can give it a try if you don't have it already.

Here is the entire article on ozone.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/rhf/index.php

 

[ScottK]

What is your alkalinity? I had a dino problem a few years ago, and read somewhere (I can't find it now) that annecdotally, at least, a higher alkalinity helped get rid of them. I brought mine up to about 11-12 dkh, continued with water changes and sucking the stuff out, and it seemed to help. After a couple of weeks, I finally got rid of them.

Also, do you have a refugium or some place to grow macroalgae?

 

[Galantra]

I tried the raising of alk with a kalk slurry that wasn't useful to me at all the main method is starving it

 

[ZANYMASTER]

I read Raising the PH and starving it too but in the mean time,no water changes and the coral might suffer.