Old tank battling Dino? need help about to call it quits :(

4298 Views 33 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Wiskey, 4 mo ago

rtuser123

Discussion Starter · Apr 7, 2021

3

I need some help. For the past few years i have been constantly battling diatom in my tank. I cant figure out where the silicates are coming from or what I am doing so wrong

The diatom are easily cleaned off the rock and tank but they show up next day or so.

Tank info:
160g tank been running over 15 years.
Was DSB but have been running BB last few years.
75g sump with live rock and skimmer
No mechanical filtration used
Run BRS GFO (BRS GFO high capacity) and Carbon have change weekly to monthly does not seem to make a difference.
10g fresh water top-off

saltwater: I make my own , was using Red Sea Pro but switched Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt few years back

for the freshwater past year been using Apex RO unit with a BRS Triple DI saver kit - all TDS are 0. Water stored in 40g Rubbermaid trash cans container

Feeding: once a day to every other day, 1 cube frozen brine shrimp, 1/2 cube of mysis shrimp, soaked in a cup of tank water and then strained in net before adding to tank.

Flow
Blueline pump closed loop recirculating with a SCWD 1inch wave maker

Lighting:
2 t5 run at 20% on for 12 hours
3 Kessil 360 at 50% on for 8 hours

Live stock:
1 foxface
2 clowns
1 tang
1 Ras
1 dragonet
2 gammas
3 peppermint shrimp
2 rose anemones

Levels
ALK 6.5
CAL 450
MAG 1420
Phosphate .004

dont have silicates test but pretty sure i have high level of silicate based on the blooms.

here are a few photos of a few days after cleaning:

When clean

All suggestions welcome.

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21 - 34 of 34 Posts

rtuser123

Discussion Starter · #21 · Apr 14, 2021

Reef_flo said:
Stop your water changes as that feds them I would syphon as much out out and then go for a 3-5 day black out once all signs of-it have gone give 1 more day of black out then slowly lift light level up to normal..

Welcome to TRT and thanks for suggestions. I have had a few Reeflos over the years.

Yep, no water changes, seem to be helping a lot. I did a 5 day blackout (lights out) and ramp lights a month ago and everything looks good but it all came back. My Nems took a big hit during the blackout and lost a lot of their color, even with feeding them.. I am planning on doing another full blackout (cover walls of tank with cardboard) but waiting for the Nems to have a little more color first.

Reactions: 1

Reef_flo

· #22 · Apr 14, 2021

rtuser123 said:
Welcome to TRT and thanks for suggestions. I have had a few Reeflos over the years.

Yep, no water changes, seem to be helping a lot. I did a 5 day blackout (lights out) and ramp lights a month ago and everything looks good but it all came back. My Nems took a big hit during the blackout and lost a lot of their color, even with feeding them.. I am planning on doing another full blackout (cover walls of tank with cardboard) but waiting for the Nems to have a little more color first.

Could please let me k ow if you managed to get a nitrate test done and the latest test results for nitrate and phosphate as them being out of sync with each other has been the cause for it in my tanks both times.

rtuser123

Discussion Starter · #23 · Apr 14, 2021

Looked through all my test kits and don't have a NO3 any more.. so I placed an order for one.

PO4 is still too low at 0.00 ppm

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jerryclunsford

· #24 · Apr 14, 2021

Don't get in a hurry just let it come up as it wants to.
You don't want it to go up too fast and too far.

rtuser123

Discussion Starter · #25 · Apr 21, 2021

3

Got the NO3 test and it around 3 ppm.

Overall the tank is looking much better. Dinos on the run and there is less after each syphon. Its also taking longer to reappear on the rocks and tank walls.

Few observations:
Coraline algae growing again
Seeing some green algae
also some minor bacteria blooming (white cloudy water)
Dino still have a strangle hold on most of the corals but the corals are now starting to fight back

Over I feel like there progress in the right direction and I am putting in less work

few photos from today

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jerryclunsford

· #26 · Apr 21, 2021

Just keep going slowly.

Wiskey

· #27 · Apr 23, 2021

This already looks like a big change!!! Great work!!

I've been playing around with Phosphate allot over the last few years. Once upon a time I wanted it at 0, but I always struggled with coral color and growth, dynos and everything else. Then I let it swing too far the other way and I ended up with a whole different list of problems. The thing I've found to be the most relevant is that whatever you choose for levels, consistency is key. Algae thrives on levels that vary wildly because it can take advantage of them the fastest. I now treat PO4 allot like Alk. I have a target range of 0.05 to 0.1 and I keep it in that range. I don't do anything unless it's outside that, and if it's a little low I feed one more time per day, if it's a little high I feed one less time per day, I don't do anything drastic.

I don't run GFO right now, but would if I needed it. My PO4 control is mainly done by a fuge, syphoning the shallow sand every couple months, water changes, and feeding consistency.

Whiskey

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rtuser123

Discussion Starter · #28 · Apr 25, 2021

8

Its been about a week since I cleaned the tank and there was a small amount of backward progress. I think this we due to me forgetting to change the LEDs from white back to blue after I last took photos

.

We lost the Sailfin tang and a few of the corals are having a hard time but still way better than before when the dinos were suffocating the entire tank.

I am also noticing a lots more coralline growth (tank walls and floor) and green algae

Here are the photos from today and (link to all photos so far Battle Photos):

After clean the glass

After cleaning rock

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Wiskey

· #29 · Apr 26, 2021

I'm sorry to hear you lost your Sailfin! They are a favorite fish of mine.

You will expect Green algae to initially take off. It's able to adapt to the higher levels fastest and there isn't a bunch of stuff that eats it yet. You might stock up on clean up crew if you are getting low, also pods that eat the algae will naturally multiply in time and keep this in check.

The trick is to hit a level you like and be rather steady with it. The animals will adapt and the tank will maintain a natural rhythm. Like with lighting and other parameters it can take corals months to adapt and in the meantime it's all the nasty stuff that takes off when major changes happen.

Whiskey

rtuser123

Discussion Starter · #30 · Apr 26, 2021

Wiskey said:
I'm sorry to hear you lost your Sailfin! They are a favorite fish of mine.

You will expect Green algae to initially take off. It's able to adapt to the higher levels fastest and there isn't a bunch of stuff that eats it yet. You might stock up on clean up crew if you are getting low, also pods that eat the algae will naturally multiply in time and keep this in check.

The trick is to hit a level you like and be rather steady with it. The animals will adapt and the tank will maintain a natural rhythm. Like with lighting and other parameters it can take corals months to adapt and in the meantime it's all the nasty stuff that takes off when major changes happen.

Whiskey

Thanks Whiskey for the kind words.

rtuser123

Discussion Starter · #31 · May 6, 2021

4

Update.. Tank is really starting to look great.

Since my last post, i've
turned lights all the way to blue and turn the intensity down a bit
Last syphon was 3 or 45 days ago

Added
Live Apex-PODS and Tigger-PODS

Added the follow to my feeding rotation
Roti Feast
Phyto Feat
Oyster-Feast

Here are the photos

0

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jerryclunsford

· #32 · May 6, 2021

Looks good, congratulations.

rtuser123

Discussion Starter · #33 · 4 mo ago

Wanted to check in and finish the story here. I finally beat them

Shortly after my last update I turn up my lights and the Dinos came right back. I got super frustrated and almost called it quits.

So i told myself before i shut down the tank i try the last results. Dino-X. Dino-X did help but did not solve it. it came back again after a month or so.

My next thought was ill just scrapping this whole tank and buy a new one, but i like to keep my fish and rock. I know i could not simply put the rock in a new take so i decide to see what would happen if a dried a few pieces out in the sun (about half my rock). I left them out for a week or two until they were completely white (all dead) and then put then back into the tank. low and behold this really seem to help with the Dino problem. They were no longer ruling the tank. they were manageable and my fish were no longer dying. they were still there but i had to look for them.

I lived with them at that level for a few months until i came upon an article Is This the Dinoflagellate Treatment We’ve all been Hoping for? | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog where they raised the tank water to 84 and that eliminate them. I figured it could not hurt. set my apex to 84 and watch then disappear in a day or 2. kept the tank at 84 for a week or so and then dropped it back down to my normal 78. they were gone

i was even able to turn my led and T5s all the way up. and the best part i was able to do a water change after more than a year.

I have since bought a UV sterilizer to make sure i dont see them again.

Its been a few months now and still no trace. Hope this story might help someone else as this 3 or 4 year battle almost took me out. .

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Wiskey

· #34 · 4 mo ago

That's awesome!!! I'm glad to hear you beat them back!!! I was having an issue with them in a new stock tank I connected to my main system for a tank transition (but not the main system or Frag tank, just the new surfaces) and keeping the heat up helped a ton for me too.

I find it interesting that in my case it was all the fresh clean surfaces that got affected, but except for some of it coming off and blowing around the water in the established sections of the tank the other areas were not impacted. I think that keeping the tank a little dirty has its advantages in making sure surfaces get covered in bacterial film, algae, and coraline which seems to out compete it for space.

Whiskey

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