Well, It Looks Like Dinoflagelettes!

[Sea Turtle]

omg, I'm so sorry to hear that seaturtle. I really wish I could help you.

Where do dinofl. come from?

I have no idea. May have been dormant on my LR up until I provided it with the perfect environment for growth.

 

[kj23502]

http/www.reefs.org/library/article/t_crail.html

I found that and it's a good read. Might want to look it over.

and this
http/www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...dinoflagellates

 

[Sea Turtle]

[URL="http/www.reefs.org/library/article/t_crail.html"]http/www.reefs.org/library/article/t_crail.html[/URL]

I found that and it's a good read. Might want to look it over.

and this
[URL="http/www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...dinoflagellates"]http/www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...dinoflagellates[/URL]

Thanks KJ. I liked the last one you added. One guy had battled it by a phosphate reactor, carbon, water changes and a constant cleaning off of the snot.

I just started dosing this Kordon Ich Attack that the guy a my local coral shop claims will clear it all up. Funny though, this dude seems to think that this will cure the bloom right away for sure. However, I have been doing a lot of research and it sounds like no one has a for sure cure for this evil mess. If the stuff really worked, why wouldn't people be talking about it?

If this does not work, I will add the phosphate reactor, carbon, and do a large water change. I will constantly blow off the slime and maybe try to keep the lights down to a couple hours a day. I have faith in this method. I am just hoping that the Ich attack will nail it first!!!!

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Ok. So get home tonight and my tank is absolutely covered with brown slime. The Ich Attack did nothing at all.

So, I tested my water and my phosphate level is 0.25

I am going to buy a phoshate reactor tomorrow. Keep the light off (or at least the halides) for a couple of days, add the matrix carbon back in and perform a couple of large water changes.

I hope that this will work better.

I currently have about 5 or 6 sps corals, a torch coral, 7 fish, and a cleaner shrimp. Does anyone think that turning off the light for a period of 3 days will have an ill affect on them?

This is really an ugly thing to have on your tank that you have spent so much time and money to set up. I wouldn't wish this on anyone!

 

[kj23502]

I talked to someone in my reef club and he said to tell you not to do water changes. That puts things back into the water that they feed of off (or something like that). He said to tell you to leave your light off for 3 days and if you have corals take them out and put them in a separate tank if you can. That way they'll still have the light. I think he said put carbon in your filter.

I can't remember if he said anything else I shoulda wrote it down. I'm going to see him this afternoon to look at a reef ready tank. I can ask him if you want.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Yeh. That would be great, thanks. Unfortunantly I can not put my corals in another tank because I don't have to put them in and I don't have another Halide light to put over it.

Do you think that if I leave my Blue Actinic light on (200watts) for a couple of hours per day that it would be ok for the corals. The dino seems to stay calm when they are on alone? It's when I fire up the halides is when it goes crazy.

Plus, I thought that if I turned the light off it would just clear them up and when the lights come back on they would just come right back?

 

[kj23502]

I forgot to ask him today. We visited for 1 hour and 15 minutes. He showed me his whole setup. It was really awesome. He has his tank in a room behind his family area and a hole is cut in his wall (framed by a wooden frame) to see his tank. It looks really neat. He has a giant skimmer. Giant RO/DI system...complicated too. Really neat. He'll be coming over tomorrow to deliver the tank and I will ask him then. Seems he said something about a phosphate reactor too? don't quote that. I'll ask tomorrow

 

[Sea Turtle]

I forgot to ask him today. We visited for 1 hour and 15 minutes. He showed me his whole setup. It was really awesome. He has his tank in a room behind his family area and a hole is cut in his wall (framed by a wooden frame) to see his tank. It looks really neat. He has a giant skimmer. Giant RO/DI system...complicated too. Really neat. He'll be coming over tomorrow to deliver the tank and I will ask him then. Seems he said something about a phosphate reactor too? don't quote that. I'll ask tomorrow

Thanks KJ. No worries, when ever you get a chance to ask him that would be great. I have been doing a LOT of research on this mess and it seams as if the phosphate reactor, carbon and low light will have a significant chance of cleaning it up.

I am going away next weekend for the 4th of July from Thursday night to Monday afternoon. I am plannig on having the phosphate reactor set up with two packets of Matrix carbon ( I might buy a really big bag of carbon and throw that in there also) and I am going to leave the lights off. If anyone thinks that might be a problem to the corals please let me know.

Thanks.

 

[jeasko]

there will be no ill effect on the corals if you leave the lights off for 3 days, I have tried this to combat Bryopsis (which I thought was bad but this sounds like a true horror story) if you can cover the tank so no light gets in at all it will hopefully help, I have sps lps and softies with a derasa clam, anthis clowns, humbug damsels a bi colour blenny and a royal gramma with lots of inverts, none of them had a problem with the 3 day black out at all.

another possability is to get a cheap small tank as an emergency tank to get your corals into, for a few $ it may pay off as you could leave them in for a while longer until you see some light at the end of the tunnel with this stuff.

Really hope tis stuff sorts itself out for you soon, and try not to get to down about it, stay posative and work through things one at a time, really wish you good lkuck on this one, keep us updated

 

[kj23502]

The guy I've been talking to is a Marine Biologist and has worked for Henry Doolry Zoo and out by Las Vegas and has helped breed certain fish for the first time in captivity.

Sea Turtle, he said if you have SPS he would advise not to cut out the lights for longer than a day and half. I asked him if he mentioned a phospate reactor and he said it may help but isn't totally nec. (or something like that). He said carbon in the filter.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Hi everyone, thanks for all your help, great advice and positive words.

I just wanted to keep you updated on my progress.

I have been keeping the blue actinic light on for about 7 hours per day (2X98watts) just so the sps corals don't get slammed by this. I put the halides on (2X150watts) for about an hour in the late afternoon. Along with this I have been adding the Kordons Ich Attack every night (about 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons). Amazingly enough, the tank has considerably cleaned up. There isn't much sign of the dino's at all. However, they are there still... I would imagine if I fired up the halides for 10 hours per day, they'd be right there rearing their ugly head again.

I should be getting my phosphate reactor tomorrow. I figure, with the dino's on their back, a large amount of carbon in the sump, the phosphate reactor up and running and low light for another week should put the finishing kill on these evil dino's. Then it should be back to coral growing again.

I will keep you all up to date on theis mess. Or should I say progress...

 

[SkiFletch]

What lamps do you have in those halides Sea Turtle? And how old are they?

 

[Sea Turtle]

What lamps do you have in those halides Sea Turtle? And how old are they?

Hi Ski.

Sorry for the delayed response. I hav been out of town.

I have a Coralife 48" Aqualight Pro HQI. Here is a link to it: My Light

I added the phosphate reactor and some carbon last Thursday and only left the blue lights on while I was gone all weekend. I got back yesturday and the tank looked amazing! The only problem was, I turned on the halides for a couple of hours and my torch coral was all pulled inside. He had long strings of the dino's hanging out of two of its mouths. So, it is still there!!!!

I am hoping that the phosphate reactor and the carbon will starve it...

 

[SkiFletch]

As a bandaid to the underlying problem (nutrients) you can consider swapping the 10K lamp out for say a 14K lamp, knocking out the red light from your spectrum and thus the algae's photosynthetic fuel...

 

[Sea Turtle]

As a bandaid to the underlying problem (nutrients) you can consider swapping the 10K lamp out for say a 14K lamp, knocking out the red light from your spectrum and thus the algae's photosynthetic fuel...

what is the difference between a 10K and a 14K lamp? Is that the halides?